Book - Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story by Bono

Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story by Bono
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Growing up as a teenager in the late '70s and early '80s it was hard to not hear U2 on the radio. They hit their peak of popularity in the mid to later part of the decade. I did manage to see them live one time while they toured for their Joshua Tree album. In the subsequent decades since they’ve still enjoyed success and have been one of the longest-running rock bands that have stayed intact with original members, although I believe drummer Larry Mullen Jr has taken a break from live performances due to health reasons.

The following are notes I made while reading.


Page 127-128

U2 was on tour in Buffalo, New York when John Lennon was shot. Describes John Lennon as the group's musical conscience. He also felt like they had lost their navigation system. Describes him as a lighthouse in a stormy sea. They’d written a song called “The Dream is Over” inspired by a John Lennon lyric(unpublished as far as I know). He describes it as the Beatles dream is over but their(U2) dream was just at the beginning.

Page 321

Bono talks about being a band in the late 70’s that seems to be formed in the image of the Beatles or The Rolling Stones. He said they(U2) wanted to be in the image of The Beatles who seemed to change their sound from one album to another. They were not locked in their roles either as far as vocals, instruments, or just one sound, at least that was the goal.

The Rolling Stones by contrast over the years do have a particular sound that works for them and they do it particularly well. It’s not a dig at them, it's just what works for them and they are extremely successful. Many artists or bands find a sound or genre that works for them. A few that come to mind are ZZ Top, AC/DC, and the Eagles. One could pick almost any album in their discography and it’ll probably have their sound. It’s not that they won’t try different things occasionally but their sound will be their home base.

Page 327

“We haven’t got the big songs. Just interesting ones.” Bono laments while working on U2’s “Pop” album. It seems that he was pushing the group into a different sound but they were having creative pains. It seems he realized they didn’t have the “big” songs but ones that were just “interesting”. At the time he was also worried about the group’s relevance around that time (The Pop album was released in 1997).

This part is what many challenges long-term recording artists face which is staying fresh and the and to be relevant. U2 enjoyed enormous success in the 1980s but the popular music landscape changed in the 1990’s with the growth of grunge and hip-hop music. Many popular artists from the 80’s were struggling in this era.

Page 472

Again Bono recalls another Beatles experience with Sir Paul McCartney. Paul was giving him a personal tour through Liverpool(who wouldn’t love that chance). Paul tells the story of when he and John Lennon were teens. It was a time they didn’t have much money. John had bought some Cadbury chocolate which was relatively expensive for poor teenagers. John split his candy bar 50/50, this told Paul a lot about John as most boys would probably just give a small square. Bono muses that one of the most successful songwriting collaborations was born from a fair split of a chocolate bar.

I did enjoy the book. In my recent reading of memoirs of other rock musicians, I started noticing patterns. One is lead vocalists cite their lyrics a lot also they almost speak in a spiritual sense about their craft. I’ve read some guitarist’s memoirs and they tend to speak about the love of their instrument to the point of obsession. Their spirituality or voice is transmitted through their instrument of choice.

I did enjoy this book. Bono is different from other rock star books in that there were no stories of excess partying or drug abuse though they weren’t adverse to having a few pints on occasion, they are Irish after all. Bassist Adam Clayton did do rehab apparently at one point but wasn’t a major interruption to the group. I sometimes hear a lot of criticism of Bono’s preaching. I think ev. en he acknowledges it at times. He’s passionate about his causes. He just believes in speaking out, I can’t blame him for that. If you’re a fan of Bono and U2 I’d certainly recommend this.


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