An exciting week it is ending not with current events or even new music but with strange yet remarkable stories about loss and grief.
Bigmouth Strikes Again:
Bono’s Da
In his new memoir, Bono realizes that he owes his father, who is referred to as “da,” an apology. This realization is not made through a spiritual quest or tortured years on the road; Bono gets to this realization after talking to Jann Wenner, a legendary publisher of Rolling Stone Magazine. Bono was interviewed by Wenner shortly after his father passed away. Here is the quote we pulled from an article in The Guardian, which drew the selection from Bono’s forthcoming book Surrender.
“I think your father deserves an apology,” he scolded me. “Can you imagine this story from his perspective? Your father loses his wife and he’s left to bring up the two kids and one of them is charging in his direction, coming for him all guns blazing. One of them is going to take him out by achieving all the ambitions he was afraid to have.”
For those who have grown up listening to and inspired by U2 back to the days of the album Boy, the backstory that goes with the above quote is well known. Bono, born Paul Hewson to Bob and Iris Hewson, lost his mother when he was a teenager. That left his father to raise two sons, Paul and his older brother Norman by himself in the 70s.
It’s easy to forget about Bono’s dad; he writes and sings about his mom and loss, anger, and grief in so many songs, but dad, like many dads, is just there, picking up the pieces and wondering what to do next.
I Will Follow, a song off the album Boy, was about Bono’s mom, about following your mom around when you are young because you don’t know what else to do. On the one hand, it will be interesting to confirm some of the stories we think we’ve heard from Bono; on the other, we already believe we know Bono; he’s been singing in our heads for 40+ years. Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story by Bono is scheduled to be released on November 1st.
The Guardian spills more of the stories Bono talks about in his book. Sleeping in the Lincoln Bedroom with the Obamas, What he remembers from Live Aid, talks with Steve Jobs and Apple, and Larry Mullen Jr.’s kitchen. Larry is the drummer and founder of U2.
Good Grief
Anderson Cooper & Stephen Colbert
There is a strange tie-in between Bono, Anderson, and Stephen. Bono lost his mom in his teens, Stephen lost his father and two brothers when he was ten, and Anderson lost his 53-year-old father and 23-year-old brother. All three have dealt with tremendous losses. In Anderson Cooper’s latest podcast project called All There Is, he explores the topic of grief. Anderson recently lost his mother, the iconic Gloria Vanderbilt, and as he deals with loss and grief, he invites a few others to talk with him about the experience.
The podcast with Stephen Colbert is one of the best podcast episodes on any topic we’ve heard this year. All of us at With A Shout have had to deal with loss and tragic loss. Never before have we heard such a thoughtful, honest, and at times heartbreaking (bring tissues) conversation on grief. Colbert can put words and context into some of the most difficult human concepts, and when Cooper and Colbert both share how turning 53 in Colbert’s case, 50 in Cooper’s case, was a big deal. That was the age their fathers were when they died, and subconsciously neither Cooper nor Colbert thought they would make it past that line.
Stephen Colbert has mic-drop insight; here are a few of his thoughts:
“Acceptance of that suffering does not defeat. We think we can win against grief and fix it, but you can’t. You can only experience it, and to fully experience it, you have to accept that it is real. The loss is real.” - Stephen Colbert.
The entire podcast is worth a listen; the link is below. Thank you, gentlemen, for your honesty and vulnerability and for sharing with us.
[Music Notes]
The When We Were Young festival is this week in Las Vegas. A recently reunited Paramore with many other 90s Pop Punk favorites will be there. Bands; Jimmy Eat World, The Used, My Chemical Romance, and many more will be performing throughout the week.
As much as we hate to say it, the lineup for next year is more jaw-dropping; Blink 182 and Greenday will be headlining.
Jukebox Shuffle
Thoughts on Music
With a thoughtful and reflective Sunday newsletter today, it’s an excellent time to sing this with me; this is 40.
Click on the Apple Music image to listen to the song on Apple Music or on the Spotify Image to listen to Spotify.
Words from Gen X
Words from Gen X in age or spirit.
Stephen told Anderson Cooper this quote from Tolkien
"What of God’s punishments are not gifts.” - Stephen Colbert
Thank you for spending a few minutes with us!
With A Shout Team