December 15, 2009 - 7:02 pm
By Jay A. Fernandez
Bono received news of his sixth Golden Globe nomination for original song today, for the new U2 song “Winter” from the soundtrack to Jim Sheridan’s “Brothers.” As part of the awards-season ritual, he got on the phone with me today to relay his reaction to the honor.
What follows is an unexpected Q&A with a rock legend about the band’s process for selecting which movies to get involved with, his predilection for Colin Farrell movies and tying the Pixies‘ shoes.
Oh, and the singer-activist also threw in an impression of Bugs Bunny while relating a story about an unrealized U2-Spike Jonze video collaboration. Read on…
THR: This is not new for you. This is number six!
Bono: [laughs] We’re often left waiting at the altar on occasions like this. It’s a big thrill. And more than that, because of our relationship with Jim Sheridan. It goes back to really the first year of our band’s life, we’ve known him that long. It’s a very special feeling. And it’s going to be tricky because people think of songs that are involved in movies like this as non-integral. And this is not the case here. But it’s gonna be hard to convince people of that. We were involved in the very earliest stages of this movie—before it was a script! When it was just Jim pitching it! He wanted a complex song for a complex character. And we wrote two—one that referred particularly to the brothers that was called “White As Snow,” and this is called “Winter,” one that is just really a more universal song about the experience of the armed forces in Afghanistan. “No army in this world can fight a ghost,” in an asymmetrical war. The brave men and women of the United States military have their work cut out for them.
How do you write these songs at the script stage?
Well, we were in songwriting mode, actually, when Jim first told us about “Brothers.” So we were actively looking for subjects. And I was trying to give myself a break from writing in the first person anyway. [laughs] I was bored, and I reckon our audience were bored hearing about my every whim and aspiration and fear. So I really jumped on the idea of trying to get into this guy’s head. I am so pleased it turned out very well. It’s had a few iterations. We did a kind of rock band version of it, we did an acoustic version of it. And even yesterday [laughs] I caught Edge—because we were supposed to be working on something else—I caught him working on an electronic version! [laughs] He’s very proud of it. We are very proud of it. Songs like this, if you’re a songwriter, don’t come about every year.
How do you choose when a project is right for you to contribute to in that way?
Sometimes we’ll do it just for the sheer thrill and the fun of it. So, we wrote a song called “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” for “Batman [Forever].” And we loved it! It was pure fun, you know? And then, with Jim it’s a little different, with Wim Wenders it’s a little different, we have an ongoing relationship with those two directors. And then I myself have a pretty close relationship with Neil Jordan, and I’ve worked with him. But there’s an intimacy in our relationship with Jim Sheridan, which only time can account for, really.
Honestly, how does something like this fit into your sense of accomplishment as a songwriter and all the things you do with your life?
You tend to take for granted your own world. It’s when you step into somebody else’s… And the Golden Globe people, they have a very sharpened sense of musical ambition. And they’ve been good to us before. I don’t know if that will happen again. But I got so excited the last time, I believe, I shamed myself and the TV network by uttering an expletive. [laughs] Should we ever, ever be fortunate enough to be in that position, I promise I will be on my best behavior. [laughs]
Yeah, right. I believe you. My kids are still trying to get over it.
Did you get them counseling?
Well, I’m glad we had a chance to talk, because I’ll take your apology now.
I actually genuinely do apologize. [laughs] There’s nothing cool about uttering an expletive. It’s one of the dumbest things I’ve ever done, and I’ve done a few dumb things, but it genuinely was an outburst of Irish joy!
At least you didn’t have a wardrobe malfunction, for Christ’s sake.
Well, exactly. God forbid! Though, I must say, I’ve been to the gym, and I think I’m ready for it.
There you go. Everyone will expect you to go up there and throw the f-bomb. Go up there and paint SOY BOMB on your chest and rip your jacket off. Where are you right now?
I’m in Manhattan. We’re in the studio.
Are you working on a new album?
Yeah. We really didn’t take a day off. We went straight from the stage, the Brandenburg Gate — we played a concert for the reunification of Germany, the anniversary of that — and the next day we went into the studio because we had this crescendo of excitement toward the end of the tour. We were playing better than we’d ever been playing. We thought, ‘If we could just get this down, if we could get this feeling into some songs…’ So that’s what we did.
Were you playing new material on stage? Or it was just the spirit of it?
Nope. Nope. It was just the way we were playing together. Because, you know, if you’ve been around a while, you have to know if the spirit is with you, so to speak. And something happened toward the end of the tour that was very, very special.
It’s like suddenly having great sex with your wife after 20 years.
Well, that, too, by the way.
In the studio?
Everywhere!
You guys have a hell of a process there. What are you listening to right now? Can I get a recommendation?
Noah and the Whale was the last sort of album I listened to. Kind of in the mode of Arcade Fire.
Arcade Fire opened for you guys, right?
We’ve had Arcade Fire play with us. We’ve had some incredible opening acts over the years, from the Velvet Underground to the Pixies. [VU] played with us in Paris.
A friend of mine just saw the Pixies the other night in DC. I was very jealous.
Oh, God. I’m not fit to tie their shoes. Really, one of the great American groups—really one of the top five. Yeah.
Your top five movies this year? Do you get out? Do you see many?
Oh, I haven’t seen so many… Actually two movies with Colin Farrell I’m going to name in my top five.
Come on! There are other films with non-Irish actors. You know that, right?
[laughs] Now, you can call this… what you like. But, he made a movie called “Triage,” which is about an Irish reporter who goes to Afghanistan, strangely enough. And then he made this magical little film with Neil Jordan called “Ondine.” A magical realist kind of a film set in west Cork. I really enjoyed both of those films. Now, what else did Colin make this year….? [laughs] I think he’s an astonishing talent. If they released “In Bruges” again this year, I’d also be raving about that. I think they should. Can you put that in anyway?
Sure, I’ll see what I can do. Good luck with the recording.
Oh, thank you.
And try to see some other international actors and work out there. Try to get out of Cork.
I’ll do my very best.
Have you seen “Where the Wild Things Are”?
I haven’t. My kids have. And I’m probably the number one fan in the world of Spike Jonze.
You have to see it. I was listening to the Karen O soundtrack last night, and it’s so brilliant in the way the movie captures the tortured emotions of childhood. I don’t know how he did it. It’s a really beautiful film.
You know, he’s a card-carrying genius. And one of them arrives every decade, if you’re lucky.
And to think he came out of doing skate videos. To think that he had this stuff in him.
I kind of always knew, actually. Yeah. He pitched an idea… [laughs] I’ll tell you this just as I go. He didn’t know I was calling him, I called him in his car because I had heard he was on his way to Warner Bros. I called him up as Bugs Bunny. And it kind of freaked him out a little bit. He’s going, [as high-pitched Spike]: “Who is this? Who is this?” And I’m going, [as Bugs]: “What’s up Doc? It’s Bono.” He said, “Bono?!?” I had never met him before, and I asked him would he make us a video. The song was called “Last Night on Earth.” And he called me back and he goes, “I got an idea! OK. Right. It’s like, you’re in a forest, the band are in a forest, and it’s lit like a rock video. You know those kind of lights late at night in the forest that they have in rock videos?” I said, “Yeah, I think I do.” “OK. The band are there: Larry… Adam… and Edge. And you’re in the rock video with the lighting. Now, there is an apartment—one of those kind of penthouse apartments that you see in rock videos. And Bono is wandering through on the phone, it’s late at night, looking at the window, like the rock video.” And I said, “Yeah, I got it. This sounds great so far, Spike.” And he says, “OK. You want to get to the point?” I said, “Yes.” “All right. It’s not Bono. It’s Jim Carrey.” [silence] “Jim Carrey is gonna play you. Do you like that?” [laughs] I said, “Yes, I do. You mean, I can take the day off?” And he says, “And he comes down from the apartment, he goes through the forest to find the band.” [laughs] I mean, look. Truly, a remarkable spirit. A nicely anarchic, nicely romantic figure in film.
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