We are not ironists
This day last week here, we were quoting Bob Dylan's Knockin' on Heaven's Door as it became apparent that the Pope was about to die. Seeing that this year marks the 50th anniversary of rock 'n' roll itself, we'll stay in the "mature performer" groove and quote Bruce Springsteen, who inducted U2 into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 15 March:
"Every good Irish and Italian-Irish frontman knows that before James Brown there was Jesus. So hold the McDonald arches on the stage set, boys, we are not ironists. We are creations of the heart and of the earth and of the Stations of the Cross."
U2 are on the road now with their Vertigo//2005 Tour. It kicked off in San Diego to great acclaim at the end of March and the band is currently playing its way along the West Coast of the USA. Last Saturday night, the venue was Anaheim. Bono speaks to the packed house:
"I met the Holy Father and I was so taken by this showman, even if I didn't agree with everything he said," the singer, whose father was Roman Catholic, said to the crowd as the band began playing the intro to new song 'Miracle Drug'.Bono carried on speaking about a time six years ago, when he met the church head and gave the Pope his trademark sunglasses.
"I said 'Holy father, do you want a pair of fly shades?' and he said 'yes' and he put them on and he made a face kind of like this."
After scrunching his face to resemble Pope John Paul II, Bono showed the crowd he still carries with him a token of their meeting.
"He reached out and gave me this sort of crooked cross. It was designed by Michelangelo. They're my rosaries and I wear them around my neck, and I take them off and put them in my pocket during a rock show, you understand [why]."
The band then launched into the full version of 'Miracle Drug' which Bono dedicated to "anyone who is sick." Before U2's next song, recent single 'Sometimes You Can't Make it On Your Own', Bono called out the name of the Pope — "John Paul" to the crowd and described him as "an Italian who knew the right person to get into heaven."
No trace of irony there. Those who says that we live in a Godless age suddenly seem less convincing.
