In U2’s Bono’s Opinion, Losing His Father Caused His Voice to “Open Up”: a Physiological Explanation Exists
The lead vocalist for U2 has stated in a recent interview that he believes his voice became more open after the passing of his father, Bob Hewson, in 2000 from cancer. The singer has been pushing his new memoir Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story, which will be released on November 1.
This week, Bono, whose real name is Paul Hewson, gave an interview to NPR in which he said that the passing of his father, with whom he had a strained relationship, had a significant impact on the manner in which he sings.
The singer added that despite it being a “unscientific hypothesis… folksy thought that when someone you love passes on,” he has a deep belief about the growth of his voice after the death of his father. He called the theory “a folksy idea that when someone you love passes on.”
“My voice opens up,” he said in an interview with NPR. “And there’s a physiological explanation for it too,” he went on to explain, “because if you’re more comfortable as a person, your voice does open up.”
He continued by saying, “Over the past many years, I’ve been singing in ways that I never would have anticipated.”
In addition to this, Bono discussed the time when his father told him that he was “a baritone who believes he’s a tenor.” The interviewer questioned him what that may suggest about his personality, and he responded by saying that it is comparable to ambition and “punching over my weight.” He told me, “The only thing I’m interested in is punching over my weight.”
In other parts of the conversation, Bono discussed his faith, which he characterised as having Judeo-Christian ideals, but he compared it more to a broad feeling of spirituality than to being bound by religious practise.
He also stated that he has written some U2 songs in a gospel style, such as the song “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” which was included on the album “The Joshua Tree” in 1987.
In addition, he pondered the reason why the word “surrender” is included in the title of his new book, beginning by stating that he is inherently combative and that he was born with his “fists up.” This was his explanation for why the term is included in the title.
It’s been at the core of what I’ve been trying to do with my life, therefore I need to be more silent and surrender to my band. [I have to] give in to the demands of my wife and give in to the demands of, you know, our creator. This is not something that comes naturally to me at all.
“And when I say “surrender,” what I do not mean is to make peace with the rest of the world. I am not yet prepared to find harmony with the rest of the world. I am attempting to make peace with myself, and I am attempting to make peace with the one who created me, but I am not attempting to make peace with the rest of the world. I’m prepared to get into a fight because the world is a very unjust place to live in. I’m going to maintain my clenched fists for that one.”
In his book, he also discusses the following topics: the alleged death threats he has received throughout his life; the controversy that occurred in 2014 when U2 caused their album “Songs of Innocence” to be automatically downloaded onto the devices of 500 million iTunes users; and the discovery that his cousin is also his half-brother.
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