The “bitter” Bono song that was played during riots
What is it that makes a song timeless? If you talk to Bono and Ian Anderson, you will find a range of reasons, all of which seem to work.
Bono has never been someone to beat around the bush when it comes to making his feelings clear in music. A lot of people have criticised him in the past for being too political, but the fact that those political criticisms exist proves that he doesn’t hold back when it comes to making his opinion known.
That being said, there are some songs of his which are his most popular and are clearly a lot more ambiguous in their meaning. He realised this himself when he found out that the track ‘One’, which proved one of the most popular from U2’s album Achtung Baby, was played a great deal during the LA Riots. This always surprised the singer, given that the track itself isn’t supposed to be in any way soothing.
“Is it true that ‘One’ was played over the radio a lot during the Los Angeles riots?” he asked. “That’s what I heard from some friends […] Which is surprising because I never saw the song as something hopeful or comforting. To me, it was a very bitter song.”
Despite it being a bitter track, it seems to have taken on its own meaning. While Bono believes in writing music with a specific meaning, he is also glad that some of his songs evolve depending on the social landscape. This is exactly what happened with ‘One’ and is why so many people began listening to the song, even though it was during a period that Bono wouldn’t have necessarily associated with it.
“I didn’t grow up in the tradition of pop songwriters who feel it is essential to make everything clear to the listener,” he said. “All of us in the band were always interested in abstraction… Letting things be out of focus.”
Bono certainly has a point here, but there are other musicians who believe that if a song is going to be timeless, it needs to pertain to something specific. If people are unable to take a specific meaning from a track, then it will struggle to be timeless because ambiguity will always exist within songs. However, tracks that apply to a situation and address it wholeheartedly will always apply to said situation.
Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull once spoke about their track ‘Aqualung’ and why fans continue listening to it to this day. His answer was simple: the song tackles the issue of homelessness, and that issue remains to this day. People still listen and identify with the song because if the issue persists, the songs which address it also continue to hold power.
“I believe the sentiments of the song are as obvious now as they were in 1971 because the issue of homeless people hasn’t gone away,” he explained. “You still see them everywhere. In the 1950s and ’60s, we called them tramps, but they were harmless.”
Concluding, “Now, as so many are on the streets due to drug problems or sexual exploitation, it has become, if anything, more worrying. All of which makes ‘Aqualung’ so relevant.” Both styles of writing can clearly send a message and remain capable of creating timeless hits.
