In the years leading up to Bono’s visit to El Salvador, the country had been embroiled in decades of unrest which started after the stock market collapsed in 1929 when the price of coffee drastically dropped.
It was during a trip to El Salvador and Nicaragua that Bono’s political awareness of global social injustice and human rights violations became greatly awakened. Maybe because I knew a little history behind the song, and, now, I think it’s time that more people become educated on the meaning and background of this classic.ĭuring the mid-80s, U2’s political awareness was growing through Martin Luther King Jr.’s philosophy of nonviolence, preforming relief concerts like Live Aid, and going on trips to Africa and Central America. It was and is what a Trump presidency sounds like to me. It was the only song that came to mind the night Trump was elected. “Bullet the Blue Sky” is one of my favorite U2 songs. It is one of U2’s most overtly political songs, and when they perform it live they usually do so in a manner that is heavily critical of political conflicts and violence making the Fallon performance timely. I know many people poke fun at U2’s egos, but no matter how much you may disagree with or dislike Bono and the band’s political views you have to give them this, their hearts are in the right place and their intentions are noble.įor years they have spoken out against oppression and social injustice, whereas Jimmy Fallon has been ignorantly invading television screens across America by not speaking out against Trump like other late night show hosts have (Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Cobert, Trevor Noah, and Seth Meyers), and U2’s performance of a Trump-centered “Bullet the Blue Sky” was just what was needed and they deserve respect for speaking out against the Demagogue-in-Chief. I have even “unfriended” a person on Facebook for lambasting Bono in a comment thread on a personal post. Don’t get me wrong, there have been moments of disappointment like Zooropa and Pop, and even the controversial blight that is Age of Innocence, but I have still remained faithful to Bono and the boys. Since the age of 10 when I first heard “Angel of Harlem” from their 1988 album Rattle and Hum, I have been a huge fan. Then, there was U2’s appearance a couple of weeks ago that did nothing to change my opinion of Fallon, but it was much needed for a show that lacks political backbone catering to viewers who are equally indifferent. It hasn’t always been this way, but since that infamous night when he let candidate Donald Trump off the hook without asking political questions while having a discussion that made Trump look more “human” than he actually is was the night my opinion of Fallon changed.
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