This poem written in 1995 by Bono will form part of a 15-minute feature interwoven with specially composed music and archive material to be broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on May 13 2009.
something similar was recorded as "Elvis Ate America" in the Passengers album.
elvis son of tupelo.
elvis mama's boy.
elvis the twin brother of Jesse who died at birth and was buried in a shoe box.
elvis drove a truck.
elvis was recorded at sun studios by the musical diviner sam phillips.
elvis was managed by colonel tom parker, an ex-carnie barker whose last act was a singing canary.
elvis was the most famous singer in the world since king david.
elvis lived on his own street.
elvis liked to play speed cop.
elvis had a monkey named scatter before anyone.
elvis wore a cape at the white house when he was presenting nixon with two silver pistols.
elvis was a member of the drug squad.
elvis wore eye make up, just hangin' out.
elvis wore a gold nudie suit and trained his lip to curl.
elvis was macho, but could sing like a girl.
elvis was not a big talker.
elvis was articulate in every other way.
elvis dyed his hair black to look like valentino.
elvis held a microphone the way valentino held nitanaldi in blood and sand.
elvis dressed black long before he dressed in black.
elvis sang black except in lower registers where he was a student of dean martin.
elvis admired mario lanza.
elvis delivered the world from crooning.
elvis was a great crooner.
elvis had a voice that could explain the sexuality of america.
elvis was influenced by jim morrison in his choice of black leather for the '68 comeback special.
elvis invented the beatles.
elvis achieved world domination from a small town.
elvis was conscious of myth.
elvis had pharoah-like potential.
elvis was made by america, so america could remake itself.
elvis had good manners.
elvis was a bass, a baritone, and a tenor.
elvis sang his heart out at the end.
elvis the opera singer.
elvis the soap opera.
elvis loved america, God, the bible, firearms, the movies, the office of presidency, junk food, drugs, cars, family,television, jewellery, straight talkin', dirty talkin' gameshows, uniforms, and self-help books.
elvis like america, wanted to improve himself.
elvis like america, started out loving but later turned on himself.
elvis body could not stop moving.
elvis is alive, we're dead.
elvis the charismatic.
elvis the ecstatic.
elvis the plastic, elvis the elastic with a spastic dance that might explain the energy of america.
elvis fusion and confusion.
elvis earth rod in a southern dorm.
elvis shaking up an electrical storm.
elvis in hollywood his voice gone to ground.
elvis in las vegas with a big brassy sound.
elvis the first rock'n'roll star with scotty moore, bill black, and d.j. fontana.
elvis with james burton and ronny tutt.
elvis the movie star made three good films : viva las vegas,flaming star, and jailhouse rock.
elvis the hillbilly brought rhythm to the white race,blues to pop, and rock'n'roll to where ever rock'n'roll is.
elvis the pelvis, swung from africa to europe, which is the idea of america.
elvis liberation.
elvis the kung fu would come later.
elvis hibernation.
elvis built a theme park he later called Graceland.
elvis woke up to whispers.
elvis thought of himself as a backslider.
elvis knew guilt like a twin brother.
elvis called God every morning then left the phone off the hook.
elvis turned las vegas into a church when he sang "love me tender".
elvis turned america into a church when he sang "the trilogy".
elvis was harangued by choice;flesh vs. spirit, God vs. rock'n'roll mother vs. lover,father vs. the colonel.
elvis grew sideburns as a protest against tom jones'hairy chest.
elvis would have a president named after him.
elvis was one of the boys.
elvis was not one of the boys.
elvis had an acute intelligence disguised as talent.
elvis broke pirscilla's heart.
elvis broke lisa marie's heart.
elvis woke up my heart.
elvis white trash.
elvis the memphis flash.
elvis didn't smoke hash and woulda been a sissy without johnny cash.
elvis didn't dodge the draft.
elvis had his own aircraft.
elvis having a laugh on the lisa marie in a colour photograph.
elvis under the hood.
elvis cadillac blood.
elvis darling bud flowered and returned to the mississippi mud.
elvis ain't gonna rot.
elvis in a memphis plot.
elvis didn't hear the shot but the king died just across the lot from.
elvis vanilla ice cream.
elvis girls of 14.
elvis memphis spleen shooting at the tv reading corinthians 13.
elvis with God on his knees.
elvis on three tvs.
elvis here come the killer bees head full of honey,potato chips and cheese.
elvis the bumper stickers.
elvis the white knickers.
elvis the white nigger ate at burger king and just kept getting bigger.
elvis sang to win.
elvis the battle to be slim.
elvis ate america before america ate him.
elvis stamps,elvis necromance.
elvis fans,elvisp sychphants.
elvis the public enemy.
elvis don't mean shit to chucked.
elvis changed the centre of gravity.
elvis made it slippy.
elvis hitler,elvis nixon,elvis christ, elvis mishima.
elvis marcus, elvis jackson, elvis the pelvis.
elvis the psalmist,elvis the genius, elvis the generous.
elvis forgive us.
elvis pray for us
elvis aaron presley(1935-1977)
C Bono 1995
The annotated poem in The Guardian ,article by John Sutherland
More critics from long time friend and official "Bono defender" Neil Mc Cormick in Telegraph.co.UK
Seems our good friend Bono has arisen another controversy...Hey anyone can have a bad writing day!!! (though I think some lines are really good!!)
source: BBC//www.guardian.co.uk //blogs.telegraph.co.uk/
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
Bono´s Poem on Elvis
On May 13, BBC Radio 4 listeners will be treated to a "plain but intense" Bono recital of the 850-word verse, entitled American David. It will be part of a 15-minute feature interwoven with specially composed music and archive material, which the BBC insists will be "atmospheric and artistic."
The poem was written in 1995 by the U2 singer who has a long-term fascination with the King of Rock'n'Roll. It opens with the lines: "Elvis son of Tupelo/ Elvis mama's boy/ Elvis the twin brother of Jesse who died at birth and was buried in a shoe box."
Laura Parfitt of White Pebble Media, who pitched the idea to the broadcaster, said: "Bono did an interview about two years ago with Des Shaw for a series for BBC radio about Sun Studios [in Memphis where Elvis recorded]. At the end of the interview he said he had written a poem about Elvis and asked if Des wanted to hear it. So he pulled out the poem and just read it and recorded it. At the end he said, 'Do whatever you want with it.' It was never broadcast."
When Parfitt, a U2 fan, heard the recording she said she could immediately imagine sounds and music to accompany it. "It's a very evocative poem that brings sounds into your head. I immediately heard a soundscape. I could hear the sounds of America, I could hear Elvis's voice and the music."
Bono's text contains references to Presley's films as well as his music and covers all stages of his career, including his fall from grace. "Elvis the bumper stickers/ Elvis the white knickers/ Elvis the white nigger ate at Burger King and just kept getting bigger."
Another section reads: "Elvis white trash/ Elvis the Memphis flash/ Elvis didn't smoke hash and woulda been a sissy without Johnny Cash."
In 2004, Bono selected Elvis as his choice for The Greatest Artists of All Time issue of Rolling Stone magazine. "Elvis changed everything -- musically, sexually, politically," he said. "In Elvis, you had the whole lot; it's all there in that elastic voice and body."
For the band's film Rattle and Hum, U2 went to Graceland and Sun Studios where they worked with Cowboy Jack Clement, Presley's engineer. The studio was reopened specially so the band could record some tracks in the same place where Presley recorded "Mystery Train." The tracks included "Angel of Harlem" with BB King. An earlier album, The Unforgettable Fire, featured a track entitled "Elvis Presley and America."
Parfitt described Bono's style as "a bit like the Liverpool beat poets. I think it's interesting because obviously he's a lyricist and this is a totally different approach to writing words. It sounds like a prayer at the end.
"The programme takes you on a journey through Elvis's life and career but also through America of that era, all told through this incredible poem that Bono wrote," she said.
source:www.timesonline.co.uk
The poem was written in 1995 by the U2 singer who has a long-term fascination with the King of Rock'n'Roll. It opens with the lines: "Elvis son of Tupelo/ Elvis mama's boy/ Elvis the twin brother of Jesse who died at birth and was buried in a shoe box."
Laura Parfitt of White Pebble Media, who pitched the idea to the broadcaster, said: "Bono did an interview about two years ago with Des Shaw for a series for BBC radio about Sun Studios [in Memphis where Elvis recorded]. At the end of the interview he said he had written a poem about Elvis and asked if Des wanted to hear it. So he pulled out the poem and just read it and recorded it. At the end he said, 'Do whatever you want with it.' It was never broadcast."
When Parfitt, a U2 fan, heard the recording she said she could immediately imagine sounds and music to accompany it. "It's a very evocative poem that brings sounds into your head. I immediately heard a soundscape. I could hear the sounds of America, I could hear Elvis's voice and the music."
Bono's text contains references to Presley's films as well as his music and covers all stages of his career, including his fall from grace. "Elvis the bumper stickers/ Elvis the white knickers/ Elvis the white nigger ate at Burger King and just kept getting bigger."
Another section reads: "Elvis white trash/ Elvis the Memphis flash/ Elvis didn't smoke hash and woulda been a sissy without Johnny Cash."
In 2004, Bono selected Elvis as his choice for The Greatest Artists of All Time issue of Rolling Stone magazine. "Elvis changed everything -- musically, sexually, politically," he said. "In Elvis, you had the whole lot; it's all there in that elastic voice and body."
For the band's film Rattle and Hum, U2 went to Graceland and Sun Studios where they worked with Cowboy Jack Clement, Presley's engineer. The studio was reopened specially so the band could record some tracks in the same place where Presley recorded "Mystery Train." The tracks included "Angel of Harlem" with BB King. An earlier album, The Unforgettable Fire, featured a track entitled "Elvis Presley and America."
Parfitt described Bono's style as "a bit like the Liverpool beat poets. I think it's interesting because obviously he's a lyricist and this is a totally different approach to writing words. It sounds like a prayer at the end.
"The programme takes you on a journey through Elvis's life and career but also through America of that era, all told through this incredible poem that Bono wrote," she said.
source:www.timesonline.co.uk
Bono and Red for Fortune
"You can imagine the PR work to get a rock star’s schedule in line with the whole board, and not wanting it all about Bono, but that is the hook.. We did a shot with a red carpet and more… This was chosen as it fit the pace of the spread and works."
This one looks like the least complicated of the shoots in term of concept. True or false ?
BB: True, sort of.. We did a red carpet shot.. Which took a long time to convince Bono..and works well, but the simple shot of them closer helped the pacing of the series and is more personal considering what RED is all about. We shot them before they went to dinner in NYC and made sure plenty of drinks were available.
Clooney by Bono
Bono wrote about George Clooney for Times Magazine.
Here goes some extracts...
George Clooney is a dangerous man. He needs to be watched... to be monitored... He's a new kind of American radical... a post-'60s, post-obvious, post-postmodern radical, not the left-leaning Hollywood bleeding-heart do-gooder that many think. Oh, no...
Clooney, 48, is a pragmatic idealist, and a patriot in a very different sense than the way that word is normally used. He believes that his country is a contagious idea that should be embraced by the world — but not by force, and not out of fear...
... Humor is his not-so-secret weapon. He's very, very funny. Especially when he's off-script...
His commitment to ending the atrocities in Sudan is not a role, not a performance. It is real — and it is serious work. Some people think celebrities should stick to the script, stay feted and fetal in their air-conditioned trailers. Some people think it's an appalling juxtaposition to see the rich and famous in a photo call with the vanquished and the vulnerable.
It is. George knows that. But he also knows that the cameras trained on you and the column inches dedicated to you could be covering something a little more important than, well, you. Like the slaughter of innocents in Darfur. Like the refugee camps full of starving Sudanese..
...Clooney's smile is as brilliant as ever, but if you look closer, his jaw is clenched. What he brings to the discussion on Darfur is not just star power. It's the power of conviction, and a growing impatience, and an undiminished sense that what's still — still! — happening in Darfur is an affront to what we say we believe. Our response, as yet, is unworthy of us.
So take his picture, shake his hand, but whatever you do, don't make this man mad — he just gets more organized.
source:www.time.com
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Behind the Scenes in Morocco
The band shot the video for the single "Magnificent" in the medieval city of Fez in Morocco.
U2.com tells us "Setting up a performance space inside a local riad, director Alex Courtez also took band and camera crew out on the streets of this mediaeval city - amongst the traders in the market, on the ancient walls and playing with local kids."
"This behind-the-scenes special is cut to the album version of Magnificent, not the single edit. Stay tuned for the new video itself... coming soon."
source: www.u2.com
U2 Ticket Auction Benefiting AWF
Two General Admission tickets for U2 360° Tour for Saturday, September 12, 2009 at Soldier Field Chicago, Illinois are being auctioned at shop.ebay.com
This will be the first North American show of the 360 Tour.
100% of the proceeds from the auction will go to benefit the African Well Fund's 7th Annual Build a Well For Bono's Birthday campaign.
This year's fundraiser, whose slogan is "70 Days to Change the World," will benefit a water, health and hygiene improvement project in Liberia. Administered by AWF partner organization Africare, the completed project will increase access to safe drinking water and improve sanitation and hygiene for communities in selected districts of Nimba County, benefiting about 7,000 people. For more information please visit www.africanwellfund.org.
This will be the first North American show of the 360 Tour.
100% of the proceeds from the auction will go to benefit the African Well Fund's 7th Annual Build a Well For Bono's Birthday campaign.
This year's fundraiser, whose slogan is "70 Days to Change the World," will benefit a water, health and hygiene improvement project in Liberia. Administered by AWF partner organization Africare, the completed project will increase access to safe drinking water and improve sanitation and hygiene for communities in selected districts of Nimba County, benefiting about 7,000 people. For more information please visit www.africanwellfund.org.
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