Bono's acceptance speech at Fulbright Prize for International Understanding in Washington, D.C. - March 31, 2022
Bono: America Might Be the Greatest Song the World Has Yet to Hear A few days ago, in a video, the kind of video you’ve all seen, President Zelenskyy called on all of us, “musicians, athletes, businessmen, politicians, everybody really… to stand up for Ukraine.” So as a musician, let me not apologise for where I come from. I come from noise and the intent to find some signal in that noise. I come from informality, from occasional dishevelment. I come from rock and roll. I come from rock and roll, and pop lyrics that sound like they are throwaway lines, and they are, but they mean so much. I was thinking about the Beatles ‘I Saw Her Standing There.’ It’s about as great a song lyric as I’ve ever heard. It does not describe itself as poetry. It’s better. It’s adolescent and it’s transcendent. It’s instant and it’s eternal. It’s fun, but not funny … although funny’s ok. I like “Short People” by Randy Newman. I like some limericks too… There was a rock s...