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Bono promises not to swear again at awards
Fri Jan 23, 1:14 AM ET
By Dean Goodman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The U.S. government can relax. Irish rock star Bono promises he will not swear again on live television if he wins a Golden Globe Award on Sunday.
At last year's ceremony, the U2 frontman exclaimed, "Fucking brilliant!" when accepting his award, an outburst that has prompted U.S. lawmakers to crack down on the use of foul language on air.
"I swear I won't swear," the U2 frontman told Reuters on Thursday in an interview at his West Hollywood hotel. "You can always cause a stir with an expletive and it's not something that I'm conscious of. If you use them in your everyday speech, sometimes they will come out. I don't mean to offend anyone."
Staffers at the Federal Communications Commission (news - web sites) originally ruled in October that Bono did not violate the agency's indecency rules since he used the word as an adjective.
That sparked calls for the FCC (news - web sites) commissioners to overturn the decision, and a bipartisan group of lawmakers on Wednesday introduced legislation to raise fines for incidents of foul language used on air to as much as $3 million (1.6 million pounds). The current fine is $27,500.
Bono, along with Dublin pals Gavin Friday and Maurice Seezer, is nominated in the best original song category for "Time Enough for Tears".
The tune, sung by Andrea Corr of the Corrs, appears in writer/director Jim Sheridan's Irish immigrant saga "In America". Sheridan and his daughters, Naomi and Kirsten, are also in the running for best screenplay.
U2 won the Golden Globe last year for a song the band wrote for the Martin Scorsese movie "Gangs of New York".
BONO THE UNDERDOG
"In America" is competing with some heavy hitters.
The other song nominees are Elton John and longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin ("Mona Lisa Smile"), composer Howard Shore, film producer Fran Walsh and former Eurythmics singer Annie Lennox ("The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"), Pearl Jam vocalist Eddie Vedder ("Big Fish") and pop veteran Sting ("Cold Mountain").
Even though Bono belongs to one of the biggest bands in the world, he considered the song an underdog at the Globes since the low-budget "In America" does not enjoy the same recognition factor as a blockbuster like "The Lord of the Rings".
"The behemoth of U2 is a handy monster to tie your song to because it gets it out there," he said of his efforts to drum up publicity for the film.
Bono wrote the lyrics for "Time Enough for Tears", while Friday and Seezer handled the lyrics and the film's score.
He said he barely recalled the songwriting process as he had a cold the day he phoned his collaborators and dictated some lyrics to them.
The recording process was similarly low-tech.
Corr recorded the song in one take in the studio bathroom.
Fri Jan 23, 1:14 AM ET
By Dean Goodman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The U.S. government can relax. Irish rock star Bono promises he will not swear again on live television if he wins a Golden Globe Award on Sunday.
At last year's ceremony, the U2 frontman exclaimed, "Fucking brilliant!" when accepting his award, an outburst that has prompted U.S. lawmakers to crack down on the use of foul language on air.
"I swear I won't swear," the U2 frontman told Reuters on Thursday in an interview at his West Hollywood hotel. "You can always cause a stir with an expletive and it's not something that I'm conscious of. If you use them in your everyday speech, sometimes they will come out. I don't mean to offend anyone."
Staffers at the Federal Communications Commission (news - web sites) originally ruled in October that Bono did not violate the agency's indecency rules since he used the word as an adjective.
That sparked calls for the FCC (news - web sites) commissioners to overturn the decision, and a bipartisan group of lawmakers on Wednesday introduced legislation to raise fines for incidents of foul language used on air to as much as $3 million (1.6 million pounds). The current fine is $27,500.
Bono, along with Dublin pals Gavin Friday and Maurice Seezer, is nominated in the best original song category for "Time Enough for Tears".
The tune, sung by Andrea Corr of the Corrs, appears in writer/director Jim Sheridan's Irish immigrant saga "In America". Sheridan and his daughters, Naomi and Kirsten, are also in the running for best screenplay.
U2 won the Golden Globe last year for a song the band wrote for the Martin Scorsese movie "Gangs of New York".
BONO THE UNDERDOG
"In America" is competing with some heavy hitters.
The other song nominees are Elton John and longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin ("Mona Lisa Smile"), composer Howard Shore, film producer Fran Walsh and former Eurythmics singer Annie Lennox ("The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"), Pearl Jam vocalist Eddie Vedder ("Big Fish") and pop veteran Sting ("Cold Mountain").
Even though Bono belongs to one of the biggest bands in the world, he considered the song an underdog at the Globes since the low-budget "In America" does not enjoy the same recognition factor as a blockbuster like "The Lord of the Rings".
"The behemoth of U2 is a handy monster to tie your song to because it gets it out there," he said of his efforts to drum up publicity for the film.
Bono wrote the lyrics for "Time Enough for Tears", while Friday and Seezer handled the lyrics and the film's score.
He said he barely recalled the songwriting process as he had a cold the day he phoned his collaborators and dictated some lyrics to them.
The recording process was similarly low-tech.
Corr recorded the song in one take in the studio bathroom.
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