Confessions of a Rocker

IF you are a rock star, then you are a moron—this equation is usually taken as being axiomatic. While this holds true for a good number...

IF you are a rock star, then you are a moron—this equation is usually taken as being axiomatic. While this holds true for a good number of performers, there are also those who are intelligent, knowledgeable and articulate: Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Pete Townshend, Trent Rozner, George Harrison, to name just a few.

And then, of course, there is Bono—crashing barriers, leveraging his celebrity status for philanthropy as no one had before.

The transformation of Bono from the unusually gifted frontman for U2 into a crusader for the rights of the poverty-stricken leaves you shaking your head in awe and disbelief. The man addressed the Democratic and Republican conventions in the US, the Labour and Conservative party dos in the UK, got the Pope on his side with a call to end global poverty, persuaded arch-conservative Jesse Helms to support his anti-AIDS efforts… Bono went where no rocker had gone before, and came out trumps.

How did it happen? Bono’s answer lies is this series of autobiographical interviews. Call it Bono on the couch if you will, but the result is a mesmerising journey in introspection—candid, intensely revealing, funny, sad and, at times, a little pompous, a journey that Bono calls an ‘‘opportunity to look back into the house of my various lives and tidy my room’’.

The core passages to understanding the metamorphosis are those in which Assayas guides Bono to reflect on what compelled him to embark on his journey. Bono tells of holding a dying baby in his arms in Africa. He then links his understanding of Christianity and God as love as a quest for justice for the worse-off half of the world.

And why does he succeed? Because he stays focused on the message, not the medium: ‘‘After a few minutes, people don’t see me. All they’re hearing is the moral force of the argument.’’

And how does Bono get someone like George Bush, whose politics are not his, to come on side? ‘‘You don’t have to be harmonious on everything to get along with someone.’’

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Bono is generous in his praise, and refrains from disdain for anyone. His sobriety, thoughtfulness, and avoidance of cant is a pleasant surprise, given the passions that the topics of AIDS and global poverty raise. He, clearly, does not believe that if you are not on his side, then you’re the enemy.

It is this generosity of the spirit which animates Bono, and makes him a credible witness for his cause, and not a laughing stock.

Right, fine. But in the final analysis, who is Bono? Let the man have the last word: ‘‘I’m a scribbling, cigar-smoking, wine-drinking, Bible-reading band man. An activist traveling salesman of ideas. Chess-player, part-time rock star, opera singer, in the loudest folk group in the world.’’