I read Bono’s op-ed column Notes from the Chairman from the New York Times on Sunday.
And I read it again today.
It’s very interesting. Bono begins with a story about ringing in the new year in an Irish pub while listening to Frank Sinatra and the current state of Ireland economy.
Describing the secene in the pub Bono writes:
Interesting mood. The new Irish money has been gambled and lost; the Celtic Tiger’s tail is between its legs as builders and bankers laugh uneasy and hard at the last year, and swallow uneasy and hard at the new. There’s a voice on the speakers that wakes everyone out of the moment: it’s Frank Sinatra singing “My Way.” His ode to defiance is four decades old this year and everyone sings along for a lifetime of reasons. I am struck by the one quality his voice lacks: Sentimentality.
You gotta read the entire piece but Bono brings it home at the end
To what end? Duality, complexity. I was lucky to duet with a man who understood duality, who had the talent to hear two opposing ideas in a single song, and the wisdom to know which side to reveal at which moment.
This is our moment. What do we hear?
That is a powerful idea. I love the contrast about sentimentality and duality. So many things come to mind.
And man, I wish I could write like that.