Instinct drives U2
LetÃcia Marote
Los Angeles Times
Aug. 20, 2004 06:50 PM
NEW YORK -- "It's one of the most banal couplets I've ever heard," Bono
says sheepishly about the words he wrote for one of U2's best-known
songs. " 'I want to run, I want to hide....' That's not very
interesting, but you know what? People don't hear the couplets when we
play the song.
"They hear something else in the music. They hear a band talking about
a special place, a better place, and asking if the audience wants to go
there with them."
Bono, who writes most of U2's lyrics, is keenly aware that the music's
power often comes less from his pen than from the sweeping sonic
foundation built by the band.
"Feelings are stronger than ideas or words in a song," he says, pacing
the floor of his Central Park West apartment, offering a contrarian
view of pop songwriting.
"You can have 1,000 ideas, but unless you capture an emotion, it's an
essay."
The comments are surprising from a man who devotes so much of his time
to ideas -- from the spiritually tinged themes that underlie many U2
songs to his high-profile crusade to get wealthy nations to forgive
Third World debt.
"Songwriting comes from a different place," he says. "Music is the
language of the spirit. I think ideas and words are our excuse as
songwriters to allow our heart or our spirit to run free. That's when
magic happens."
It happens so often for U2 that the group has come closer to matching
the quality and mass appeal of The Beatles over the past 25 years than
any other band.
This is pop music at its most ambitious -- personal and independent
enough to satisfy discerning listeners, yet open and accessible enough
to pack stadiums. Although the group has experimented with electronica
and other contemporary sounds, the essence of U2 is classic rock 'n'
roll.
You won't find lots of humor or party toss-offs in U2. The Irish
quartet's flurry of Top 40 hits, including "Pride (In the Name of
Love)" and "One," mostly are soaring anthems built around the same
message of brotherhood that characterized The Beatles' later years. Yet
U2 arrives at songs in a much different way.
John Lennon or Paul McCartney usually came up with songs and then
taught them to George Harrison and Ringo Starr. But U2 collaborates to
a degree that is rare -- a process that depends on the singular
chemistry of the four musicians.
Bono and guitarist the Edge bring ideas into the studio -- a title, the
trace of a melody or a catchy riff -- then bassist Adam Clayton and
drummer Larry Mullen join in the construction of the songs. The
grueling give-and-take sometimes stretches for weeks as the musicians
toss ideas back and forth, equal partners in the search for an emotion
that seems fresh and deeply rooted.
When the marathon sessions are going well, Mullen says, the rehearsal
studio feels like a playground. When they're going badly, it feels like
a boxing ring.
"We're tough guys," Clayton says. "We know we'll get there eventually.
A lot of it is perspiration. You just have to put in the hours and do
your time." The Edge is fond of repeating the band's private joke that
it's "songwriting by accident."
"It's more like Miles Davis than The Beatles in a way," Bono says.
Only after the band finds that powerful emotion, be it blissful or
melancholy, does Bono begin applying lyrics. Sometimes he'll draw
phrases or lines from the notebook he carries with him. Occasionally,
he'll work from a finished lyric.
His improvisation in the studio often starts with him just muttering
sounds that seem to fit the flow of the music being created --
"Bono-eze," his bandmates call it.
"When Bono starts going through his Bono-eze, it can change what we're
playing and take the song in a different direction," Mullen says. "If
he's doing something very intense, it might not even be what he's
saying, but the way he's behaving, the way he's throwing the microphone
around. The energy and intensity helps shape the song."
Gradually, Bono begins changing sounds into words and lines, trying to
articulate the feelings the music stirs in him.
Unlike many great songwriters, he doesn't spend much time editing his
words. He even declares that "craft and taste can be the enemy of
songwriting" because they encourage you to follow certain rules, rather
than simply following your emotions.
"At various times, we've tried to stick to conventional songwriting,"
Mullen says from Dublin. "But after a few months we see it's not
working. We need to dismantle the ideas and start again."
Adds the Edge: "My worst nightmare is sounding 'professional.' I think
we work best when we keep moving into the unknown."
U2's unorthodox songwriting style was born out of necessity.
When the band members came together in high school, they weren't good
enough at their instruments to play convincing versions of the hits of
the day. To hide their inexperience, they came up with their own songs.
"From fairly early on, it became clear to us that we had no idea about
songwriting technique," the Edge says. "Our way into songwriting was to
dream it up. ... Instinct was everything for us, and it really still
is."
While he sometimes wishes the band's songwriting process gave him more
time to write the lyrics, Bono still thinks the system comes up with
the best songs.
"When I look at our first 10 years, I just hear unfinished work, lyrics
we never finished because we ran out of studio time," he says of his
contributions. "I hear 'Bad,' and see what's not there. I just see a
list of failures."
Still, he wouldn't change way U2 works. For all his personal
frustrations and the band's uncertain moments, they all know they've
found a way to connect with audiences.
Although Bono and his family live most of the year in Dublin, he enjoys
the energy of New York.
He still takes delight in pointing out some of the landmarks as he sits
in the passenger seat of a van headed to a meeting on easing world
hunger. As the driver navigates through traffic, Bono shoves the new U2
album into the CD player and pounds his fist on the dashboard as the
music blasts through the speakers. There's a driving, rock 'n' roll
vitality to the music, which is due out this fall; a freshness that you
hardly expect from bands in their third decade.
But U2 has been able to remain both current and relevant. They get
airplay on college and alt-rock radio stations and find their
"Beautiful Day" at John Kerry campaign rallies.
As the vocal starts, he sings along. But it's so noisy in the car you
can't really make out the words. Bono's expression, however, tells you
he's very proud of this album. He suddenly stops singing and begins
chuckling as he turns down the volume. "Did you hear that last verse?
... You never write a verse like that. That was definitely improvised.
But there are other lines in the song I wrote ahead of time."
When the songs are finished, Bono looks at the disc.
"Lou Reed is a friend, and I once asked if he had advice for a young
poet, and, in his usual cryptic way, he summed it up, 'Break rhyme
occasionally.'"
Bono laughs as the van pulls to a stop.
"You know, songwriting really is a mysterious process ... because we're
asking people to expose themselves. It's like open heart surgery in
some way. You're looking for real, raw emotions, and you don't find
that by sticking to the rules."