Bono and Jack White wonder: Just how immortal is rock music?

i found this interesting:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/music/la-et-hilburn-final13-2009oct13,0,6316827.story

Despite the struggle he outlines, Bono doesn't feel rock is at the end of the line. "It's still the most powerful art form," he said.

"Rock brought together rhythm, harmony and top-line melody: rhythm for the body, top-line melody for the mind, and harmony for the spirit. That's a very powerful concoction. Classical music has harmony and top-line melody, but it didn't have rhythm. That's why rock 'n' roll surpassed it."

So why do young bands seem to be afraid of massive stardom or contemptuous of it?

"I think one thing is they are suspicious of fame because fame is now associated with 'celebrity,' and that has become oppressive in our society. The bands don't want to become part of this thing which is crawling all over us. But when they pull down the shutters and block out the light, they lose their curiosity. I've never seen art improved by someone who has double-locked the door, turned off the light, and found a little cupboard in the back of the house where no one is going to find them. There is something about the spotlight that keeps you sharp."

---
Though Jack said he could never picture himself in Bono's or Springsteen's "spokesman" role, he does share some of their values. "There was a period when I thought I was just making music for myself, but I sometimes feel it's bigger than that," he said. "I feel like I'm an antenna and I'm being used -- by God or by whatever -- and I want to be that antenna. I'm not going to stop it. I've never thought, 'I'd better slow this down because there's too much ambition or too much passion coming out of me.' "

Jack, who turned 34 this year, wasn't so fast to answer when I asked if young rock audiences were as passionate about music as they were in earlier decades.

"I'm not a negative person, but I'm very realistic, and it doesn't look good right now," he said. "I hope it gets better. I hope that children of the next generation are going to be shown there is more beauty and romance in tangible, mechanical things than in invisible, digital things. The artists of the past all had their rebellion. Elvis was rebelling against sexual repression, and Dylan was rebelling against immorality, and I feel like I'm rebelling against technology and the death of romance. I would pick this as the absolute worst time to connect with people through music. Today's generation takes a lot for granted when it comes to music. It's like, 'I'm going to play video games, and when I come back to rock 'n' roll it's going to be there waiting for me.' They don't buy the CD, but they'll download it and give it to their friends."

Classical music has harmony and top-line melody, but it didn't have rhythm.

Bhonogro

In the strict sense, rock is immortal just like everything else is. In another sense, it is already dead.

dude

yes?

"I would pick this as the absolute worst time to connect with people through music."

Nothing negative about that at all Jack, thanks for being so real

Classical music has harmony and top-line melody, but it didn't have rhythm

Dear Bono:

Please fuck yourself.

- W.A. Mozart

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lC1lRz5Z_s

Yeah, but when was the last time Mozart dropped a mixtape? Dude's fallen off.

"It's still the most powerful art form,"

Umm... what about cinema? Moron.

Yeah, but will cinema make you dance? Does painting? Does sculpture? Clearly not.

Now architecture - architecture is totally danceable.

I think cinema could make me dance.

certainly made these people dance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0chohAZkdg4

But tonight is maybe not the best night to do that so I'd like to talk about the music, soul music. That's what U2 wanted to make. It's not about being black or white, what instruments you play, or whether you use a drum machine or not. It's a decision to reveal or conceal and without it, people like Prince would be nothing more than a brilliant song and dance man that he is, but he's much more than that. People like Bruce Springsteen would be nothing more than a great storyteller, but he's much more than that. Without it, U2 would probably be better at using the Village Voice. That's a joke ( The Village Voice is a newspaper ). Sometimes they don't understand.

Bono is dangerously under qualified to discuss any aspect of music.

It's a decision to reveal or conceal and without it, people like Prince would be nothing more than a brilliant song and dance man that he is, but he's much more than that.

wau

josh, mozart just dropped "street concertos vol 2", got some gucci verses

Bruce is probably one of the only people in the world who understands how to survive in this kind of a life, how to get through all this without dying or walking with a limp or with one eye.

wow, I didn't know jack white was such a douche.

haha--i remember seeing that Bono acceptance speech back when; thinking: "wtf?! did he actually say that"?

xps

Corn Flakes With John Lennon sounds about right.

this has been obvious for 25 years, but still, it bears repeating: bono is a nitwit.

i'd miss bono if he was gone, though

you know, you're sort of right about that, oddly enough.

Classical music has harmony and top-line melody, but it didn't have rhythm.

this is in the running for most moronic thing ever said by anyone btw

Around the time of that Bill Flanagan book published in the mid nineties, I liked Bono more as a quote machine than a rock star; now his quotes are as boring as any rock star's.

Only thing I've gleaned from this thread:

The 25th Symphony is incredible. Thanks Bono.

A musician with dellusions of grandeur like Jack White's here isn't really surprising (well it did surprise me a bit coming from him since I thought of him as sort of a somewhat humble person), but it blows my mind how a supposedly educated musician like Bono can just go and say stupid shit like classical music has no rhythm. I don't really see the spotlight making him sharp.

tbh I took this:

"I feel like I'm an antenna and I'm being used -- by God or by whatever -- and I want to be that antenna. I'm not going to stop it. I've never thought, 'I'd better slow this down because there's too much ambition or too much passion coming out of me.' "

to be less a delusion of grandeur and more a description of the sensation of creating music, how it feels like you're channeling something that already exists out there + just bringing it to fruition.

im a forlorn god antenna, thx internet

-- jack white

"forlorn god antenna" goes in small notebook of excellent bizzarro world band names

"It's still the most powerful art form,"

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3535/4038149455_5ebb242641_o.jpg

They don't buy the CD, but they'll download it and give it to their friends."

this must be why no-one connects through music anymOHWAIT

Bono and Jack White wonder: Just how immortal is rock music? about their job security

This thread lost me at Bono and Jack White wonder

The Jack White Wonder

Jack White is full of delusions of grandeur! I remember an NPR interview with the White Stripes where he went on and on and on about the divine perfection of the number three, and got really defensive when the interviewer asked the obvious re the number of band members. Meg barely got a chance talk. You're in a garage rock band, dude, get over it.

I think the douchiness of Jack White has been on full display ever since the homie opened his mouth tbh.

top-line melody

"he went on and on and on about the divine perfection of the number three"

Well, Meg gets one vote and he gets two, right?

Delusions of grandeur are completely necessary to make rock stars, tho' not necessarily rock music. Kinda talked about these ideas in this Icky Thump review.

jack white may be a douche, i don't know him personally, but i don't understand how anything he said here qualifies him as such. seems to me that he just has balls and is passionate about certain ideals / aesthetics.

I do agree that Bono sounds stupid here, I mean even if he thinks "Rock and roll is the ultimate vital art form, superior to classical music etc," it just seems foolish of him to open his mouth & say it

I think the douchiness of Jack White has been on full display ever since the homie opened his mouth tbh.

QFT

jack white is a hard working family man.

I would love to see some of you limp-wristed, bitter, hackneyed, internet critics/creeps say 'douche' to his face.

where are the dellusions of grandeur? ...because he's into the number 3? logic 101 for some people here.

Srsly dude?

- all the albums critically acclaimed and millions sold
- 6 Grammy Awards
- rocked a thousand shows worldwide (voted best live act in RS)

these are not dellusions. they are the products of talent and hard work.

lol

roll over beethoven

http://www.motifake.com/image/demotivational-poster/0908/this-is-what-it-looks-like-funny-rabbit-argue-internet-dumb-demotivational-poster-1250976231.jpg

lol

xpost

if only playing the guitar was that easy

I can't say whether Jack White is a douche or not, but if you don't see that today is far and away the best time to connect to people through music, you are at least totally crazy.

More popular than ever: music
Less popular than ever: paying for music

Jack White blaming technology popularized after he hit puberty for contributing to the death of romance == Old man on the porch yelling YOU KIDS GET OFF MY LAWN

Clearly what Bono really meant is that he's more valuable as a musician than any classical composer will ever be.

More popular than ever: knowing as many band names and album titles and the 'skinny' on each one.
Less popular than ever: paying attention, obsessing over a favorite band, knowing all the lyrics, wearing the t-shirts...

I think Jack is being cynical about how disposable music is to the ipod generation. It's hard to tell if he cares that much about it. I think in interviews it's easy to come off as blunt about things. I sort of feel the same way about today's 'music lovers,' and I'm not selling anything. Here's a conversation I hear all the time:

Joe: Have you heard band X
Alex: I've heard of them. Are they any good?
Joe: They're supposed to be pretty good. I've only heard song Y, and it was alright.
(they both turn back to their laptops, nothing happens)

It's like Sammuel Beckett's "Waiting For Your Favorite Band"

geez, I'm not a fanboy or anything but this is silly... it's not like he took out an ad in the New York Times that said DESTROY ITUNES or whatever, although that would be pretty funny... he was asked about his opinion about the state of rock music and gave his opinion

more popular than ever: knowing as many band names and album titles and the 'skinny' on each one.
Less popular than ever: paying attention, obsessing over a favorite band, knowing all the lyrics, wearing the t-shirts..

yeah Jack is perhaps being cynical / oversimplifying things a bit, but I think his statement is worth an actual debate. it seems stupid to immediately dismiss someone that suggests something in the past was better as if the convenience of new technology is constantly propelling toward the best of all possible worlds.

"Rock brought together rhythm, harmony and top-line melody: rhythm for the body, top-line melody for the mind, and harmony for the spirit. That's a very powerful concoction. Classical music has harmony and top-line melody, but it didn't have rhythm. That's why rock 'n' roll surpassed it."

Why hasn't anyone set up a debate between Bono and Roger Scruton yet? It'd be a blast.

Also:

http://g.sheetmusicplus.com/Look-Inside/large/4002407_01.jpg

(I hear that he has rhythms he hasn't even used yet.]

Eleven years behind on this, but I had no idea Jack White covered "Love Is Blindness" until he performed it tonight at Barclays Center. (He recorded it for a tribute album to Achtung Baby - the same recording was then used as a B-side then contributed to the soundtrack of Baz Luhrmann's ridiculous adaptation of The Great Gatsby.)

Show was amazing, the best guitar playing I've seen at a show in a very long time, and he really worked the crowd (which reciprocated in full). Very few masks though - I wore one but I'm really hoping I don't get COVID. And yes, Jack did look like a Batman villain as Josh mentioned in another thread - that white make-up impressively never came off no matter how many times he wiped the sweat off his face.