Ethics

Bono and Springsteen Induct Each Other

By Ed Brayton

After yesterday's post about the 25th anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame show reminded me of two of the great induction speeches of all time: Bono inducting Springsteen and Springsteen inducting U2. It's interesting the contrast between the two. Bono is practically preaching while Springsteen is almost presenting a paper analyzing U2. But they both have some perfect turns of phrase and accurate, if sometimes ironic, observations.

Bono accurately observes right up front that Springsteen is one of the few megastars to never embarrass themselves - "no bad hair period, even in the 80s" - before pointing out that while Bruce has his own dysfunctions, he was the first one to identify them in his own songs. And his sly joke about the backstage of the hall of fame show looking like Madame Tussaud's had everyone laughing a bit uncomfortably.

Full post as published by Dispatches from the Culture Wars on December 06, 2009 (boomark / email).