Surrender. Bono. 2022. 555 pages (Hardcover), 25 Hours (Audiobook).
Born in sectarian northern Dublin in 1960 to a Protestant mother and a Catholic father, Paul David Huston, nicknamed Bono by a childhood playmate, early on espoused a generic Christianity. But that Christianity rejects most of the St. Paul add-on doctrines dividing modern denominations, and is more like a moral code to live by as taught by Jesus than any specific religion. The god he prays to before every performance of his famous U2 band is seemingly capable of intervening in human affairs but is a bit ethereal and distant.
His mother died suddenly when he was 14 and much of his early life dwells on his mourning and insecurity as his distant father was unable to provide much guidance and/or praise. But he produced his first album of rock music at age 18, and soon thereafter established the famous quartet named U2 that stuck with him for the rest of his career to date, touring the world, playing to huge crowds and producing many albums. In later years, his music career was intimately interconnected with social and political activism, often incorporated into the lyrics. The impressive list of world leaders that he was and is on a first name basis includes Bill Clinton, Mikhail Gorbachov, Tony Blair, Angela Merkel, Pope John Paul II , Nelson Mandela, Lady Diana, Condoleezza Rice, George W. Bush, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Warren Buffet, and Oprah. Too many famous modern musicians to list were or are his pals. Perhaps most notably they include Frank Sinatra and Luciano Pavarotti. I may have forgotten others but notably absent from this list are Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. His lobbying of movers and shakers contributed in a major way to such developments as the Good Friday Accord, the cancellation of billions of dollars of debts of poor countries to rich ones, making anti-retroviral drugs available and affordable to Africans, the end of the siege of Sarajevo, and action on climate change.
Bono’s Christianity apparently does not preclude overindulgence in alcohol and drugs, nor the liberal use of foul language, but he seemingly remained faithful to his childhood sweetheart wife Ali (or conveniently omitted mention of any affairs.) He admits to having an bad case of imposter syndrome with a strong belief that he does not deserve his fame and fortune, even though at times he comes across as having a Messiah Complex, solely responsible for saving the world. But for someone without a university degree, he demonstrates an immersive knowledge of literature and history. There is lot of navel gazing self examination about who U2 were and what they wanted in life with fuzzy distinctions between different messages they wanted to convey that were lost on me. But there is no doubt that Bono has been a positive force for good in the world over the last 45 years.
A few memorable quotes: “It takes great faith to have no faith.”
“If you don’t have a seat at the table, you’re probably on the menu.”
“Living well, as someone put it, is the best revenge. Come to think of it, just living will do.”
There are a few interesting insights into the increasingly complex world of music production and distribution in the age of digital remakes, and live streaming.
Later chapters detail a mystical searching for the Other, the meaning of existence, with no clear answers and a continuation of doubt that I found to be ethereal. The whole book is chronologically and geographically disjointed jumping all over in space and time like an agitated drunk rock star, for no obvious reason.
As someone born before the Baby Boomers, my music tastes tend toward the 19 and early to mid 20th century: I have never been a U2 fan and have trouble even understanding the sometimes subtle differences in genres labelled as rock, punk, punk rock, grunge, pop, soul, hip hop beat, but I do admire the socially-directed lyrics of many of the band’s songs such as Bloody Sunday. That one was attacked by both sides of the Irish conflict, and is, if I am honest, the only one I knew about before reading this autobiography.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thanks Ian G.
The Passionate Reader 