1. Originally posted by BigGiRL:THE ARTICLE in the latest Hot Press (Annual 2018) has a good round up
    of events that may have led to Bono's "brush."

    I don't think the complete article is online, but I've made some
    scans for the relevant sections.

    The first incident is when Bono flies to Berlin and it is discovered after
    landing that the "tailgate of the plane" was lost during the flight.

    [image]
    THEN only 3 days later there is the "high energy bicycle accident" in New York City
    (Nov. 16) resulting in "a gruelling five hours of reconstructive surgery."

    Two events already from the brushing department, but also the loss of Dennis Sheehan (2015)
    and the passing of David Bowie (2016) might have added up to sense that no-one lives forever.

    But even more serious seems to be what Bono briefly mentions in the (unique) liner notes
    of SOE: "Last Winter [2016] I was on the receiving end of a shock to the system myself,"
    also quoted in full in the Hot Press Annual.

    [image]

    I really don't think there is much more to say, or to speculate about. The fact that we're
    already one tour after these "brushes" proves that Bono recovered well - at least as good
    as anyone at age 57 can be. Possibly even better.

    With a new tour not only announced, but in the middle of ticket sales "as we speak" only
    strengthens the idea that Bono has survived what ever was brushing him.
    Exactly. Thanks for sharing. I think everything said here covers it all and there is no need for further speculation. When and if he decides to share details somewhere down the road is entirely his business. Frankly, I applaud him for being able to keep it private in his position.
  2. did i really miss something??

    what the hell is 'Brush and mortality' is all about?

    i heard a lot of this but i don't really know what happens so i can't get the whole picture, can anybody please explain? i'm lost right now

    i'm broken, bent out of shape
    I'm naked in the clothes you made.
    Lips were dry, throat like rust You gave me shelter from the heat and the dust.
  3. Originally posted by Suhail:did i really miss something??

    what the hell is 'Brush and mortality' is all about?

    i heard a lot of this but i don't really know what happens so i can't get the whole picture, can anybody please explain? i'm lost right now

    i'm broken, bent out of shape
    I'm naked in the clothes you made.
    Lips were dry, throat like rust You gave me shelter from the heat and the dust.
    Try reading a few posts earlier on this page...
  4. Originally posted by Suhail:did i really miss something??

    what the hell is 'Brush and mortality' is all about?

    i heard a lot of this but i don't really know what happens so i can't get the whole picture, can anybody please explain? i'm lost right now

    i'm broken, bent out of shape
    I'm naked in the clothes you made.
    Lips were dry, throat like rust You gave me shelter from the heat and the dust.
    They've been mentioned several times (from interviews way before the album was released, to the very same liner notes on SOE) that Bono had a "brush with mortality" in the last year that changed the shape of the album.

    Everything else is just speculation.
  5. Never opened this thread cause I thought Brush With Mortality was a band name
  6. Originally posted by deanallison:The way he spoke on the radio interview with Howard stern makes me think it could possibly be a mental breakdown of sorts. That line in love is bigger talking about crying on Killiney bay might be him going through a real mental rough patch himself. He said on the Howard stern show that he couldn’t get away with naming it being Irish and even though we’re thankfully hearing people are taken seriously there still is stigma attached with mental health issues and you’ll still get a lot of people who lack sympathy about it whereas something like a heart attack that has been suggested, and with some good thought behind it, would probably get the kinda sympathy bono doesn’t think he’ll get for naming what happened to him.
    I've suggested depression a couple of times before, the state of the world, so many friends around him dying... I don't know.

    If you read the Best Thing lyrics with "deep depression" in mind and you ignore the "happy uplifting" music, it even seems pretty obvious:

    When you look so good, the pain in your face doesn't show
    When you look so good, but baby you don't even know.
    When the world is ours but the world is not your kind of thing
    Full of shooting stars, brighter as they're vanishing (his heroes dying)

    I been crying out, "How bad can a good time be?"
    Shooting off my mouth, that's another great thing about me ("oh yeah, I also suck at this")
    I have everything but I feel like nothing at all
    There's no risky thing for a man who's determined to fall

    Why am I
    Why am I walking away?
    Walking away
    Why am I walking away?

    The song obviously has all the other lyrics which would fit perfectly on how he overcame whatever thoughts he had and whatever depression that could be there.

    If this were true, the happiness which he sings this song is as honest and joyful as it sounds.

    [edit]Also, obviously songs like Little Things ("all my thoughts are so reckless...") or even the Showman are read different under the deep depression light.
  7. This thread is on a "need to know" basis...

    +++

    But all joking aside, depression is indeed a very serious matter, and no fun at all.
    I've known more than enough people who are struggling with this. And, unfortunately,
    also people who have suffered from this up to the point they couldn't take it anymore...

    To call depression a "brush with mortality," is a bit besides the point. It is no brush at all.
    It affects you for life and serious conditions have to be treated with medicine.

    The "why am I walking away?" (from all good things in life) does indeed characterize
    depression. But it's not walking away from mortality, but rather walking away from life
    because one is unable - or feels to be unable - to connect with life.

    My point: if Bono suffers from depression, he would be suffering from this much longer
    than only a few months last winter.

    But, as I have tried to show from well documented events and interviews, Bono has been
    close to a couple of life threatening events since November 2014. All these events up to
    the winter of 2016 may all have added up to something he would call with right "a brush
    with mortality" as being on the "receiving end of a stick."
    And it's only human to have experiences like that.
  8. I just hope Bono is okay now. He seems much more upbeat than he did before the JT Tour. The playfulness and energy he had at Berlin recently was back again. I love seeing Bono like that, as his happiness is infectious (look at how he playfully teased with the train passengers arriving at the station lol).

    One of the great qualities of the band has on myself and many other fans with their music is lifting people's spirits and elevating people to a feeling they might not have realised they could get to by themselves. I know from my own experience, that Bono and the band really helped me get out of some dark places in my mind with their music.That is a gift from God in my opinion. And certainly the words Bono sings would not resonate the way they do if U2 didn't have Bono. I think Adam summed it up recently in an interview when he said "every band needs a Bono".
  9. "Bono and the band really helped me get out of some dark places in my mind with their music"
    +1000 top post
  10. Originally posted by u2opra:I just hope Bono is okay now. He seems much more upbeat than he did before the JT Tour. The playfulness and energy he had at Berlin recently was back again. I love seeing Bono like that, as his happiness is infectious (look at how he playfully teased with the train passengers arriving at the station lol).

    One of the great qualities of the band has on myself and many other fans with their music is lifting people's spirits and elevating people to a feeling they might not have realised they could get to by themselves. I know from my own experience, that Bono and the band really helped me get out of some dark places in my mind with their music.That is a gift from God in my opinion. And certainly the words Bono sings would not resonate the way they do if U2 didn't have Bono. I think Adam summed it up recently in an interview when he said "every band needs a Bono".
    Spot-on. They've got me out of some dark places too, that's one of the reasons U2 are more than just a band to me. Adam, as usual, is correct - every band does need a Bono... But only one band has the real deal.