Essential to the band's comic timing, as this second extract from an essay on the funny heart of U2 by Bill Flanagan reveals.
This second of two exclusive extracts is taken from the newly published 'U2 The Best of Propaganda'.
When U2 became the biggest band in the world in the eighties, somehow, for many people, they also became one of the most serious. ZOO TV and the nineties U2
shattered that image. Propaganda, the band's official magazine, commissioned Flanagan, then editor of Musician - and on the road with the band in the process of writing his own acclaimed book 'U2 At The End Of The World' - to explore how far the image of a band can depart from the reality!
.......
"We need you to do some drumming," Bono answers.Larry says, "Call my manager."
"We sent a letter to Mr Paul McGuinness," Edge says,"requesting your services to play some drums."
"It's the song we were playing last night," Bono says."Apparently you did a tremendous job but the rest of us ..."
Adam says, "Amazingly enough YOU were fine."
"We face a problem we have faced in the past," Bono explains."The song has no chorus."
"Aha!" Larry says.
'Generally', continues Flanagan, 'Adam is the quickest with a quip, which may be partof why Adam has a looser image than the other three. Bono's humour is missed by those who assume that everything he says has the weight of philosophy behind it - and miss his gift for leg-pulling at an Olympic level. Edge's jokes are so deadpan that theyfly over some heads. Larry probably has the biggest obstacle toovercome in getting his wit across, because Larry's humour usuallycomes out in the classic Ralph Kramden slow-burn of thestraightman whose patience has been stretched past the breaking point by the nuts around him. Larry phoned me after reading my book inmanuscript and said, "You make it look like I'm angry allthe time." I said "That's silly, Larry, I do not." He said, "Let me read you a list of some of your descriptions of me: 'Larryfumes, Larry burns, Larry shouts, Larry sneers, Larry comes in boiling, Larry says angrily, Larry's pissed, Larry got upset, Larry was mad ..."
I had to admit Larry had a point. What I had not consideredand I dare say what even other band members who read thebook might not have noticed - is that if you know Larry youknow that his 'This is the last straw' persona is a runningjoke. But objective readers would not realize this; they'd justfigure Larry was always in a bad mood. Heck, one time - towardthe end of the Zoo TV tour - Larry greeted me by saying, "Threemore weeks of seeing your ugly face!" Of course he was joking(Wasn't he?).
There is one other reason why U2 have gotten an undeservedreputation as Serious Men. While they are not stuffy, they arevery kind. Most humour pokes fun at someone or something. U2can do hilarious riffs on any number of silly people they encounterin their professional lives. Between Bono's impressions, Edge'sone-liners, and Adam's bon mots, they skewer a wide range ofshowbiz hustlers and sleazy hypocrites. But while U2 are happyto publicly poke fun at themselves and their own vanities (to theirdetriment if journalists don't get the joke), they are very sensitiveabout hurting the feelings of even a deserved target with anoffhand crack on TV or in a magazine.
My deal with U2 was that I'd let them read my book aboutthem before publication so that they could correct, object orargue - but I had full control of what I decided to keep orchange. There are probably things in the book that areannoying to the band members, moments they were sorry Iwas around to record. I wondered how hard they would lobbyme to change those bits. To my surprise none of them asked forany of that to be cut. Adam said, "Well there's some thingsin there that I'm sorry you wrote but I understood the groundrules so fair enough." What Adam did ask me to changewas a funny joke he made at the expense of someone who is notfamous. Bono was the same way - he was very concerned withhurting the feelings of people who might have been a little bitsilly, or behaved in a way that invited teasing, but felt did notdeserve to be mocked in print. That became the pattern forEdge, Larry and Paul McGuinness too. They didn't mind whatI said about them - they wanted to spare the feelings of others.If that meant that their own wit might not come through, thatwas to them a fair trade.
I didn't always agree to the changes U2 wanted - in some placesI left their wise-guy jokes at the expense of silly people. But Ithought it was remarkable that they were so willing to publiclykid themselves and so bothered by the thought of publiclyteasing someone else. I realized then that as great as their senseof humour is, their sense of humanity is even better.
Buy 'U2 The Best of Propaganda'.
here.
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