Here is something you don’t want: Bono’s opinions. The U2 frontman added to his turdiness, by giving his thoughts on the current state of music. Here’s what he told Rolling Stone:
I think music has gotten very girly. And there are some good things about that, but hip-hop is the only place for young male anger at the moment—and that’s not good. When I was 16, I had a lot of anger in me. You need to find a place for it and for guitars, whether it is with a drum machine—I don’t care. The moment something becomes preserved, it is fucking over. You might as well put it in formaldehyde. In the end, what is rock & roll? Rage is at the heart of it. Some great rock & roll tends to have that, which is why the Who were such a great band. Or Pearl Jam. Eddie has that rage.
I’m sure a 57-year-old is totally in touch with the music today to make this kind of statement.
On one hand, I don’t think he’s wrong. His word choice is poor and elitist, but that’s just Bono for you. Alright, let me rephrase. He’s wrong, but I don’t think he thinks he’s wrong. In fact, I know he doesn’t think he’s wrong. Because he’s Bono.
Music, at least the music on the radio, certainly doesn’t seem to be this rage-filled manifesto towards life and society like it was in the 90’s. But that’s due to Twitter. It’s easier to craft a 280-character tweet than it is to write a song. And we millennials are nothing if not lazy, right Bono?
On the other hand, Bono still sucks and he’s totally wrong. He’s wrong in his simplification and myopic view of the music he hears. The music he’s searching for is still out there. But Bono isn’t listening to it unless it unwantedly pops up in his iTunes library.