I really love this piece, which is saying something considering I don’t have those feelings for Bono. It’s very difficult to formulate, but I am well aware of how seemingly good a person he is, his philanthropy, and his gigantic heart. And I can’t say that I dislike him, but in general someone who contains those properties get my admiration. And he does have my admiration for all of those things. But I never liked the band very much, I thought it was a lot of noisy effects and theatrics, I generally can’t stand the edges guitar playing, and I think a lot of it comes across as pompous. And I say that with a feeling that they are generally good people. I met Larry had a Bob Dylan show at the Beacon many years ago, and he could not have been kinder to anyone and everyone who wanted a moment of his time.So I gather the band or quality humans, and I know Bono himself is I just can’t connect with him, but I really loved your essay.
That’s awfully kind, Phil. Thanks so much. I worked hard on that one in particular. I think we’re losing our idealism as a people. That worries me. Really appreciate your comment.
I have to confess to being one of the few who don't really like Springsteen, though I'm the opposite of a Trump Maga person. See, it's this overblown thing. Like Bruce and his song characters are Chinese propaganda posters, retooled for the USA. I prefer reality, which, as Bruce admitted in his Broadway show, was absent in the whole cars and highway suicide charade. He didn't even have a driver's licence when he wrote those songs. This troubles me. Similar thing with Bono, who is also overblown. Angel of Harlem was playing in the background once in this hardware store, and the guy behind the counter there, a Boston musician I knew, was shaking his head, sourly. I asked why, and he said, "Billie Holiday was no angel." I smiled. Perfect comment. When you reduce human beings to stereotypes, not matter how well meaning, you aren't talkin' real anymore.
I would say that's a more cynical point of view -- which is your choice, of course. I would say that Bruce's imagination and that of U2, trying to draw us a picture to make a larger point, whether they actually considered every single element of their personality or not, is the idea. Thousands, if not millions of people, were touched by what Bruce wrote about Racing In The Street, regardless of whether he actually did it or not. Just like millions loved Brian Wilson's Beach Boy idylls and he was as far from a surfer as you can get. Billie Holiday, like it or not, was a symbol of a stylish black singer speaking for her people in song. Heroin addict? So was Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, maybe Freud was a cocaine freak. To me, what they shared is important. We will never KNOW them or what the reality of their lives were. We do know their art. And there's a reason it lasted. And will last.
Cynicism implies a sourness or a negative view of things, which I certainly don't have. If you go back to Diogenes, the OG cynic, he basically rejected all artifice and sought truth. Once, in the square, he was sunning himself, and Alexander, that Alexander, who knew him, asked Diogenes if there was anything he could do for him. The ruler of Greece. Diogenes said, "Yes, you can get out of my light." This is someone who doesn't seek anything or pretend. Howlin' Wolf was put out of his house by his mother, in the winter in Mississippi, when he was like, ten, moved in with an uncle who treated him badly. He grew older and was drawn to the blues, met bluesmen in Mississippi, played in joints, all going on in the Jim Crow south. So, in other words, he was real. He was authentic. I'm drawn to that. He didn't need to use his imagination to create his blues. For Billie Holiday, I'm not condemning her in any way for using heroin, and yes, you're right, she was stylish and she was the best singer, who held her own as a singer, as a black woman of the time, which was incredible, she presented herself to a mixed audience on her own terms to great success. But like my friend said, she wasn't an angel, it's an ok song, it condenses history, and Bono has the right to deify Billie if he wants. I'm just talking about me, I'm not drawn to that kind of glorification of a subject. If I buy into that, then to listen to Holiday is to see her through some quasi-religious lens that conflates with Bono's Catholic viewpoint. There ain't no stained glass saints. And I've been a working class guy, and Springsteen's romantic view of working guys isn't real. At all. So why should I believe in his race car stories? Diogenes, the first performance artist, walked around with a lantern in the daytime searching for an honest man. It was his experience among human beings that made him a cynic, not the other way around. It isn't even so much Springsteen and Bono themselves, as people, I'm not talking about that, and they've both written good songs, it's the approach they use. They came out of the 80's when everything had to be big. Nebraska is the best record Springsteen made, because it's small, and in the stories there's a journalistic approach, you know he's relating stories from an observational POV. That's honest. But it didn't sell. So there's the rub. As far as Brian Wilson, he wrote surfin' songs because of Dennis and Mike, once he was more established, he wrote Pet Sounds.
I love Howlin’ Wolf, too but does his music mean more to me than Bruce’s or Dylan’s because he’s more “authentic”? For you, apparently yes. I don’t think that way. And, just a guess, neither does Mick Jagger, who refused to appear on “Shindig” unless they put Wolf on or Eric Clapton or Bob or Bruce. If you think they’re all phonies, that’s one thing, I guess. I don’t.
I never said Dylan was inauthentic, even though he steals stuff and made up things about his past. I think Dylan is always focused on truth. It's a way of looking at the world. Miles Davis had a privileged childhood, but was obsessed with tone and his horn, which was his portal to truth. The argument is about how true is any artist's stuff. I just see it as I see it, how true things are. If someone else feels different, and is inspired or whatever, I don't disregard that in the least. Eye of the beholder. I just said what rings true to me. Oh, and I can't stand Clapton, by the way. Lol.
Well, I respect your point but I don’t know how you can determine what’s “authentic” and what isn’t. I would suppose that’s a personal decision we all have to make. Is Bruce less “authentic” on “Born In The USA” than on “Nebraska”? I certainly don’t think so and I’m SURE he would dispute that.
Hey John... so I didn't want to create a feud, I reacted to your saying everybody likes Springsteen, which I realize was just a throw-away line. I'm pretty firm in my ideas is all, and I don't back down on them, but it isn't anything personal, I certainly also respect your viewpoint and experience with music. I guess it's a way to approach philosophy? These are large questions, what is great art, what isn't, what's the gray area.
Beautiful!
Well done. I appreciate Bono more now than I did 20 years ago, although I have always admired his restless creativity and searching.
I love Bono. Invisible. You may recall that. Great article.
Love that song, too. Taught it.
Did you ever see this??? https://open.substack.com/pub/johnnogowski/p/discussing-the-female-brain?r=7pf7u&utm_medium=ios
That was an great article :D
Nicely said. Thank you for sharing your story.
I really love this piece, which is saying something considering I don’t have those feelings for Bono. It’s very difficult to formulate, but I am well aware of how seemingly good a person he is, his philanthropy, and his gigantic heart. And I can’t say that I dislike him, but in general someone who contains those properties get my admiration. And he does have my admiration for all of those things. But I never liked the band very much, I thought it was a lot of noisy effects and theatrics, I generally can’t stand the edges guitar playing, and I think a lot of it comes across as pompous. And I say that with a feeling that they are generally good people. I met Larry had a Bob Dylan show at the Beacon many years ago, and he could not have been kinder to anyone and everyone who wanted a moment of his time.So I gather the band or quality humans, and I know Bono himself is I just can’t connect with him, but I really loved your essay.
That’s awfully kind, Phil. Thanks so much. I worked hard on that one in particular. I think we’re losing our idealism as a people. That worries me. Really appreciate your comment.
Occupational hazard. Don’t sweat it. It was beautiful. Thank you. 🙏
Oy I just reread my response. I’m sorry for all of the voice memo generated typos.
Joshua Tree, my favorite of theirs. Seen em twice.
Saw that tour opener and the third night. Also the Unforgettable Fire, Pop Mart, Achtung Baby tour twice and saw them at The Sphere! Fabulous band.
I have to confess to being one of the few who don't really like Springsteen, though I'm the opposite of a Trump Maga person. See, it's this overblown thing. Like Bruce and his song characters are Chinese propaganda posters, retooled for the USA. I prefer reality, which, as Bruce admitted in his Broadway show, was absent in the whole cars and highway suicide charade. He didn't even have a driver's licence when he wrote those songs. This troubles me. Similar thing with Bono, who is also overblown. Angel of Harlem was playing in the background once in this hardware store, and the guy behind the counter there, a Boston musician I knew, was shaking his head, sourly. I asked why, and he said, "Billie Holiday was no angel." I smiled. Perfect comment. When you reduce human beings to stereotypes, not matter how well meaning, you aren't talkin' real anymore.
I would say that's a more cynical point of view -- which is your choice, of course. I would say that Bruce's imagination and that of U2, trying to draw us a picture to make a larger point, whether they actually considered every single element of their personality or not, is the idea. Thousands, if not millions of people, were touched by what Bruce wrote about Racing In The Street, regardless of whether he actually did it or not. Just like millions loved Brian Wilson's Beach Boy idylls and he was as far from a surfer as you can get. Billie Holiday, like it or not, was a symbol of a stylish black singer speaking for her people in song. Heroin addict? So was Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, maybe Freud was a cocaine freak. To me, what they shared is important. We will never KNOW them or what the reality of their lives were. We do know their art. And there's a reason it lasted. And will last.
Cynicism implies a sourness or a negative view of things, which I certainly don't have. If you go back to Diogenes, the OG cynic, he basically rejected all artifice and sought truth. Once, in the square, he was sunning himself, and Alexander, that Alexander, who knew him, asked Diogenes if there was anything he could do for him. The ruler of Greece. Diogenes said, "Yes, you can get out of my light." This is someone who doesn't seek anything or pretend. Howlin' Wolf was put out of his house by his mother, in the winter in Mississippi, when he was like, ten, moved in with an uncle who treated him badly. He grew older and was drawn to the blues, met bluesmen in Mississippi, played in joints, all going on in the Jim Crow south. So, in other words, he was real. He was authentic. I'm drawn to that. He didn't need to use his imagination to create his blues. For Billie Holiday, I'm not condemning her in any way for using heroin, and yes, you're right, she was stylish and she was the best singer, who held her own as a singer, as a black woman of the time, which was incredible, she presented herself to a mixed audience on her own terms to great success. But like my friend said, she wasn't an angel, it's an ok song, it condenses history, and Bono has the right to deify Billie if he wants. I'm just talking about me, I'm not drawn to that kind of glorification of a subject. If I buy into that, then to listen to Holiday is to see her through some quasi-religious lens that conflates with Bono's Catholic viewpoint. There ain't no stained glass saints. And I've been a working class guy, and Springsteen's romantic view of working guys isn't real. At all. So why should I believe in his race car stories? Diogenes, the first performance artist, walked around with a lantern in the daytime searching for an honest man. It was his experience among human beings that made him a cynic, not the other way around. It isn't even so much Springsteen and Bono themselves, as people, I'm not talking about that, and they've both written good songs, it's the approach they use. They came out of the 80's when everything had to be big. Nebraska is the best record Springsteen made, because it's small, and in the stories there's a journalistic approach, you know he's relating stories from an observational POV. That's honest. But it didn't sell. So there's the rub. As far as Brian Wilson, he wrote surfin' songs because of Dennis and Mike, once he was more established, he wrote Pet Sounds.
I love Howlin’ Wolf, too but does his music mean more to me than Bruce’s or Dylan’s because he’s more “authentic”? For you, apparently yes. I don’t think that way. And, just a guess, neither does Mick Jagger, who refused to appear on “Shindig” unless they put Wolf on or Eric Clapton or Bob or Bruce. If you think they’re all phonies, that’s one thing, I guess. I don’t.
I never said Dylan was inauthentic, even though he steals stuff and made up things about his past. I think Dylan is always focused on truth. It's a way of looking at the world. Miles Davis had a privileged childhood, but was obsessed with tone and his horn, which was his portal to truth. The argument is about how true is any artist's stuff. I just see it as I see it, how true things are. If someone else feels different, and is inspired or whatever, I don't disregard that in the least. Eye of the beholder. I just said what rings true to me. Oh, and I can't stand Clapton, by the way. Lol.
Well, I respect your point but I don’t know how you can determine what’s “authentic” and what isn’t. I would suppose that’s a personal decision we all have to make. Is Bruce less “authentic” on “Born In The USA” than on “Nebraska”? I certainly don’t think so and I’m SURE he would dispute that.
Hey John... so I didn't want to create a feud, I reacted to your saying everybody likes Springsteen, which I realize was just a throw-away line. I'm pretty firm in my ideas is all, and I don't back down on them, but it isn't anything personal, I certainly also respect your viewpoint and experience with music. I guess it's a way to approach philosophy? These are large questions, what is great art, what isn't, what's the gray area.
Sure. No feud. It’s not a doc. It’s a movie. Uh oh. Inauthentic. (Wink)
There's going to be a new documentary about Springsteen making Nebraska, so I guess we'll see what that says.