The one song Bono said was everything great about music: “That’s all you need to know”
There isn’t a shred of musical history that Bono hasn’t shown the utmost reverence to throughout his career.
Rock and roll was only one facet of what he found interesting about music, and while there are more than a few times where he thought that U2 may have gone a step too far throughout their career, he was more than happy to talk about the moments where they made history just like the rock and roll legends they loved. But every now and again, a song comes along that serves to remind everyone why they got into making music in the first place, and it was enough to render the frontman speechless.
And if you know anything about Bono, it takes a lot for him not to have anything to say about a particular subject. From his interviews to the way that he interacts onstage, the man likes to talk more than a little bit, but while everyone looks at him as some pompous windbag that was trying to make a point, you can tell that he still has the fire to make a real change in the world whenever he performs.
But a lot of his favourite artists weren’t always taking that route terribly seriously whenever they made their records. John Lennon was thinking about the legacy that he was leaving behind when he wrote Plastic Ono Band, and for as much as they taught every punk about individualism, The Clash were more concerned with what was happening in the moment instead of what kind of music they would leave behind.
Bono’s approach was a lot different, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t find some time to shed light on other artists who left their mark on society. Everyone and their mother has heard every rock and roll star talk about the moment that they heard The Beatles for the first time or how enlightened they felt after hearing Bob Dylan’s ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’, but Bono could see those legends that existed well outside of rock and roll.
He had friends as diverse as Frank Sinatra and Pavarotti, and while a lot of them weren’t the coolest musicians to admit to liking, Bono was willing to stick up for them after years of trying to be tough. There was no shame in saying that The Bee Gees had some great songs or ABBA made the best pop music ever recorded, but he felt that many people needed to educate themselves when they first heard Donna Summer.
Most people who lived through the 1970s probably have heard enough songs like ‘I Feel Love’, but Bono felt the song ‘State of Independence’ is a song worthy of being studied, saying, “I have one thing to say about Donna Summer. Anyone who hasn’t heard ‘State of Independence’ – I’m not sure there is anyone – put that on. That’s all you need to know about music, that’s all you need to know about her, that’s all you need to know about a lot of things.”
And for someone who got their foot in the door talking about heavy subjects, it doesn’t necessarily come as a shock that this would be his song of choice. Summer may have been one of the reigning queens of all things disco, but hearing her sing about the real problems afflicting people who want to live their lives how they want to was going to strike a nerve for someone who had seen the real troubles going on half a world away before writing albums like The Joshua Tree.
Going down the same route Summer did on Pop might not have been the best idea for U2 in the long run, but the fact that he admitted to her talent was about far more than light praise. It’s one thing to get millions of people up in arms when singing along to a rock and roll tune, but a song that manages to make audiences dance while they are thinking about heavier topics is a much more difficult tightrope to walk.
