Politics and Religion in Selected Lyrics of U2
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Politics and Religion in Selected Lyrics of U2: From War (1983) to „Miss Sarajevo“ (1995) Diplomarbeit Zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades einer Magistra der Philosophie An der Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz vorgelegt von Kathrin NEUHOLD Am Institut für Anglistik Begutachter: Ao. Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr.phil. Hugo Keiper Graz, 2013 Von ganzem Herzen danke ich meinen Eltern, dass sie mich durch all die Jahre meiner Studienzeit unterstützt haben. Es ist keineswegs selbstverständlich und ich möchte mich hiermit bei ihnen aufrichtig für diese einzigartige Möglichkeit bedanken. Ich möchte mich auch für die motivierenden und bereichernden Gespräche mit meinem Lebensgefährten Mario bedanken, der mir in jedem Moment der Diplomarbeit hilfreich zur Seite gestanden ist und mich in allen Computerangelegenheiten beraten hat. Ein besonderer Dank gilt auch meinem Diplomarbeitsbetreuer Prof. Dr. Hugo Keiper für dessen Hilfsbereitschaft, thematische Aufgeschlossenheit und seiner geduldigen Beantwortung jeder noch so klein scheinenden Frage. Er unterstützte mich weiters oft mit motivierenden Worten und verstand es, meine unangebrachten Sorgen während des Verfassens der Diplomarbeit zu lindern. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Introduction ............................................................................... 1 2 U2 – The Band ........................................................................... 4 3 Short History of Ireland ............................................................... 7 3.1 Northern Ireland ............................................................................ 9 3.2 The Troubles ................................................................................ 10 3.3 Anti–Protestantism ....................................................................... 11 4 U2 and Religion ......................................................................... 12 4.1 The Religious Education of Bono Vox, The Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Junior ....................................................................................... 12 4.2 Religion in the Early Years of U2 ..................................................... 15 4.3 October (1981) ............................................................................ 19 5 U2 and Politics ........................................................................... 21 5.1 War and The Unforgettable Fire (1983–1985) ................................... 22 5.2 Band Aid, Life Aid and “A Conspiracy of Hope” (1984–1986) .............. 25 5.3 The Joshua Tree and Rattle and Hum (1986–1989) ........................... 30 5.4 Achtung Baby and ZooTV (1990–1992) ........................................... 35 5.5 Stop Sellafield (June 1992) and Festival Against Racism (January 1993) .. ................................................................................................. 43 5.6 Zooropa (1993) and “Miss Sarajevo” (1995) ..................................... 45 6 Conclusions ............................................................................... 49 7 The Analysis .............................................................................. 51 7.1 Sunday, Bloody Sunday ................................................................. 51 7.2 Bullet The Blue Sky ....................................................................... 60 7.3 Mothers Of The Disappeared .......................................................... 69 7.4 Miss Sarajevo .............................................................................. 74 8 Conclusion ................................................................................ 79 9 Bibliography .............................................................................. 81 1 Introduction For over three decades U2 has been ranking among the biggest rock acts of our time. Having won 22 Grammy Awards, released 12 studio albums, sold more than 150 million records worldwide and meanwhile occupying a place in the “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame”, the band has achieved fame beyond imagination. Soon in their career U2 decided to commit themselves to more than only being an ordinary rock ’n’ roll band, which was definitely connected to their Christian life. After coming to the conclusion that their religious life was inconsistent with their life as rock stars, they started to take advantage of their prominence and consequently interfered in political affairs around the globe. U2, and in particular Bono Vox, the charismatic U2 singer and front- man, devoted themselves to all kinds of humanitarian and political activism. Bono has become a crusader for the world’s poor and disadvantaged, which has gained him incredible respect not only from his fans, but also from politicians and statesmen all over the world. Furthermore the artistic and intellectual development of U2 resulted in profound lyrics, which are suffused with scriptural references and reveal U2’s commitment to social and political change. U2 continuously tries to raise awareness for the grievances in this world. In their concerts political appeals are mixed into the set and the songs alternate with calls to social action. U2 seems to be different from numerous superficial bands of recent times. This fascinates millions of supporters, who sometimes also feel the urge to change the world for the better with their own small good deeds. Being a U2 fan myself and having already visited four of their concerts, one of them in their native city Dublin, I decided to systematically investigate the role of religion and politics in U2’s 1 lyrics in this thesis. I will first provide a short introduction to the rock band. Furthermore I will discuss the religious background of U2’s native country Ireland, the secession of Northern Ireland, the Troubles in the 1960s, and the subsequent anti- Protestantism, as all of these influences certainly had a huge impact on the religious development of the band members. In the subsequent part I present U2’s own approach to religion. This comprises the religious education of the various band members and the significance of religion in the early years of U2’s career. Furthermore I will briefly introduce their second and most overtly religious album, October. The final section of the general part of this thesis will be concerned with the political achievements of U2. I will place special emphasis on the commitment of lead singer and lyricist Bono Vox as he is the main initiator of U2’s political activities. I will then give a short overview of their albums and start with their most political album, War. Soon after U2 had achieved a certain reputation, they made the acquaintance of Bob Geldof. Later on it was Amnesty International, and other aid agencies, which asked U2 for help to raise awareness for their concerns. After a while, U2 started to actively support different good causes by themselves. Apart from U2’s political commitment I will also give an overview of their music from War until their song “Miss Sarajevo”. In the practical part of my thesis I will examine four lyrics of U2 with special emphasis on religious references and political backgrounds. I will start with their best-known song, “Sunday, Bloody Sunday”, which focuses on the desperate battle between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland. Next I will investigate “Bullet The Blue Sky”, a song that deals with the unjustified 2 interference of the USA in the civil wars of Central America. The following song, “Mothers Of The Disappeared”, is a lament of the many disappeared sons and daughters who fell victim to the totalitarian regimes in Central and South America, and honours the mothers of these children. I will end the analytical part with the discussion of “Miss Sarajevo”, which focuses on the fearless inhabitants of war-torn Sarajevo in the beginning of the 1990s. 3 2 U2 – The Band The first chapter of the thesis will be concerned with a short introduction to U2. It provides an overview of the band members and an insight into how and when the band was founded. Furthermore, it will talk about the band’s initial progresses, their manager Paul McGuinness, and their long anticipated first record deal. U2, the successful rock band from Ireland, achieved more in the last three decades than most bands ever accomplish. This not only concerns the world fame of U2, but also their particular style of lyric writing: veracious lyrics often combined with social and religious messages. The topics of the lyrics marked a return to the 1960s, when rock music played a vital role as far as race relations, sex, drugs, religion, and most notably charitable and social causes were concerned. Besides the above-mentioned lyrical motifs in U2’s songs, they produced various anti-war songs, starting with their renowned anthem “Sunday Bloody Sunday”, which called for peace in Northern Ireland. U2’s participation in Band Aid and Live Aid further set the course for the band’s continued successful career. U2 always tried to make a difference and were able to accomplish this goal. It all started when Larry Mullen Jr.’s father convinced his 14- year-old son, a gifted young drummer, to put up a notice on the school board to find like-minded musicians in Mount Temple, to form a band. On Saturday, 25 September 1976, five diverse personalities, with various, different talents, showed up in the kitchen of the drummer (cf. McCormick 2006: 34-35). This afternoon marked the beginning of a new musical milestone. At the time the band called itself “Feedback”. It consisted of Adam Clayton on bass, Paul Hewson, who was later nicknamed "Bono