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Army of Bono Lyrics
Hold the presses Mikey! Hot news on the wire!
Hundreds see an image of a Guinness drinking choir.
Celebrities and cameras are headed to the scene
While presidents are fleeing to their speeding limousines.
Don't worry, it's just stigmata.
Pass me a napkin and don't you dare tell my mother.
Your local programming interrupted
by the mindless banter of a soulless talking head.
Roll out the red carpet, dripping bloody tongue.
Pay no mind to blue berets and all their shiny guns.
Don't worry, it's just stigmata.
Pass me a napkin and don't you dare tell my mother.
Who you gonna call when the man brings his hammer down?
Goose stepping with a smoking Irish fly.
And when our world is over, children by the fire
Raise their hands and pray that they may see a new Messiah.
And somewhere in the darkness a flag goes running by.
The smell of cigarettes and love are incense for the fly.
Don't worry, it's just stigmata.
Pass me a napkin and don't you dare tell my mother.
Who you gonna call when the man brings his hammer down?
Goose stepping with a smoking Irish fly.
Hundreds see an image of a Guinness drinking choir.
Celebrities and cameras are headed to the scene
While presidents are fleeing to their speeding limousines.
Pass me a napkin and don't you dare tell my mother.
by the mindless banter of a soulless talking head.
Roll out the red carpet, dripping bloody tongue.
Pay no mind to blue berets and all their shiny guns.
Pass me a napkin and don't you dare tell my mother.
Goose stepping with a smoking Irish fly.
Raise their hands and pray that they may see a new Messiah.
And somewhere in the darkness a flag goes running by.
The smell of cigarettes and love are incense for the fly.
Pass me a napkin and don't you dare tell my mother.
Goose stepping with a smoking Irish fly.
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This song isn't a commentary on Bono, it's a story just like every other Clutch song. The title is Army of Bono, IE Bono has taken over.
In this story, Bono comes on the news (first two lines), while elected officials are fleeing - Bono has secured world order. The chorus signifies why, stigmata is a reference to Bono becoming/claiming to be the messiah. The new armed officials are wearing blue berets (hats which Bono is famous for) thus indicating that new (armed) officials are dressed like Bono.
The who you gonna call is rhetorical, the man who brings his hammer down is Bono, who's men now march like notorious dictatorship regimes (look up goose stepping). Bono is the "smoking Irish fly." IE, goose stepping with a smoking Irish fly = military regime lead by Bono.
Eventually the world ends, and children pray for another Bono. The flag - indicating the previous pre-world end regime for the children - flys; Bono has lived through the end of the world (cigarettes and love are Bonos hobbys), are intense for the fly (Bono = smoking Irish fly). With me?
To recap: Bono takes over, world ends, Bono survives to lead people once more.
I can almost guarantee you this song was written as fiction for interest. You guys who think its a commentary on some aspect of his life are way over thinking it, Clutch is a storytelling band and it makes much more sense if you read it that way.
'goose stepping with a smoking Irish fly' i'd say this refers to the intro of the ZooTv tour, Bono appears on the screens in silhouette as the fly, smoking and proceeds to goose mark before he goes to sieg heil but restrains himself
'goose stepping with a smoking Irish fly' i'd say this refers to the intro of the ZooTv tour, Bono appears on the screens in silhouette as the fly, smoking and proceeds to goose mark before he goes to sieg heil but restrains himself
4minutes 34seconds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMneYa8gJBY
4minutes 34seconds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMneYa8gJBY
Good find. I think when he's restraining his arm it's a homage to Dr. Strangelove, but it still fits. The one thing is that video was posted in 09 and this was recorded in 04 at the latest.
Good find. I think when he's restraining his arm it's a homage to Dr. Strangelove, but it still fits. The one thing is that video was posted in 09 and this was recorded in 04 at the latest.
It clearl speaks about how the government uses the media to try and distract us from the real issues in the world, exampleroll out thered carpet dripping bloody tongu, pay no mind to blue berets and all their shiny guns, pretty much says look celebrities, don't pay any attentin to the war were wasting billions of dollars on, once again another poke at the government, nothing new with Clutch.
I'm kind of in the middle about this song too, but I'm leaning toward Metathought's reasoning that this might actually be PRO-Bono (no pun intended!) It's trendy to immediately jump to bashing Bono, but the song might actually be FOR his case instead of against it. Politics and celebrity are the same...Bono has used his celebrity successfully AGAINST politics.
Some people claim Bono has a messiah complex, but the lines, "When the World is Over..", "pray that they see the new Messiah" - "and somewhere in the darkness a flag goes running by, the smell of cigarettes and love are incense to the fly" are not about Bono being God...but about Bono being right about God.(?) When people wake up and realize that God is supposed to be about Love, the world will be over and Bono will be saying "I told you so..." (...just FYI, I am non-Christian so I am not religiously biased..)
I don't know anything about this band, Clutch, but they seem to know a good bit about Bono and U2 by their (very old!) references. The "Fly" was a stage-persona Bono played during the Zoo TV tour in the early 1990's, and U2 is infamous for their white-flag/anti-war routine from the early 80's. Even Bono himself jokes about having a messiah complex...the casualness of wiping stigmata with a napkin (as if it were spilled ketchup) would totally go along with the joke.
You can probably tell I'm a U2 fan; even if this song were Anti-Bono I'd still give it kudos for at least being a million times more intelligent than most of the stuff I've seen/heard/read.
The dude above me is right. It's also putting down Bono from U2 pretty bad, lol. He's the Irish fly. And I think is band is the Guinness drinking choir. The man bringing his hammer down is God ending the world.
actually, at first, i thought the lyrics reminded me of The Street Lawyer by John Grisham, if anyone has read it, comment back.
Is it just me or is this NOT meant as an insult to Bono. Bono is known for his activism, right? I feel like he is saying he wants us to be an army of Bono's for what the song is about. But I could be wrong.