the immortal shadow of death

Why do artists seem to lose something intangible in their work as they get older? I used to write it off as a physical issue until I saw U2 perform in 2018 - certain high notes proved elusive and there was less raw power in comparison to the videos I'd seen of past performances, but they still put on a great show. The new stuff, though, was hard to get excited about, and it's impossible to envision any of their post-2010 albums being considered above average (or should I say median?) by their lofty standards. Age seems to matter but there's more to the drop-off than the physical concern.

A note from U2 by U2 got me thinking about this once again. I wrote down that turning thirty is a kind of turning point for many people - they recognize that their immortality is in the past (I think Bono said it). Reader, I can confirm this notion (1). A constant sense of danger has a certain diminishing effect on life, like going from being the star to a supporting actor halfway through the play. I imagine a sense of immortality makes it easier for an artist to put his or her life through a pencil, paintbrush, or amplifier - if you don't feel at risk, you take more risks. But once you see the shadow of death, it's hard to ignore it, which makes it so difficult to throw yourself into something unrelated. It's no coincidence to me that the best U2 songs of the past decade are the few that seem to deal in some way with these inevitable accumulations of loss, but maybe it's just me; I'm getting older, too.

Endnotes / Footnotes

0) "Boring Bono" was the original title for this one but I soon realized being interesting is different from being interested.

1) This happened for me at around twenty-six, I think, which was really bad timing, but that's another matter. 

leftovers - u2 by u2 (channel flipping)

It's a holiday tomorrow, so why read? Let's watch Zoo TV, or just listen.

My favorite comment from U2 by U2 was about the Zoo TV tour, which satirized the way television (and particularly the news) normalized sensory overload for the audience - the book points out how the channel hopping enabled by the modern media should be far more upsetting than is commonly acknowledged. The thesis is very clear in the first two minutes or so of this video, though it's perhaps best represented in this performance of 'Desire', at least if you live in America.

Breaking overnight, a man was shot in the city, though thankfully the Celtics won, but first the weather, which is nice and sunny with a chance of late showers... and Zoo TV was two decades before social media; it's surprising we haven't all lost our minds.

reading review - u2 by u2

This 2005 release was pulled together by Neil McCormack from hours of interviews with the band and their longtime manager, Paul McGuinness, into an oral history of the band's origins and first forty or so years (may there be forty more). As it always goes with these music (auto)biographies, it's highly recommended to hardcore fans and an easy skip for everyone else. Those caught in the middle should note that there is a coffee table original release and the standard paperback follow up; the pictures come out much better in the former, if you are that sort of "reader". I suppose you can also have a peek at my book notes to get a sense of the material, which reads as a bizarre cross of a personal to-do list (songs for me to listen to) and a collection of the assorted bits of wisdom the band included in this work. 

U2 by U2 by U2 with Neil McCormack (December 2019)

The most rewarding aspect of the book was the endless anecdotes detailing the origins of their records. One example is about Achtung Baby B-side 'Lady With The Spinning Head', a song that the band struggled with which eventually formed the foundations for three others - ‘The Fly’, ‘Zoo Station’, and ‘Ultraviolet’; the story about The Edge, fearing he might forget the riff for 'Desire' until he could find a tape recorder in his house, was another such story (he had to open the door for the mailman while playing). Those who've followed the band's recent progress might have noticed some interesting hints about "upcoming" work, which (perhaps appropriately) seemed to come almost exclusively from Bono. In one passage, he describes a famous group they played with in the 1980s as, and I paraphrase - having played with the fire until the fire played with them; this expression is familiar to anyone who's heard 'Moment of Surrender' (which is my choice for their best song released after this book's publication). The shame of U2 by U2 is that the equivalent doesn't exist for every one of my favorite bands.

The only obvious issue with U2 by U2 is the lack of a true outside perspective on the band - we don't get a sense of why the band has such a huge fanbase, or a seemingly equal number of detractors. The best anyone can do, I suppose, is look through this book for hints. One possibility is in the note that when people struggle so much with grief that they choose to bottle it up, art gives them an opening to have conversations and explore ideas that they find impossible with other people. It ties nicely to the thought that an artist's job is to not only point out problems, but to also leverage creativity to find opportunities and solutions in otherwise devoid places. These are ideas I can relate to in the context of why I like the band and I suspect it would be a common feeling among my fellow fans. The flip side of these ideas is that not everyone, and possibly not most people, care at all about this when they listen to music. As the book notes, people will pick music simply because it sounds good through their speakers or headphones, and in that respect I think U2 is doing just as well as any other famous group, but no better - great art isn't always what you want to hear.

TOA Rating: Three out of forty.