rihannsu
Refugee
"SYCMIOYO: over-the-top cheesy emo "your the reeeason I saaaing, your the reason wha-ha-ha-hay the opera is in me.."
your joking right?
If Bono had simply decided to write an over the top emotional song your criticism might have value. But this song is Bono's very personal feelings about his very real and troubled relationship with his father. It isn't made up out of thin air. The opera reference is both because his father was an opera fan and because Bono's over the top dreaming and idealizing was born of his fathers oppressive negativity about having dreams. Bono's very personality was shaped by this relationship and it is all in the song. Sure the words may seem cheesy when you read them but how anyone can watch Bono perform this song and not be moved is beyond me. Even towards the end of the tour after having performed it countless times he was still practically in tears when he sang it. This song positively drips with heartache and loss, and I feel sorry for anyone who can't see that.
Bono writes what is in his heart or in the hearts of those around him. That kind of honesty for me gets him a free pass on a lot of cheese because when you know the artist is being true it give a whole different feel. I won't argue that reading some of Bono's lyrics on a page can at times be positively painful and yet when you hear or see him sing them, they get to you. But the trick is you have to open your heart. If you come at U2 with a cynical attitude there is probably plenty that you can mock, but if you come with an open heart and mind you can be touched, and inspired. I've read plenty of reviews or blog posts where people who mocked or hated U2 for years were suddenly touched by one particular song and then when they go back and relisten to everything else their entire viewpoint is changed. How many other artists are able to consistantly pull almost all of their back catalogue into the charts whenver they tour? I think I saw a report that during Vertigo they had 12 albums in the charts at once.
Dana