Know Your Bonoisms, Part 15 – “An Experimental Character” – U2

Songs of Innocence is officially one month old, and this week in Bono news has been rich with quotations from our favorite front man. So rather than devoting any more time to trying to figure out how “This is Where You Can Reach Me Now” is a tribute to The Clash, let’s analyze a couple of Bono’s most interesting remarks over the past week.

To the UK tabloid The Sun, Bono called himself “an experimental character” (you think?), and took a moment to sing the praises of video games. Yes, really! “Music deserves more respect,” he said. “Video games can cost £50 and people are queuing round the block for them. I really respect gamers and think gaming is a new art-form which I’m investing in…”

Omg, guys! A U2 game for our PlayStations? Omg omg omg…

“…But I also think our new album is worth ten or 15 of whatever currency we’re in now.”

Ah, man. So much for competing against each other in 11 levels of U2-based obstacles, each one themed after a song on SOI; clearly, “Volcano” would have been a natural fit for this. Plus, just think of all the great U2 game avatars you could choose from: Versace sunglasses, a beanie, a lemon, that little alien dude from the 360 tour…or perhaps a very heavily branded, federally trademarked apple. You know what I’m saying.

On to an interview in Q magazine, in which Bono criticized the way the music charts now work in the digital age. “The charts are broken,” he said. “They do not measure what people are listening to and they do not measure people’s passion in music. They do measure decent people’s desire to pay for music and they should be respected for that.”

This comment is obviously a response to some dumb journalist’s attempt to get Bono to say the album release was a flop, something that pretty much every dumb journalist has been trying to do since September 9 – and fortunately, Bono still isn’t biting. It’s really a shame that one month after the release, he is still being forced to defend the way U2 chose to make the album available to people for FREE. Thankfully, he has people like Conan O’Brien in his corner.

Since Bono is doing interviews in his sleep these days, there’s no way any one fan can stay on top of all of them. If you notice any great quotes from Bono this week, tweet them to me @U2LyricsDaily1.