Bono: "jagged around the edges"
Bono — Illustration by Andy Friedman
When I was 13, Bob Dylan started whispering in my ear… it was a hoarse whisper, jagged around the edges, not-too-plain truths…ideas blowing in the wind about how the world could be a better place if we could just get it out of the hands of the hypocrites.
When I was 16, Bob Dylan whispered in my ear about how the real enemy was not flesh and blood, but of a spiritual nature.
At 21, with the slow train of faith having picked up a little too much speed, I stood at a religious crossroads and heard "Every Grain of Sand" stop time.
When I got married at 22, Bob Dylan was whispering in my ear about love and infidelity.
When I had my first child at 29, Bob Dylan wrote "Ring Them Bells" and "What Good Am I?"
When I ran out of gas in the late '90s, I had Time Out of Mind to hold on to.
When the world crumbled around two shining towers, and New York had its two front teeth knocked out, I had Love and Theft to hang on to.
Now, having faced 50, I'm realizing I knew much more then than I do now. I'm returning to the brutal truth that "The Times They Are A-Changin' " — but you don't have to let them change you.
In short, all my life, Bob Dylan has been there for me.
