In his recently released, best-selling memoir Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story, Bono describes the extraordinary talent of each of his U2 bandmates as, among other things, masters of their instruments. Of himself, however, he admits that his giftedness is neither instrumental nor vocal but rather it’s his ability to find the topline melody in anything – songs, random ideas, disparate thoughts, and even in the motivations of adversarial world leaders to help unite them around a common cause.
His is an ability to reach through the static and find the notes that, when brought together, can actually be useful. In fact, he describes his lifelong desire to be useful as a melody that runs through his own life.
