by Mizzima News
Monday, 29 June 2009 16:39
Mizzima News - Internationally acclaimed Irish band U2 is poised to commence their latest tour tomorrow, with attendees encouraged to don Aung San Suu Kyi masks during the playing of 'Walk On'.
"U2 believe the world must not be allowed to forget Aung San Suu Kyi and on the 360 Tour fans are being invited to wear the mask when the band play 'Walk On', which was written for her," explains the iconic pop/rock band on their website.
Dedicated to Burma's detained opposition leader, a portion of the lyrics for 'Walk On' read:
And if the darkness is to keep us apart
And if the daylight feels like it's a long way off
And if your glass heart should crack
And for a second you turn back
Oh no, be strong
The band, and front singer Bono in particular, is well recognized for their interest and social activism in politics and humanitarianism across the world.
"U2 wrote the song Walk On to honor this amazing woman," elucidated Bono in a 2004 article written for Time Magazine's 100 Heroes and Icons, "who put family second to country, who for her convictions made an unbearable choice — not to see her sons grow and not to be with her husband as he lost his life to a long and painful cancer. Suu Kyi, with an idea too big for any jail and a spirit too strong for any army, changes our view — as only real heroes can — of what we believe to be possible."
At the height of the crackdown against protesters in Burma in late September 2007, Bono remarked, "When you are a monk in Burma this very week, barred from entering a temple because of your gospel of peace ... well, then none of us are truly free."
Originally released as a single in 2001, 'Walk On', off the 2000 album All That You Can't Leave Behind, went on to win record of the year at the Grammys.
The mask is available for download on U2's website, www.u2.com. The reverse side contains a brief quote by Aung San Suu Kyi: "Fear is a habit. I am not afraid."
Opening tomorrow in Barcelona, Spain, the 360 Tour is scheduled to visit 14 European and 16 North American cities en route to its finale in Vancouver, British Colombia, at the end of October.
Monday, June 29, 2009
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