The book is nominally organized around 40 different U2 songs, mostly presented in chronological order. “Surrender” is largely the story of Bono wrestling with “the pseudo-religious part of being a rock star, how we put the messy in messianic.” Has any rock star ever been more invested in the meaning of his job? For more than four decades, so much of U2’s project has been an exploration of the promise, potential and pitfalls of pop music, the endless consideration and reconsideration of its role in the world. A little dull even, but it’s at the heart of who we are and why we’re still here as a band.” “But above all, be useful.” Elsewhere, he writes: “To be useful is a curious prayer. “If you’re going to be famous, sure, be funny, be irreverent,” he muses. The first words he spoke were “What could we do better?” By the time they played the Super Bowl halftime a few months later, a set that featured a scrolling list of the victims’ names, the performance had been honed to pitch-perfect emotion.Ĭuriously, though U2 became so closely associated with those raw and tragic days, 9/11 is barely mentioned in Bono’s ambitious, sprawling memoir, “Surrender.” But the theme of utility and the practical function of a band comes up repeatedly. 11 attacks, and it was astounding to watch them working out - song by song, gesture by gesture - exactly what their audience wanted from them at that harrowing, bewildering moment.įollowing the concert in Montreal, and the police-escorted sprint to their plane, Bono flopped down in the seat next to me. I was fortunate enough to be with the band for some of the first shows they played following the Sept. In 2001, I tagged along on a U2 tour for a magazine story.
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