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"I think the opposite of love is not hate. It's apathy. You only get angry about things you really care about." -- Bono |
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"I think the opposite of love is not hate. It's apathy. You only get angry about things you really care about." -- Bono |
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@U2 QOM March 2008: What is your favorite quote from a band member, and why?
@U2,
April 02, 2008
(Each month, @U2 puts a spotlight on U2 fans with our "Question of the Month." We pose a question to our readers and invite answers of 200 words or less. If you're interested in taking part, check our home page to see if the current question is still open. If not, check back shortly after the beginning of next month and we'll have another question ready to be answered!)
Fast forward to the night of the show. As I was walking from my car to the arena, I started having second thoughts. I actually felt weird and guilty for going to a rock concert only 2 months after 9/11, the anthrax scare, and the American Airlines plane crash over Queens. Things were very gloomy, and going to see a U2 show just didn't feel right, but I kept thinking as I was walking that I've been waiting for this moment my whole life...there's no turning back now. Well, if anyone saw U2 during the third leg of the Elevation Tour, I don't have to describe or go into the detail of emotions that I experienced. Let's just say that my spirit was lifted to a place I've never been. When the show was over and after I came back to Earth, I wanted to so much to skip back to my car, but I didn't so that I wouldn't embarrass myself. I just repeated "OMG" in my head over and over with a big ol' fat grin on my face. I had no idea of the power of U2 until that night. It's hard to put into words what happened to me, but I can say that I was "healed, I came out positive, a little more free, and I had hope." -- Allegra Now that was a tricky one since Bono and the boys always have something to say. However, I am a "Larry Girl" so after much deliberation I chose one of his. Short, but to the point as always with Larry. "It's a musical journey" he answered when asked what the whole Rattle
and Hum movie was about. Apart from hitting the nail on the head it makes
me smile every time I watch the movie or hear the track on my
Ipod. -- Barbara There are many things that Bono (as well as the rest of the band) have said
that I have found very inspiring, moving, funny and smart...but I think my favorite
quote has to be, "Love thy neighbor is a command, not a suggestion."
Makes me smile every time I see it... -- Lesson Medrano The Edge: "If I had feet like that Lawrence, I wouldn't want them in the
film." -- Erin Nelson My favorite U2 quote, and truly one of my favorite quotes of all time, comes from Bono: "Dream up the world you want to live in. Dream out loud." Not only does it appear as a lyric in Zooropa but it's been a Bono sound bite since the 1980s. It encourages vocalization – don't hide your thoughts, feelings and emotions but let them out, give them room to breath, grow, inspire and materialize. Silence and inaction (and being a quiet, well-mannered young woman) doesn't effect change – you have to put yourself out there, allow yourself to be vulnerable and at the same time heard, and only then will you start to see your dreams become reality. When I was in high school and starting to fully realize my U2 obsession, I had a writing teacher who was my mentor, Mr. Henke. Every day he would write the name of a famous writer's birthday on the chalk board followed by a quote from him or her. I lobbied him for weeks to celebrate Bono's birthday and even provided several quotes to be used. Much to my surprise Paul Hewson was the writer celebrated on May 10 in 1994 with the quote "Dream up the world you want to live in. Dream out loud." Thanks, Mr. Henke. -- Erika Finch McCaffrey When asked what he thought of the Pet Shop Boys' version of "Streets,"
Bono replied, "What have I, What have I, What have I done to deserve this?" -- Gerry Gillespie Bono said, "Objectivity is the cure for depression." I loved that because it is so true about the world around you. -- Jen Willins "This is a song about Pride, don't let 'em take it away" – Bono, Self Aid 1986. Just about the only good quote from the man over the years. -- Sean Dowling "There is a love between the members of this band that is deeper than whatever comes between us. After almost 15 years, which would be time for a divorce in almost any relationship, we looked at each other and said 'lay down your arms'." – Larry Mullen Jr. This quote just rings so true! The relationship between U2 members should be analysed... but their secret should not be spread. Is it friendship? Is it the passion for music? Flair for business? Or maybe sheer luck? Whatever it is (maybe all of this), it works. Let's just hope we can build something as strong in our lives. -- Maria Grazia Pierantoni "Don't call me Shirley!" Larry, in a ZooTV interview with MTV's Kurt Loder. So damn funny coming from a serious member of the band. -- José Trinidad Arámbula V "My room overlooks the park, and yesterday during the afternoon I'd opened up all the blinds and taken back the curtains so I could look out over the park. Come nightfall, I was grooving to some rap record in my room, bopping around the room for maybe half an hour. I don't know what I was doing, just messing around...and at one stage I looked out of the window and there were about 200 people looking up, clapping, applauding my dancing. That was funny." – The Edge Just the thought of The Edge dancing makes me want to laugh out loud. This just shows that a musician in one of the world's biggest band is still human and has a toe-tapping good time when he listens to his favourite music. -- Nigel Sheather Among the many Bono quotes that mean a lot to me, this one stands out: "The world is more malleable than you think, and it's waiting for you to hammer it into shape." I love it because it reminds me that we don't have to just be content with
the way things are. Not in the larger world, and not in our individual worlds,
either. Though we may feel at times as though we've been dealt a bad hand, we
don't have to live as a victim of our circumstances. Instead we can choose to
rise above them and create a new reality. -- Glen Hoos My favourite quotation from a member of U2 was one from Edge I used in my university yearbook almost 20 years ago: "I think the summit of Mt. Everest must be quite a depressing place." To me, it meant that once you have accomplished your biggest dream, what is there left? You must be continually striving for more. Fortunately Edge and U2 seem to have taken the meaning as I did. They have constantly moved forward, looking for new – and different – summits to conquer! -- Jennifer Kay I actually have three favorite U2 quotes. The first one is: "If I am close to the music, and you are close to the music, we are close to each other." I don't have the name of who in the band said it but I am pretty sure that it was Bono. I think it is really great because you know how much Bono and the boys love their music and how much it means to them. I also know how much their music means to me as well as many other U2 fans. I believe that is the reason U2 is such a special band because when you hear their music you feel so close to the band almost like family even if you have never met them before. The quote is even truer if you have been lucky enough to meet them as I have. My second and third favorite quotes are kind of related. They are: "To inspire people to do things for themselves. To inspire people to think for themselves." – Bono, 1987, when asked about the goal of the songs he writes "Music can change the world because it can change people" – Bono These two mean a lot to me because I truly believe that Bono has accomplished
his goal and I know how U2's music has changed so many people's lives including
mine. They have inspired me and so many others to help those less fortunate
especially in Africa. I know that their music is changing the world one fan
and song at a time. Without their music we would not see how easy it is to change
the world and the world would be a much sadder place. -- Elsha Stockseth When interviewed in 2001 by Charlie Rose, Bono was asked what he'd be doing if not in music. He replied, "I might be sleeping in a bag around the corner." This statement floored me. It said that music was the only option for him. It put him on the edge. An edge over which he thankfully did not plummet, but instead gripped on to for dear life. An edge that makes U2's music so great. Then I wondered how many lost souls/homeless/hungry individuals took that plunge? Because every human being has the potential to be great and everyone can offer something to enrich the lives of others. And to ignore this idea means we all suffer. So I asked myself, "What am I doing to feed those in need?" Not just to fill their bellies, but to nourish their souls and to make lasting changes to alleviate the crises of poverty, hunger and disease. Two efforts that I believe have the right idea are Himalayan Institute and Gardens for Health. Their work is intended to mobilize and empower. But there are numerous movements that can use the help of compassionate and energetic individuals; those who believe that the efforts and abilities of a single person can make a difference. Because for all we know, the next Bono is just around the corner – sleeping in a paper bag. -- LMD I have two favorite quotations. The first is from Larry. As the legend goes, a female fan screamed "I love you Larry." To which he replied "You don't know me." Now most fans would chalk this up to Mr. Mullen's surly persona. But I like to think that, in his own way, he's reminding us of one of the things that make U2's music so appealing. And that is that they, these four men, are real, are human, are not shiny celebrities. They often talk about the magic that happens when the four of them are in a room together, creating music and that magic is what happens when those same four men get into a room and make music and there just happen to be 30,000 other people in the room. We don't know them as people but we do know that they are just a little like us, and that is why we're able to relate to their music on an emotional level, an intellectual level and for some, even a spiritual level, in a way that's impossible with many other bands. My second favorite quote is the story that Bono told on the Vertigo tour before "Miracle Drug" about Edge being from the future. "What's it like?" they ask him when he appears from his space ship. The Edge's ‘reply'? "It's better." Which is indicative of one of the other things that make U2's music so appealing: It's hopeful. It's full of joy. And when you're in that room with those four guys and those 30,000 other people, you get a shared, hopeful, joyous experience. When I feel like the world is full of horrible people who don't look out for one another, I put on my bootleg of that night in Oakland in 2005 and listen to the boys reassure me that "It's better." -- M. Green During a Joshua Tree tour press conference, Bono said, "We want to boldly go where no other rock and roll band have ever gone before." Here we are 20 years later and boy, have they ever gone places no band has ever gone. -- David Noonan (c) @U2/individual contributors above, 2008.
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"I
don't like music unless it has a healing effect.... I want people to leave our
concerts feeling positive, a little more free. Things might look very gloomy
but there is always hope." – Bono 