The cast of Reservoir Dogs 25 years later all look like Bono at different stages of his life. pic.twitter.com/xafgZERWUE
— Give Me Internet (@GiveMeInternet) March 28, 2019
I bit the bullet and listened to Bono's Desert Island Discs. Yes, Bono. I know he divides opinion like few others - U2 fans deify him, many other music aficionados (and much of the blogosphere) find him a sanctimonious berk. Me, I'm fairly neutral about him; when U2 started he just wasn't very good, then they had a period of making three or four really fine albums, after which, for me at least, he and they have been treading water. But I can see why Bono isn't to everyone's taste.
So I'm not going to change anyone's mind about listening to his Desert Island Discs, am I? If you're a fan, you'll have listened already, and if you're not then you probably won't, right? But I will just say that Bono seems to have grown some self-awareness - he knows some people find him a sanctimonoious berk, he gets it and is at peace with it. That has to be progress for him, right?
But no, what I wanted to post about is the fact that Bono chose a record by his son's band as one of his discs.
Now my immediate reaction to this was, "Oh no, typical Bono, what a berk, plugging his son on national radio" and so on. But on reflection, I think that if I was alone on a desert island and New Amusements Minor was the singer in a band, I'd want one of his records too, just so that I could hear his voice. That's understandable, isn't it? And really, so is plugging your son on national radio - I'd probably do that too, in the unlikely event that I ever had the chance.
My other thought was, "Christ, Hewson Minor sounds like his dad." Listen for yourself - this is Inhaler, and the track Bono chose, Ice Cream Sundae.
And a final DID observation - Lauren Laverne is a brilliant host. I could listen to her all day.
I had the same initial reaction reading this, but you're so right, it makes sense to want to hear your child's voice on that lonely desert island, I hadn't thought of that until you said it. Also it's kinda lovely to know that he and Mrs Bono were childhood sweethearts (for want of a better term) and are still together. And ah, yes, isn't Lauren lovely? - we stumbled upon an old episode of Room 101 with her on the other evening and I was just thinking that at the time too.
ReplyDeleteAlthough a tiny part of me thought, "Oh, he likes his son's record because his son sounds like him!" Poor Bono, what has he done to generate some cynicism...?
DeleteThat Reservoir Dogs cast photo tweet did make me smile.
ReplyDeleteMe too, good isn't it?
DeleteThought it was a bit harsh myself. Then again, I'd rather be compared to Jeffrey Dahmer than Paul Hewson.
DeleteBut yes, if Sam had made a record, I would want it on my desert island.
So what we've shown is that parental empathy trumps being a sanctimonious berk. And that I like typing "sanctimonious berk".
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