In a Rolling Stone UK interview published today, Bono revealed that Ed Sheeran resisted the humanitarian themes on "Yours Eternally," the track Sheeran made with U2 earlier this year, according to The Independent. The song features Ukrainian singer Taras Topalia and is written from the perspective of a Ukrainian soldier during the ongoing war with Russia.
The quote Bono gave the magazine is a small masterpiece: "You're not going to get me into politics, are you?" Said about a song about a war that is actively happening, inspired by a soldier who, per Bono, "loved you, Ed." The song is about the war. The artist is against politics. This is the Apolitical in its purest form, a stance that only exists inside a press release and a streaming bio.
The timeline does the talking. A few weeks ago Sheeran dropped his opening act after a billionaire stadium owner personally called to say the rapper couldn't play the venue, per The Independent, then apologized from a teleprompter mid-arena and said his music was "humanity, not politics." A man whose biggest political act in public was a venue owner's phone call went on to record a war song with a war veteran and ask not to be involved in it. Variety ran the same story with the same confused energy the whole room had.
Bono's answer, as relayed, was the better line. "This soldier who inspired us, he loved you, Ed, and you've worked on this song." Sheeran's reply: "Yeah, but I just want to keep my thing free." That's a career in one exchange. He wanted the utility of the song, minus the meaning of the song. A wedding without the marriage. The song keeps the streams, the tour keeps the tickets, and "the thing" stays free of everything that would make it about something.
YOUR TURN: Is "apolitical" a stance, or is it just a brand with the label scraped off?
PAPER TRAIL
- Recap: The Independent
- The Bono interview: Rolling Stone UK
- The tour drop that started it: The Independent
- The teleprompter apology: The Independent
Comments (1)