U2 got a lot to answer for

Was the song ‘Stay (Faraway, So Close)’ written specifically for the Wim Wenders film or something else?? Is there going to be a Heart on the next tour?? What about Propaganda, is it coming back as a publication or is it going to remain strictly online??

::: Susan

LARRY: ‘Stay’ was triggered by Wim Wenders’ movie certainly, as for the rest, we don’t know what there will be on the next tour, we don’t make those decisions until we have to and they are born of the record. Propaganda will be no more, the web site is so much better at doing the job, we decided to let it do just that.

I was just wondering if you guys are working on a new album and if so when is it to be released?

::: Sasha Harris & Louis Greenhalgh

BONO: The day after we finished the Elevation tour, we started work on the next album. Working with Richard Rainey we set up in a disused bar/nightclub in the South of France. Very punk rock and very like old clubs we used to play. Maybe it was being in that kind of venue, but the music we started to make was very lo-fi high energy. One of these songs might make it onto our new Best Of which comes out later this year.

A question for Bono: if you had to choose one of these terms to define yourself right now, would it be A) political activist, or b) musician?

::: Brianne

BONO: Nothing comes close to the feeling of waking up with a melody in your head and having a band like U2 to help you capture it. As I said at the hotpress Awards, I don’t think of myself as a great singer but I sing from a great place. That place is U2. Politicians don’t turn me on, politics doesn’t turn me on, the way music does. I have a lot more respect for them than I used to. They work a lot harder than I thought… but I don’t want to be one.

Hello Larry,

Would you ever consider singing lead on any future U2 songs? We would love to hear you!

Cheers,

::: Tassoula E. Kokkoris

LARRY: I think that’s a very good idea. The track listing would include ‘Dirty Old Town’, obviously. But the real reason why it’s unlikely that I will take to the front for any length of time, is that Bono can’t drum.

I grew up in South Africa in the ’80s where I went to a whites only school, visited whites only beaches and lived my life as any 13 year old would. I had been a U2 fan since I was 9 but when Rattle And Hum was released, the track ‘Silver And Gold’ made me realise just what was going on the country. I was expelled from my whites only school because I had an attitude problem and my thoughts were far too liberal for an Afrikaans High School. Did you ever expect your music to have such a profound impact on peoples lives?

Regards,

::: Leoni Grobler, Johannesburg, South Africa

BONO: The inspiration to write songs comes from the desire to change your own life, not somebody else’s. You sometimes write down a feeling in order to rid yourself of it. Anger at the stupidity of apartheid was easy to vent. Joy at the compromises people are making in Archbishop Tutu’s Truth and Reconciliation programme is a lot harder to describe. That’s an extraordinary thing they’ve got going on there… if people speak the truth about their crimes during the Apartheid era, they are granted impunity. Truth is more important than vengeance as far as the South Africans are concerned; this is very enlightened grace in action… one of the things that most inspires me in the world. By the way Tutu’s nick-name is ‘the Arch’.

OK Bono, you’ve been doing the rock ’n’ roll thing for a while now, ever considered going for Irish Presidency?

::: “The Evangelists”

BONO: I don’t think I could live with the paycut (or moving to a smaller house).

I was wondering do things like your recent trip to Africa with Treasury Secretary O’Neil, and seeing all the poor and suffering people of this continent, rejuvenate you and give you the mental energy to keep fighting for your goals with this issue?

::: Richard Rademaker

BONO: Absolutely. Some people say that as they get older and/or have a family they mellow out. For me, the opposite is true. I’m getting angrier and that’s what makes me believe that with some smart thinking and simple changes to our lives, we can drastically improve the lives of so many other people.

Hi! I would really love to know what the tattoo on Larry’s arm stands for?

::: HildeFolkersma, Holland (fan since 1981)

LARRY: If you’re close enough to see the tattoo you’re too close.

If I could ask one question, it would be:

Bono, as a NY’er with a healing heart, I feel I have the right to ask if you will kindly put some sex back into your lyrics. I want to change the world as much as the next, but I am bored of returning to Achtung Baby or Zooropa to find something sexy in U2’s music. I need a wine guzzling, black leather-wearing, decadent, improper, Charles Bukowski-spewing rock star. So please put Paul Hewson and Africa on the shelf for a bit, let go of Bono and return to Macphisto! You claim to hold the right to be ridiculous very dear, well I claim the right to get lost in that even more dear. So, will you do it?

::: The Edge's Hat

BONO: Sex in Africa?

Last year, at the second Elevation concert in Antwerp, you played a beautiful new ballad to the bewilderment of the 16,500 fans. We don’t know if the song has a title yet, but it could be called ‘I Love You’. Since then, you haven’t played it again. Now we wonder if it might ever make an appearance on a U2 CD, or was it a one-off? (Either way, thanks for the wonderful surprise last August.) Cheers.

::: Steve Van Voven (and all the curious Belgians)

BONO: That was a gig near to Edge’s birthday and I improvised a song with the words “Gonna make it up as we go along/I love you, love you and our love is true – it’s a birthday song for Edge.”

Larry, so you’re the one who’s responsible for all this. Are there mornings you wake up and regret posting that notice so many years ago?

::: Lisa A. Kennelly

LARRY: Not really, because I would have had to fill the time with something else. I still love being in U2 but those mornings of regret are usually when there’s not enough of being in a band in the work I have to do.

If you could have only one book, which one would you choose?

::: Ellen Basham

BONO: Take a wild guess, it’s the greatest story ever told.

Hey boys,

Please help me settle an 11-year-old wager I have with a good friend: Is the intro to ‘Until The End Of The World’ a vocal or guitar? To me, it sounds like Bono screaming with some heavy reverb. My friend thinks it is Edge on guitar.

::: Rob Watson, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

BONO: Without giving too much away, it’s a mixture of both actually. It’s amazing what Edge can put through his guitar.

When are you going to write a song about Chicago? We love you just as much as New York does!

::: Sean Clock, Chicago

BONO: This band has a feeling for Chicago that is impossible to describe. During Pop Mart the nights at Soldier Field were the best on the tour and last year we felt like we kind of moved in. I’ve written a lot about my time in Chicago. I hope some of it will turn up in a song. It’s hard to contrive these things… I love American cities, especially the impossible ones. Like the glass city of Phoenix, AZ, where people live in 120°F, or Chicago, where they built one of the tallest cities in the world, on a marsh. Only the Irish would have believed that could be possible. That’s why there are so many living there.

Did you guys ride the horses in the ‘New Year’s Day’ video?

::: Laetitia Robert, France

BONO: Yes we did and Anton Corbijn fell down a snowy ravine and managed not to get his camera wet.

I am so impressed and inspired by the work you do for DATA. I very much want to be involved, but I am not sure how best to help with this initiative. What would you suggest to the "average" person who wants to contribute in a meaningful way? In addition to financial contribution, could you suggest other things – large or small – that we could do? Heartfelt thanks for the wonderful music and for inspiring me to do what I can to improve the world!

::: Catherine McNeill, Ontario, Canada

BONO: Is there such a thing as an "average" person?... The Jubilee 2000 movement showed that even signatures on a page can have an impact if you can get enough of them... People power, postcards, petitions, peaceful protestors, parades – all to pester the politicians into having to do something about the crippling debt crisis. Never underestimate the importance of being a pest… DATA is about tackling the big issues of debt, AIDS and trade in Africa – the organisation is evolving, but keep an eye on www.datadata.org for information to arm yourself with, for who to write to, where to turn up... and make your mark right now by following links to the other organisations listed and joining their campaigns.