What Fuels the Ubiquitous Rock Star?
Of course, Irish rock band U2 [http://www.u2.com/intro.html] took their name from the U.S. spy plane. But lately, the "U" could stand for ubiquity. Lead singer and lyricist Bono has been everywhere: Bono with President Bush, South African hero Nelson Mandela, and U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill; Bono on a recent cover of Time magazine; and the May issue of Decision, a Christian magazine, found him seated next to Ruth Bell Graham, wife of evangelist Billy Graham, reading Irish poetry.
I suppose most of this hyperactivity would ordinarily be seen as publicity seeking. But in all these recent travels and photo-ops, Bono isn’t promoting his latest project. He's pushing causes: the environment, debt relief for Africa, human rights in Sierra Leone and elsewhere, freedom in Burma, the need for treatment of AIDS victims throughout the African continent. By all accounts, from the President of the United States to officials at the United Nations, Bono is more than just a rock star gadfly. He's well informed and speaks with passion and common sense. Unlike so many self-serving media superstars, Bono seems to believe that he should use his success and celebrity to benefit others.
It had been a number of years since I purchased a U2 project. But I couldn’t help but wonder what was fueling Bono’s passion for his neighbors on Planet Earth and thought that perhaps clues could be found on U2's most recent release, "All That You Can’t Leave Behind." So, I bought the CD.
For a small purchase price, I was richly rewarded with music and lyrics that are great, standouts in an era of repetitive musical brain candy. Bono’s evocative lyrics combine with tremendous musical compostions and musical accompaniment on "All That You Can’t Leave Behind." There are many elements you would expect from a U2 project: Bono’s passionate, rangy vocals and The Edge’s wall-of-sound, frenzied guitar work, for example. But there are musical departures here as well. I admire artists who are willing to change, experiment, and grow. And on this CD, The Edge successfully experiments with his guitar work on a number of cuts.
But the richest rewards to be found on "All That You Can’t Leave Behind" are spiritual. Bono, a professed follower of Jesus Christ, liberally passes out inspiration and plenty of hints about what powers his passion and his compassion. The CD opens with four strong cuts: Beautiful Day, Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of, Elevation, and the anthemic Walk On.
Several other songs rise to the heights of greatness on this CD. The plaintive, Peace on Earth, looks at the human penchant for war and violence and cries out, "Jesus, could you take the time to throw a drowning man a line."
When I Look at the World, is a song clearly addressed to the God revealed to us all through Jesus Christ. The lyrics marvel at the love with which God looks on the world and confesses, "So I try to be like you, try to feel it like you do, but without you it’s no use. I can’t see what you see when I look at the world." Here, Bono agrees with Paul in the New Testament book of Romans, "I know that nothing good dwells within me...I can will what is right, but I cannot do it." If we’re to live with the kind of life, love, and passion to which we all aspire, we can’t manufacture these things on our own. We need to rely on Christ, their author and perfecter.
The CD’s final song is "Grace." Grace is a Bible word. In the original Greek of the Bible’s New Testament, the word is charitas, from which we get the English word, charity. Grace is God’s free acceptance of us and His transformation of all with faith in Christ into His "new creation." Bono most tellingly explains the roots of his passionate sojourn through life in the final words of this song: "What once was hurt, what once was friction, what left a mark, no longer stings because Grace makes beauty out of ugly things."
When God looks at you and me, He sees children He loves and wants passionately to help. That’s what keeps Bono loving his neighbors non-stop. God bless him for the path he’s chosen and God bless U2 for giving us so much inspiration on "All That You Can’t Leave Behind."
