Stuff I Thought About While Walking Off My Thanksgiving Dinner So I Could Feel Better About Eating All The Leftovers (SITAWWOMTDSICFBAEATL)—By PJ
HTDAAB B/E, originally drawn in pencil in 2004 by Kelly Eddington, manipulated with Photomosh. Based on a photo possibly by Kevin Mazur; please don’t make me dig around for a 20 year old press photo. But if you know who took the photo I used, feel free to let me know.—Kelly
Stuff I Thought About While Walking Off My Thanksgiving Dinner So I Could Feel Better About Eating All The Leftovers (SITAWWOMTDSICFBAEATL)
PJ DeGenaro
Since 2018, when I began to write semi-seriously about U2, I’ve made it my business to check in regularly with other fansites, podcasts, and fan accounts. It’s a pleasure to be part of a little network of people who share my obsession, because at this point my relatives do NOT want to hear about it.
But I’m afraid I’ve internalized John Lydon’s line about anger being an energy, and so, because I thrive on confrontation, I tend to read the comments. Result: Wow, some people are eternally looking for trouble. We’ve confirmed that Larry is not quitting U2, and has not been fired from U2, so now it’s all, “Where’s Bono? Why are Edge and Adam doing all the publicity for HTDAAB/HTRAAB?”*
I have some theories. Not scientific theories like Gravity or Germ, just regular hypothetical ones:
Whenever Bono opens his mouth in public, or even DOESN’T open it (and I’m not linking to the shithead who made up the “cliff” story, sorry), the beatings begin. He’s said himself that he thinks people are tired of hearing from him, which makes me sad. I am not one of those people.
In discussing U2’s recording process, he tends to get a little exuberant (four men in a room, Edge on fire, etc.). I think, given the pace of Larry’s physical recovery, the band might be wary of over-promising and under-delivering. Since Edge tends to hold his cards a little closer to his chest, it makes sense that he’s out there talking about the alt-neu songs on HTRAAB. After all, he excavated them from his own files. Adam has done some promotion while also publicizing his documentary project, and even Larry emerged briefly from the shadows to talk about his. All four have been asked about a new record, and all four have confirmed they’re working on it.
I don’t know Bono, but I’ve been paying attention to him for a long time. If you’re reading this, you probably know plenty about him as well. Some people seem to remember him as a leftist firebrand. But he was never that, unless you think advocating for an end to apartheid or speaking out against Central American dictatorships is super-lefty. He likes democracy. He doesn’t like extreme poverty or HIV/AIDS. These should not be controversial views.
He stayed quiet through the recent U.S. election. I don’t mind when people from other countries weigh in, since what we do here affects the entire world, but he made his views on Trump clear back in 2016 and I very much doubt the needle has moved since then. He was absolutely right about Trump’s hijacking of the Republican party, and he might be wondering if it’s even worth talking to U.S. fans about the “idea” of America ever again, since so many of us have shown we simply don’t give a shit.
Finally, Bono is 64 years old. It’s possible that he’s not doing as much press as usual because he wants to conserve his energy, work on his songs, hang out with his wife, and maybe just plan for the holidays with family and friends. In the last couple of years, he’s written a giant cinderblock of a memoir, did a tremendous amount of press for it, and turned it into a one-man-show. He’s performed in a Kyiv subway station, filmed a sweet documentary with Edge and David Letterman, had a cameo in Kiss The Future, and sung Achtung Baby in its entirety at the Sphere. If he wants to stay quiet for a few months, it shouldn’t cause anyone a moment’s consternation.
In How To Re-Assemble An Atomic Bomb, I feel I’ve been given a whole new album that (prepare to cringe) slaps. And U2 have given themselves a way to stay on everyone’s radar while Larry gets back into fighting trim. In the meantime, instead of looking for problems, we can enjoy this album, and maybe even try to influence the direction of the next one by using our fanspaces to praise it.
*To be fair, Bono DID join Edge in an extended interview with Rolling Stone’s David Fricke on U2-X Radio. But PJ is right; Edge and Adam have dominated the promotion of HTDAAB/HTRAAB.—Kelly