Eno on Bono, U2
This statement about Bono by Brian Eno from a Pitchfork interview that ran earlier this month caught my eye, and I never got around to posting it:
Well, [Bono] has an enormous ego, but so do most of the people I like. [laughs] And also a big ego isn’t necessarily a bad thing. A big ego means that you have some confidence in your abilities, really, and that you’re prepared to take the risk of trying them out. I really don’t think he’s arrogant. That’s a different thing. In fact, he’s absolutely, to me, the opposite of arrogant. He’s very, very able, more able than almost anybody I know, to take criticism and do something with it. He just doesn’t get upset. He doesn’t take it as an attack on him if you say, oh, this doesn’t work at all, it’s really pathetic, actually. So it’s possible to be very frank with him and know there’s not some cowering insecurity inside him that is going to mean his feelings get hurt. His ego allows him to be humble, if you see what I mean. People who are very confident in themselves aren’t hurt by criticism. They make use of it. I think he’s very good at that.
As you can tell, I admire him a lot …
I am pretty sure that guy described above is the guy who wrote this NY Time op-ed today. And for those who don’t like it, who really cares, ya know?
There’s another quote from Eno in that article, that was referred to by someone in the very active comment thread here, that has more to do with how the desire “to take everyone with them for the ride” impacts how U2 makes music:
One of the things I love about U2– and it’s one of the things that we’re constantly arguing about, the balance of this– is that they want to take everyone with them for the ride! [laughs] They don’t want to let anyone go at any point! I’m always saying, “Look, if you’re going to do something new, you’re going to lose a few supporters along the way.” And they really fight against that. They don’t want to do that. I honestly don’t think it’s greed. It’s not lust for money or lust for power. It’s the feeling that everybody’s got to be at the party: we’re not going to make it unapproachable to anybody. I’m sure a big part of Bono’s drive comes from the times he visits nightclubs– he does, occasionally– and sees 18-year-old girls dancing to records that aren’t U2! [laughs] And I think that really bugs him! [laughs] I’m not quoting him here, but this what I imagine he’s thinking: There’s a whole audience here that we’re not connecting with! Why aren’t we connecting with these people?! So he’s quite driven, in that sense, to conquer the world, actually. [laughs]
Gag.
could not love the bono more than when eno says: “his ego allows him to be humble”
or perhaps i could – when he adds that he wants to make music we can dance to.
amen to that.
and re the super deluxe active thread on NLOTH – i found all those tracks extremely awesome live. especially ’stand up comedy’ which was as groovy as U2 get, IMHO.
on a different note do you have a link to the rest of the larry mullen fashion expose??
Re: NYT column. Apparently for many readers, if Bono fails to poke fun at his own ego, this means he is grossly egotistical and self-obsessed. If he does poke fun at it, this also means he is grossly egotistical and self-obsessed. There’s just no way to win in that scenario. You probably don’t become a global celebrity without some self-obsession, but you probably don’t live on earth without some self-obsession either. If people can’t see the fruit of years of self-examination and repentance on the issue of pride sticking out all over that piece of writing, I don’t know what to say.
captain – i don’t have a link, sorry, and you must mean i’ll go crazy not stand up, right? or am i missing your sarcasm?
re nyt – i think as long as he continues to get a strong reaction in comments, positive and negative, he’s doing okay. let the haters hate. i really appreciate the couple of insidery parts in that column that almost seem to be in there specifically for the delight of u2 geeks.
sarcasm? moi??
Ha. He’s a very, very, very good salesman, actor, preacher, singer, poet, painter & all-around motormouth -but he is also one of the most deeply insecure people in the business -and Eno damn well knows this.
(Also, a very bad if endearingly earnest dancer… now leave him alone to gawk at the 18-yr olds. Jaysus.)
I don’t think being insecure precludes Bono from having humility mixed with self confidence, which is the greater point being made there by Eno.