"Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story" by Bono

There were a couple of memoirs released late last year that I've been dying to get into, and I was happy to finally pick up "Surrender:  40 Songs, One Story" by Bono, lead singer of U2, who is almost as well known for his activism as his music.  

I know it seems to be fashionable these days to scorn U2, and that many people (often younger people) seem to regard them as pretentious, establishment/corporate rock. (I can remember, years ago, watching Bono glaring intensely into the camera in a video -- I think it was for "With or Without You"? -- or possibly Steve Van Zandt's "Sun City" -- or maybe both (lol) -- and yelling at the TV screen, "For Pete's sake, Bono, LIGHTEN UP!"  lol)  

But I was reminded as I read that the band was very much rooted in the punk rock/New Wave movement of the late 1970s and early 1980s -- the music of my high school/university years -- and music that I loved. (Also the "glam rock" era that preceded it -- David Bowie, Marc Bolan, etc.)  The band members were all born in 1960 & 1961, and so are all about the same age as me, give or take a few months (Bono -- born Paul David Hewson -- was born May 10, 1960). They all knew each other as high school students -- the school they attended was unique for that time and place:  it was not only non-denominational but also co-educational, i.e., boys AND girls! -- and they first assembled as a band the same week in September 1976 that Bono started going out with his future wife, Alison (Ali) Stewart. 

I remember first taking notice of U2 as a university student in the early 1980s, when I heard -- and loved -- "I Will Follow" and "Gloria." (Have a look at the videos -- OMG, they were BABIES!!  lol  -- but then, so was I!)(Also note that U2's "Gloria" is not the same "Gloria" as the song by Van Morrison & Them -- which was also covered by Shadows of Knight (or is it the other way around??) -- or the one by Laura Branigan, lol.)  These days, U2's songs are kind of like the wallpaper -- they've been around for so long now (40+ years!!), we take them for granted -- but back then, their sound was fresh, exciting, unique, anthemic, urgent, hypnotic... that bell-like guitar was like a clarion call. (I can almost always tell a U2 song within a couple of seconds of the intro.)  I wound up with a few of their albums in my collection (including "The Joshua Tree" and "Rattle and Hum" -- which now belong to Older Nephew -- as well as "best of" collections on CD), although I have yet to see them in concert.

This is a fairly lengthy book (the hardcover version is almost 600 pages) and it took a while for me to get through -- longer than I had anticipated, actually. (I started reading on March 16th! -- and as I read, I watched my Goodreads Reading Challenge stats dwindle from "3 books ahead of schedule" to 2 and then 1...!)  Perhaps it could have been just a WEE bit shorter? (To be fair, I've also had some other things going on these past few weeks...)  Length aside, the content is dense too:  there's a lot packed into every chapter. 

But it's all well written and highly entertaining throughout. Bono definitely has the Irish gift of the gab. ;)  Each of the 40 chapters is titled after a U2 song (generally, thematically appropriate to the subject matter included) -- hence, the subtitle "40 Songs, One Story." The story unfolds more or less chronologically, with occasional jumps back into the past and ahead into the future.  

The book covers a lot of territory: Ireland, America, Africa, politics, faith, activism, family, growing up, marriage, grief and loss (Bono's mother, Iris, died suddenly when he was just 14 years old,), art and the artistic process, aging, and so much more.  There's lots of name dropping, and lots of memorable vignettes. To name just a few: having a bad hair day at Live Aid... Mikhail Gorbachev dropping by to visit with a gigantic teddy bear in tow... landing in Berlin just as the wall was coming down, and heading off to join the party -- only to realize it was a pro-wall protest instead (!)...  mistakenly handing his trademark blue-tinted Dolce & Gabbana glasses to Pope John Paul II -- and then watching the Pope try them on (!)... passing out in the Lincoln Bedroom at the White House during a dinner party with the Obamas.... getting a personal tour of Liverpool from Paul McCartney (which Bono likens to getting a tour of the Promised Land from Moses)... 

If you're not a Bono/U2 fan, my endorsement of this book probably won't change your mind. But I think if you picked it up and read it, you might be pleasantly surprised. 

Despite my caveats about length and the time to get through it -- 5 stars on Goodreads.  :)   (And can I confess? -- I closed this book actually wishing there was more of it to enjoy!) 

Check out this excellent 45-minute interview Bono gave to CBC Radio's Tom Power last November. (Tom is from Newfoundland, as you can probably tell from his accent!)  We get a bonus story around the 33-minute mark about faith and Paul McCartney that's not in the book. :)  

This was Book #14 read to date in 2023 (and Book #1 finished in April), bringing me to 31% of my 2023 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 45 books. I am (for the moment, anyway...!) 2 books ahead of schedule. :)  You can find reviews of all my books read to date in 2023 tagged as "2023 books."