Sunday's New York Times featured an interview with U2. On the eve of the release of their twelfth studio album, No Line On The Horizon, the article focused on the band's struggle to maintain legitimacy in the face of their own 30-plus year history, the political associations of their lead singer and the commercial culture of the music today. Unsurprisingly, U2 turns out to be the hero of this story, valiantly making great music in the face of insurmountable cultural odds, all while staying true to their roots.
But the puffiness of the piece belies its insights. Bono's quotations give a unique perspective on art and commercialism in music. In this article, Bono treats art as a political tool. The author quotes Bono as saying ""I feel as an artist that my job is to try and understand the forces that are shaping the world that our songs occupy. And maybe, if you get a chance, try to shape it."" Essentially, Bono claims that art itself is dependent on a specific cultural environment. He echoes the importance of cultural context when he suggests ""your first job as a songwriter"" is to ""puncture pop consciousness with a tune.""
Not surprisingly, one of Bono's most important artistic relationships is with the audience. At one point, Bono expresses uncertainty over the reception of the upcoming album, despite his confidence in the music. ""I know the quality of the work is there, but will it be taken? I really don't know."" Even his philosophy of artistic responsibility that I already mentioned is followed with audience reinforcement. One sentence after his grand vision of art shaping culture, Bono says, ""They thought ... daring to want to play with the big boys, philosophically and every other way, would frighten our audience away. But actually our audience feels much more powerful."" It seems the vision itself needed to be validated by audience approval.
Perhaps the most interesting quote of the entire article deals with getting the art to the audience. The article reads: ""Bono put it bluntly. ‘I'm interested in commerce,' he said. ‘The excuse for bigness is that songs demand to be heard if they're any good. And without the kind of momentum of being in a big rock ‘n' roll band, you won't get your songs heard.'"" Bono apparently approaches all of this—the interviews, the week-long Letterman gig, the political appearances, the coffee table books—as a method of delivering the music to the listeners.
According to this article, Bono believes the artist makes a song that reflects an understanding of culture. Once the artist delivers that song to the listener, the song can begin reshaping culture. Therefore, the artist is responsible for the first two stages, but dependent on the audience for the final phase.
This vision, like Bono's music, is ambitious in its attempt to change the world. The problem is that it sells music short.
Bono fails to trust that good songs do ""demand to be heard,"" instead depending on ""momentum"" to publicize the music. Isn't making good music the way musicians find exposure in the first place? If the music is good enough, why emphasize the publicity?
Bono also fails to grasp the breadth of music. Music isn't merely about finding a way to understand the forces of a culture, but rather about finding ways to speak to the human experience. Joshua Tree is not an amazing album for the historical value of its commentary on 1987 politics. Joshua Tree is good because it universally touches human hopes and realities.
I enjoy U2's music, and I appreciate the message they are trying to communicate. But music is so much more than just a political tool. Bono would do well to remember that.
Tell Dale about your unrequited old man crush on Bono at dpmundt@wisc.edu.
