in the Holy Scriptures. That’s what we
took away from this: this rich language,
these ancient tracts of wisdom.’
Religion, as well as inspiring him
lyrically, also represented a deeper
current of cultural meaning to Bono:
‘Here’s the strange bit: most of the
people that you grew up with in black
music had a similar baptism of the spirit,
right? The difference is that most of these
performers felt they could not express
their sexuality before God. They
had to turn away. So rock ’n’ roll
became backsliders’ music. They
were running away from God.
But I never believed that. I never
saw it as being a choice, an either/
or thing. Look at the people who
have formed my imagination. Bob
Dylan, 1976 – he’s going through
similar stuff. You buy Patti Smith’s
Horses – “Jesus died for somebody’s
sins / But not mine...” And she
turns Van Morrison’s Gloria into
liturgy. She’s wrestling with these
demons – Catholicism in her
case – right the way through to Wave,
where she’s talking to the pope... The
music that really turns me on is either
running towards God or away from God.
Both recognise the pivot that God is
at the centre of the jaunt. So the blues,
on one hand – running away; gospel,
the Mighty Clouds of Joy – running
towards. And later you came to analyse it
and figure it out.
‘The blues are like the Psalms of
David. Here was this character, living
in a cave, whose outbursts were as much
criticism as praise. There’s David singing,
“Oh, God – where are you when I need
you? / You call yourself God?” And you
go, this is the blues. Both deal with the
relationship with God. That’s really it.
I’ve since realised that anger with God is
very valid. We wrote a song about that
on the Pop album – people were confusedby it – Wake Up Dead Man: “Jesus, Jesus
help me / I’m alone in this world / And a
fucked-up world it is, too / Tell me, tell
me the story / The one about eternity /
And the way it’s all gonna be / Wake up,
wake up dead man.”’
It was 1983’s War album that really
brought the band into international
focus, largely down to the popularity
of the New Year’s Day single, a pile-driving anthem which focused on U2’s
knack for a sing-along chorus, a catchy
but simple guitar riff and an expert
ability to change the atmosphere from
mellow to urgent and back again at
the flip of a coin. Much of this was
attributable to The Edge’s burgeoning
guitar skills – he has often been cited
as one of the very best players of his
generation and has his own unique
style that does not involve pointless
shredding. Rather, he focuses on
atmospherics with a delay pedal
and other simple tools.
As The Edge explained of
the U2 song writing process,
‘We’re turned on by great songs,
great song writing, soul is the
key element above anything. I
think it has to connect, it has to
mean something, it has to reveal
something. Great rhythm, and
just great sound – different sounds
than what we’ve ever used before,
different arrangement styles and
just a lot of experimentation...
We always try to concentrate whatever
we’re doing at any given moment – right
now, making our new record – we’ve got
all our focus on that. When we finish,
then we start to think “OK, how are we
gonna play these songs live?” and that
becomes another interesting turn for a
lot of the material because in the process
of rearranging things for live, you can
really strip away the studio textures, theU2 in 1982. From left: Larry Mullen Jnr, The Edge, Bono, Adam Clayton.“We’re turned on by great
songs, great songwriting, soul
is the key element... I think
it has to connect, it has to
mean something.”
The Edge