Thank you Rob Knetsch! & Why I Love and Respect U2


CHRISTY BLACK ([email protected])
Mon, 30 Nov 1998 13:53:00 -0600


First of all I would like to say "Way to go!" to Rob Knetsch regarding his
post about the Bono on drugs thread. I don't post very often because I
don't feel encouraged to post about the deeper issues that interest me when
it comes to U2. While it's nice to know that people hear U2 on the radio,
etc. I had high hopes when I first subscribed to WIRE of pursuing
intellectual conversations about U2 and that hasn't happened too often. So
when some of us are having such a discussion just let it go. If the topic
upsets you, contribute. Tell us how you feel but don't just wish it away,
that's not how it works.
Now, as for whether or not Bono uses drugs and whether or not it should be
important to us. Being realistic, I would have to say that Bono has
probably experimented in the past. Think about it, if you had a number of
friends who had absolutely ruined and, in some cases, ended their lives
because of drugs, wouldn't you be curious to know why? and wouldn't you
maybe go as far as to see what it felt like so you could try and
undertstand that person you cared for? I'm sure a lot of you can
vehemently reject such a notion but I can't. I would want to know how that
person I loved had felt and what they had experienced. I can imagine Bono
being the same. I know that to some it doesn't make sense to want to try
something that you saw result in a ruined life. I mean you've seen the
consequences but someone like Bono needs to know everything including
understanding how seductive the high can be that leads to the fall. So,
yes I think he has experimented. No, I don't think he sits down on a
regular basis and snorts lines.
As to whether or not possible drug use on Bono's part is important to his
fans, I say yes, definitely. I'm not condemning him for what he may have
done, but I want to know so I can undertsand him better. I don't know
about most of you, but I love and respect U2 because of what these four
individuals stand for not just in their music but in their real lives as
well. I respect them for being believers in God but struggling with that
belief. I respect them for standing up for what they believe in. I
respect them for what they have to say. The truth they have to share as
they discover it. I did not get into U2 because I like Bono's ass or I
think Larry is hot. I got into them because they spoke truth to me with a
passion I had never seen before. And if I were to find out that songs like
Bad and Running to Stand Still were just songs and Bono chose to live his
life contrary to what he's saying in these songs, then the songs mean
nothing and all of that passion is meaningless. I'm not saying I would
abandon U2 tomorrow if I found out Bono was a coke head but I would have to
seriously consider how I could continue to respect a person who allowed
that kind of hypocrisy in his life. Honestly, I don't belive Bono is
capable of such a thing. Experimentation...maybe. Regular drug use,
addiction...No.

"If God Will Send His Angels, We sure could use them here right now..."



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