Bono The Poet

Another year of waiting for a new U2 album. It has been a while now. It is more than eight years since the last studio album ’Songs of Experience’ was released. A new album has been rumoured to be on the way for some years now.

This year we however got ’Stories pf Surrender’ on Apple-TV. The one man show about how Paul Hewson became Bono. Amazing TV.

I decide to say that 2025 was the year when I returned to Bonos lyrics, his increadible way with words. Bono The Poet.

”Dream up the kind of world you want to live in. Dream out loud.”

Born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, he attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where in 1976 he began dating his future wife, Alison Stewart as well as forming, with schoolmates, the band that became U2. During U2’s early years, Bono’s lyrics contributed to the group’s rebellious and spiritual tone.

”Did I ask too much? More than a lot
You gave me nothin’ now it’s all I got
We’re one but we’re not the same
Well we hurt each other then we do it again”

U2’s lyrics, primarily written by lead singer Bono, are renowned for their mix of personal introspection, spiritual imagery, and sociopolitical commentary. 

Several of his songs are written about his mother, Iris (who died when he was 14), including “I Will Follow,” “Lemon,” “Mofo,” and “Iris (Hold Me Close)”. The song “Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own” was written about his father’s battle with cancer.

Bono often uses lyrics to address global issues, such as the Troubles in Ireland in “Sunday Bloody Sunday” or the civil rights movement in “Pride (In the Name of Love)”. 

”I’ll give you everything you want
Except the thing that you want
You are the first one of your kind

And you feel like no one before
You steal right under my door
I kneel ’cause I want you some more
I want the lot of what you got
And I want nothing that you’re not”

During the early songwriting stages, Bono often uses “Bonolese”—improvising nonsense words and sounds to find a melody before final lyrics are written. Some remnants of this appear in finished tracks, such as the famous Spanish count-off in “Vertigo” (“Unos, dos, tres, catorce!”). 

”Every breaking wave on the shore tells the next one there’ll be one more

And every gambler knows that to lose is what you’re really there for

Every sailor knows that the sea is a friend made enemy

And every shipwrecked soul knows what it is to live without intimacy

Every dog on the street knows that we’re in love with defeat

Are we ready to be swept off our feet and stop chasing every breaking wave”

For me Bono is the best rock poet there is. I have lived with his songs and texts since I first listned to ’I will follow’ 1979 in a small bar in Paris, a year before they released their first album.