Even Better Than The Real Thing by U2
The title of this song always taunts me. "What's better than the real thing?"
I don't know. I can't really think of anything that isn't real that's better than the real thing. Coke is better than Pepsi. Non-lite beer is better than Lite Beer. Real mayo is better than Miracle Whip. I can't think of anything that is worse than the real thing.
But at the same time... I don't think that's the point of the song. But if it's hard for me to believe that in 1990 U2 had a firm grip on virtual reality. I know Bono is a progressive dude and all, but would he really be thinking about the effects of virtual reality on society?
'Oh, you're totally off here, the song is about a girl and love.' Yes, I realize this, but knowing how U2 loves to be obviously unobvoius, I'm onto Bono's tricks. I think deep down, he's trying to be Radiohead BEFORE Radiohead existed... he's being obviously unobvious by writing a song about virtual reality disguised as a song about a girl.
So maybe Bono is being totally progressive and he's worried about the effects of virtual reality on love. But I say, he's a day late and a dollar short. Porn has already totally fucked up real love by allowing people, if they wish, to consume and indulge themselves in virtual reality. After all that's what porn is, virtual reality. A sick, twisted, fake, lustful, submissive, and misogynistic resperentation of reality. Porn is 2D and isn't real, you can't touch it or even have what is taking place. It is a virtual reality.
And that's the interesting thing about virtual reality. We've always had it... virtual reality has always been somewhere in the back of man's mind. Fantasies and fiction were really the first virtual reality machines... then came pictures and porn... and then the video, then the video game, and finally the actual things/boxes that you can go into and consciously shed yourself of all reality and live in a virtual world that you can see and hear (but not touch). We have, as a society, surrounded ourselves with machines that allow us to live in a virtual reality—apparently modern society is so ugly and such a grind we'll do whatever we can to not think about it and not even live in it.
So, say what you will about Bono and U2, but I'll give them credit here... nothing is better than the real thing.
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2 comments:
"But if it's hard for me to believe that in 1990 U2 had a firm grip on virtual reality. I know Bono is a progressive dude and all, but would he really be thinking about the effects of virtual reality on society?"
In a word, yes. Bono was reading William Gibson's Neuromancer and was fascinated by Bladerunner as well. Also, during the recording of the album the first Gulf War was starting up and Bono was fascinated with how you could channel flip between the War on CNN and all the other entertainment making the War seem like just another show on TV. He and Edge recall seeing interviews with pilots just back from bombing runs who were talking about how "realistic" it was. These kids had grown up with video games and trained on simulators but seemed to have no clue that what they were doing was real.
As for the porn aspect, Bono tackles that in Babyface on the Zooropa album. If you are really interested in getting the vibe for these songs read "U2 at the End of the World" by Bill Flanagan. Fantastic book about the recording of Achtung Baby, the ZooTV tour, and recording Zooropa in the middle of the tour.
Thanks for the info about Bono/The Edge and their frame of mind while recording this album (a favorite I might add)... I didn't know about Babyface and will mosdef check out Bill Flanagan's work.
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