BONUS - Surrender, An Audiobook by Bono of U2 - Dave's Audible Recommendation

Summary

---

BONUS: Surrender – An Audiobook by Bono of U2

Living The Next Chapter: Candid Conversations with Authors and Writers for Readers Searching for a New Read
Host: Dave Campbell
Release Date: February 14, 2026

---

Episode Overview

In this bonus episode, host Dave Campbell shares his passion for audiobooks by spotlighting "Surrender," the memoir by Bono, lead singer of U2. The episode serves as both a recommendation and a heartfelt reflection on the unique power of audiobook storytelling, specifically highlighting how "Surrender" is brought to life through Bono’s own voice and U2’s music. Dave discusses why this audiobook stands out and offers his thoughts on its impact for musicians, U2 fans, and music lovers.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Power and Appeal of Audiobooks

• Dave’s Enthusiasm for Audiobooks:
  • “Have you tried audiobooks yet? It's like a podcast with whipped cream. Yeah. Love audiobooks.” (00:20)
  • Dave compares audiobooks to podcasts, emphasizing their immersive and enjoyable qualities.
• Accessibility and Convenience:
  • Dave explains how audiobooks are particularly beneficial for non-traditional readers, allowing for listening, pausing, and rewinding as needed.
    • “My mind tends to wander when I read a printed copy... listening to the audio version, it suits me the best.” (03:32)

2. Why "Surrender" by Bono is Exceptional

• Unique Audiobook Features:
  • The inclusion of music, remixes, and new takes on U2 songs sets this audiobook apart from the print version.
    • “What's woven in the audiobook that you don't get in the printed copy is the music… remixes and revolution reworkings of U2 songs are used as chapter separators and transitions.” (01:22)
• Chapter Structure and Song References:
  • The book contains 40 chapters, a nod to U2’s song “40.”
• Personal Connection:
  • As a longtime U2 and music fan, Dave feels this audiobook captures the heart and story of the band from its humble beginnings to global stardom.
    • “For me as a guitar player, I learned a lot of U2 songs in my day and trying to deconstruct this band.” (07:31)

3. Highlights from Bono’s Memoir

• Origins of U2:
  • Anecdotes from Bono:
    • The audiobook recounts how drummer Larry posted a notice at school to form a band, leading to U2’s formation in Larry’s kitchen.
    • Memorable excerpt (audio played by Dave):
      • “How casually our destiny arrives. Quite a few wannabes had responded to Larry Mullin's invitation on the school notice board… packed in the oven that was Larry's kitchen... Drums, amps, apprentice rock stars…” (Bono, 04:24)
• Music, Struggles, and Success:
  • Bono discusses the creative processes behind early U2 songs, the band members’ learning curves, and how their unconventional approach became their signature.
    • “They all were, except for Larry on drums… learning how to play their instruments, and that's what made them unique— they didn't know what they were doing yet. They had something and you can't argue with their success.” (08:07)
• Humanitarian and Political Chapters:
  • Later sections delve into Bono’s activism, the band's engagement with global issues, and stories “about politics and all of that.”
• Band’s Challenges:
  • Insights into moments when the band nearly broke up, and reflections on resilience and friendship.
    • “There were times where the band was so close to ending it all because of either a belief or a struggle or something. But they always seem to get back together and continue.” (06:51)

4. Noteworthy Moments and Quotes

• The U2–Apple Album Controversy:
  • Bono candidly recounts the mishap of having U2's album automatically added to Apple users’ devices.
    • “It was actually Bono's idea and it failed and they had to kind of re-think and reevaluate after that.” (06:29)
• Gift Recommendation:
  • Dave encourages giving the audiobook as a gift to music lovers and U2 fans.
    • “This is the best gift idea ever for a musician or YouTube fan out there. Give this as a gift. Do it, please. Just. Just do it.” (00:56)

---

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:00–01:20 — Dave introduces his love for audiobooks and his recommendation of "Surrender"
• 01:21–02:30 — Unique features of the audiobook, including music exclusives
• 03:22–03:59 — How listening to audiobooks changed Dave’s reading habits
• 04:24–05:07 — Bono excerpt: Origins of U2 in Larry's kitchen
• 05:08–07:31 — What listeners can learn: Band’s journey, failures, and resilience
• 06:29 — The Apple album debacle, Bono's admission, and aftermath
• 08:07–09:16 — Dave reflects on U2’s musicianship and collective growth

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

“Have you tried audiobooks yet? It's like a podcast with whipped cream. Yeah. Love audiobooks.”
— Dave Campbell, 00:20

“What's woven in the audiobook that you don't get in the printed copy is the music… there are little remixes and revolution reworkings of U2 songs.”
— Dave Campbell, 01:22

“How casually our destiny arrives... Drums, amps, apprentice rock stars... Guitar and bass might have been squealing for attention... but it was the drums that filled, both physical and musical.”
— Bono (voiced on audiobook), 04:24

“For me as a guitar player... what I love is they all were, except for Larry on drums, basically learning how to play their instruments... And that's what made them unique… you can't argue with their success.”
— Dave Campbell, 08:07

---

Final Thoughts & Recommendations

• Dave’s Takeaway:
  • The audiobook "Surrender" is a powerful gift for any music lover, deeply enhanced by Bono’s narration and U2’s musical interludes.
• Audience Engagement:
  • Dave invites listeners to visit the show notes for links, connect via the website, and share episode feedback with the community.
• Looking Forward:
  • Teases future podcast episodes and encourages authors to reach out for features.

---

For anyone intrigued by music, storytelling, or the fascinating story of U2, this episode asserts that "Surrender" is a must-listen—best experienced in its audio format for maximum impact.

Transcript

[A]

Hey, welcome to Living the Next Chapter. This is Dave, a little bonus episode jumping on to talk about one of the audiobooks that I have fallen in love with. And I wanted to share with you links in the show notes on every single episode of the Living the Next Chapter podcast takes you to my new favorite audiobook. Have you tried audiobooks yet? It's like a podcast with whipped cream. Yeah. Love audiobooks. And my audiobook suggestion is Surrender. It is written by Bono from U2, and it is outstanding. Okay, I said it. Outstanding. It is a great audiobook. I'm a big early YouTube fan. I love the early stuff. That's my favorite all the way up into Joshua Tree and. Oh, gosh. And yeah, I'm going to talk about the. I'm going to talk more about it. Let's jump into this. It's the audiobook from Bono called Surrender. Check the show notes. You. This is the best gift idea ever for a musician or YouTube fan out there. Give this as a gift. Do it, please. Just. Just do it. Here we go. Moving the next chapter. I'm excited. Can you tell? Yeah. Okay, here we go. So if you're a fan of YouTube, you're a fan of guitar playing, you're a fan of music, this audiobook is outstanding. It's like 40 chapters long, and 40 is one of U2 songs from back in the day. But I really. I love this book because what's woven in the audiobook that you don't get in the printed copy is the music. And there are little. There are little remixes and revolution Reworkings of U2 songs that you are used as, like, chapter separators and transitions. You hear the stories in the early chapters of the book of how a certain song was written and what was happening at that time and where their heads were at and the instruments that were used. And there's so much depth, and it's. It's amazing to listen to Bono go through. And we even hear how Bono got his name as a child and who named him Bono. We hear about all of the stories about how the band was created, how it started, and there's so much amazing stuff in this book. I listened to it. All it took. It was like, I don't know, 14 hours, roughly, I think, for this book. And I listened to the whole thing over a couple nights at work, fell in love with it, and I. I own it now through my audible link in the show notes. You can have it as well.

[B]

That's an affiliate link, so I'll make.

[A]

A small amount of money if you purchase the book through me. Thank you, Appreciate that. But the audio version of this book, for me, as a non reader, I really love the audio version, the option of listening, because then I can listen and pause it and rewind it. My mind tends to wander when I read a printed copy of a book, so listening to the audio version, it suits me the best. So that's kind of how I consume books and I really love this. So the beginning, the beginning of the book.

[B]

Bono kind of shares a little bit.

[A]

About how this all started for U2 and how the drummer, Larry, posted a notice at the school bulletin board looking for a band. And here's a little clip from the book to kind of wet your whistle and entice you to get this book and give this as a gift. But here he goes, a little bit from the book just to give you a taste.

[C]

How casually our destiny arrives. Quite a few wannabes had responded to Larry Mullin's invitation on the school notice board. And now classes out for the day. We were all packed in the oven that was Larry's kitchen. How do we fit all the drums, the amps, and the apprentice rock stars into such a small room? Guitar and bass might have been squealing for attention with their amplifiers and distortion pedals, but it was the drums that filled, both physical and musical. It was as if no one was in tune. But Larry, who appeared quite at home around all this metallic chaos. Well, he was at home. It was his kitchen.

[A]

So it's a. It's just a great audio experience listening to this audiobook, and I couldn't recommend this more. If again, if you have anyone in your home that's a musician, a lover of music, a YouTube fan, you really get a good sense of how this band started so humbly back in high school and how in over 40 years these guys have stuck it out together, they have played all over. Later in the book, we get a little bit more into Bono's desire to serve the world and the community and help people who needed help. There's a lot of stuff in there about politics and all of that. They even talk. They even talk about how what happened around that whole Apple thing where U2's album was included and sent out to every Apple user whether you wanted it or not. And pretty interesting to hear, to hear this. And without spoiling all of it, I'll just tell you that it was actually Bono's idea and it failed and they had to kind of re. Rethink and reevaluate after that. But we hear about how many times that the band almost ended and for what reason, the struggles that they had. To know that there was times where the band was so close to ending at all because of either a belief or a struggle or something. But they always seem to get back together and Continue. My favorite U2 album or music era, I would say would be the Joshua Tree and all the live stuff they did around that. I also love Unfortable Fire and all the way back to the beginning of YouTube. That's kind of where I started. And for me as a guitar player, I learned a lot of U2 songs in my day and trying to deconstruct this band. And what I love is they all were, except for for Larry on drums. They all were basically learning how to play their instruments and that's what made them unique is they didn't know what they were doing yet. They had something and you can't argue with their success. So head into the show notes. There's a link right there that will take you to Amazon and the audible link. You can also buy the paper book, which is great. If you love that, that's fine. You're just going to miss out on some of the clips you heard already, but you'll miss out on the musical aspects that are included in with the audio version and make a great gift this year to somebody in your home, somebody in your life, and it's something they can listen to over and over and over again. So again, links in the show notes and I would really encourage you to go check it out. Thank you for being part of Living the Next Chapter. We are going to be having the rest of our episodes releasing into the end of December. We're trying to get caught up with everything. We've really tried to up everything we can to get our episodes as fast as possible. Head over to YouTube. You can hear and experience the most recent episodes of our podcast. We replace the audio only versions on YouTube with the actual video version of the interview as well. And we got some great stuff coming up in the future for Living the Next Chapter. So maybe some live videos on YouTube, some other great stuff. We're going to have amazing things. So if you are an author, if you know an author, reach out to us, let us know. And if you go to our website living the next chapter.com and there's a little microphone icon, send us a message, record your voice and tell us what episode really, really helped you this year or inspired you. And let's shout out these great authors that have come on this year and thank them together. So you do that for me and I will share your message with our authors and with our guests. And thank you for being part of Living the Next Chapter for this entire year. We're so happy and so grateful for everyone that's contributed, listened, been a guest, liked, shared, commented, followed, left us a review. Whatever you have done for us, thank you. And I realize as a podcast host, you being here is amazing. You are paying with your attention for this podcast and I value that so much. Head over to the podcast website, head over to livingthenextchapter.com and check out this Audible book from YouTube from Bono Surrender. And again, don't make a great gift. I'm just telling you. And I would really love to see you in 2023. Thank you for being part of Living the Next Chapter. Onward and upward. Thank you. Cheers.

[B]

Well, the podcast is over. Thank you for being a part of this episode. If this is your very first episode, welcome to Living the New Chapter. You can go back in our catalog. You can see some of the past episodes. But if you want to get a sneak peek of what's coming, you want to jump the line. Yeah, I gotta, I got, I got something for you. Go to our YouTube channel again. Links are in the show notes and on our website, Living the next chapter.com and you can go to our YouTube channel and get the most recent episode way before everybody else. So we're putting this at the end of the podcast because we don't want to tell everyone. We don't want to like have a stampede, you know, but we're having some great conversations over on our YouTube channel. You're invited. You've been this, you're this far. You're the one listening. You are invited to our YouTube channel.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Go over there and you can see the most up to date episodes in real time. Meet you over there. Thanks for listening. Cheers.

[C]

Hey, are you still there? It's incredible that we're here, right.