Source: The Atlantic
by Bono
“Rock and roll promised a freedom that could not be contained or silenced, an international language of liberation. The freedom songs of the folk singers went electric, the coded messages of gospel music burst into the full flower of funk and soul. Even disco promised emancipation, from Chaka Khan’s ‘I’m Every Woman’ to Diana Ross’s ‘I’m Coming Out.’ In U2 we wanted our song ‘Pride (In the Name of Love)’ to sound like the freedom we were campaigning for in our work with Amnesty International. That’s how insufferable we were. Outside the studio, it felt like freedom was unstoppable. … But where are we now, as my hero David Bowie sang? Is the Medal of Freedom a nostalgia act? Is freedom itself a nostalgia act? Maybe the idea of freedom as a guarantee. But not freedom as a mighty, worthy struggle.” (01/04/25)