Arcade Fire Back Bono’s Bush “Engagement”
Butler praises Bono and quotes Orwell.
Arcade Fire have taken the unusual step of sticking up for Bono for, of all things, engaging with former US president, George W Bush.
Responding to suggestions that the line “you never trust a millionaire quoting the Sermon on the Mount” from the new album ‘The Suburbs’ might have been about Bono, the band’s singer Win Butler told NME, “As much as people slag Bono, I will forever give him credit for engaging with George W Bush when he was president.
He went on: "Even though it was a deeply unpopular move, even in his own band. The HIV medications in Africa, every aspect of the US foreign policy – it was a hell of a lot more than any president before had done. Bono was engaged in the work even though the situation wasn't ideal. That's not my path, but I will never fault someone for trying to be engaged in the world."
It turns out the line is a quote from Butler’s favourite author, ‘1984’ novelist George Orwell, and the singer was mocking a certain hipster-political posturing in parts of London and New York.
Bono has been repeatedly criticised for his dealings with Bush, with even his own drummer, Larry Mullen, accusing him of consorting with “war criminals”.
Tagged as The Arcade Fire, U2, Gossip
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