1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,440 Speaker 1: This episode contains content that may be disturbing to some listeners. 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:08,079 Speaker 1: Please check the show notes for more information. Disgraceland is 3 00:00:08,080 --> 00:00:24,560 Speaker 1: a production of Double Elvis The Stories About You Two 4 00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:30,320 Speaker 1: are Insane. In nineteen eighty seven, touring behind their blockbuster 5 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:34,480 Speaker 1: album The Joshua Tree, their songs became a lightning rod 6 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:38,600 Speaker 1: for violence. Pride in the Name of Love, a song 7 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:42,600 Speaker 1: inspired by Martin Luther King Junior, earned them a death threat. 8 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:47,080 Speaker 1: Sunday Bloody Sunday, a song about the troubles back home 9 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:51,080 Speaker 1: in Ireland, made them a target of the IRA, But 10 00:00:51,159 --> 00:00:54,400 Speaker 1: it was the song Exit, a tune written from the 11 00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:57,040 Speaker 1: point of view of a killer that was linked with 12 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:02,440 Speaker 1: pure evil. That song allegedly inspired a mentally disturbed man 13 00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:04,800 Speaker 1: to hop an overnight bus with a loaded three point 14 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:07,960 Speaker 1: fifty seven. Magnum determined to meet an actress that he 15 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:11,560 Speaker 1: was obsessed with, just like he was obsessed with U 16 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:15,920 Speaker 1: Two's music. Great music, unlike that clip I played for 17 00:01:15,959 --> 00:01:19,240 Speaker 1: you at the top of the show that wasn't great music. 18 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:23,040 Speaker 1: That was a preset loop from my melotron called Desert 19 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:27,959 Speaker 1: Dagger MK one. I played you that loop because I 20 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:30,480 Speaker 1: can't afford the rights to a clip from if you 21 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:34,080 Speaker 1: don't know me by now, by simply red And why 22 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:37,240 Speaker 1: would I play you that specific slice of red haired, 23 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:41,319 Speaker 1: blue eyed souled cheese. Could I afford it? Because that 24 00:01:41,959 --> 00:01:45,399 Speaker 1: was the number one song in America on July eighteenth, 25 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:48,720 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty nine, And that was the day that Robert 26 00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:52,400 Speaker 1: John Bardow arrived in West Hollywood carrying a copy of 27 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:57,400 Speaker 1: The Joshua Tree and the Pistol and murdered actress Rebecca Schaeffer. 28 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:03,400 Speaker 1: On this episode threats the Ira The Joshua Tree, a 29 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:07,160 Speaker 1: song that inspired a killer, the murder of Rebecca Schaeffer 30 00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:30,639 Speaker 1: and U two. I'm Jake Brennan, and this is disgraceland. 31 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:46,519 Speaker 1: U two's planned for how they would release their thirteenth 32 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:50,840 Speaker 1: studio album was like all of you two's plans, done 33 00:02:50,919 --> 00:02:53,280 Speaker 1: with the best of intentions and with their hearts in 34 00:02:53,320 --> 00:02:57,960 Speaker 1: the right place. But when Songs of Innocence was loaded 35 00:02:58,200 --> 00:03:01,960 Speaker 1: by surprise and for free into the music libraries of 36 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:06,520 Speaker 1: more than five hundred million iTunes customers, not everyone was 37 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:11,320 Speaker 1: feeling the love. To some, it was auditory spam, an 38 00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:17,040 Speaker 1: invasion of privacy. As U two's lead singer Bono later explained, quote, 39 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:19,240 Speaker 1: we wanted to deliver a pint of milk to people's 40 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:21,800 Speaker 1: front porches, but in a few cases it ended up 41 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:24,360 Speaker 1: in their fridge or on their cereal and some people 42 00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:29,560 Speaker 1: were like, hey, I'm dairy free unquote. In twenty fourteen, 43 00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:32,720 Speaker 1: many people simply woke up one morning and suddenly found 44 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:38,840 Speaker 1: they were U two intolerant. But here's the thing, twenty 45 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:42,840 Speaker 1: seven years earlier, in nineteen eighty seven, millions of people 46 00:03:42,840 --> 00:03:46,120 Speaker 1: would have killed for a free U two album, especially 47 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:49,680 Speaker 1: in America, the country that inspired the Irish band's then 48 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:54,240 Speaker 1: brand new album, The Joshua Tree. Nine consecutive weeks at 49 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:57,320 Speaker 1: the top of the US album chart, two singles with 50 00:03:57,480 --> 00:03:59,600 Speaker 1: or Without You and I Still Haven't Found What I'm 51 00:03:59,640 --> 00:04:02,880 Speaker 1: looking For that became the band's first two number one 52 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:06,600 Speaker 1: hits in the United States. The subsequent tour brought the 53 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:10,040 Speaker 1: bigness of the U two phenomenon to life, one hundred 54 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:13,320 Speaker 1: and nine shows in nineteen eighty seven alone, seventy nine 55 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:18,159 Speaker 1: of them in America, most of them at capacity. It 56 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:20,919 Speaker 1: was on this tour that U two graduated from playing 57 00:04:20,960 --> 00:04:24,679 Speaker 1: arenas to playing stadiums. They literally had to learn about 58 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:28,839 Speaker 1: scaling up the tour as it was happening. Bono endured 59 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:33,120 Speaker 1: rigorous physical challenges required to captivate larger and larger audiences 60 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:37,080 Speaker 1: night after night. U two's music was made for this 61 00:04:37,640 --> 00:04:41,120 Speaker 1: big music, and Bono could sell it, especially with that 62 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:44,400 Speaker 1: big voice and that big heart and the big American 63 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:47,919 Speaker 1: stetson on his head too. But U two's appeal wasn't 64 00:04:47,960 --> 00:04:51,919 Speaker 1: just about the music. They were loved precisely because of 65 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:55,000 Speaker 1: their best intentions, in their hearts being in the right place, 66 00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:59,239 Speaker 1: the very same traits that would work against them decades later. 67 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:03,120 Speaker 1: Bono and you two were good men, the men who 68 00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:06,040 Speaker 1: spoke up and stood up for what was right. They 69 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:08,680 Speaker 1: honored the legacy of other good men like Martin Luther 70 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:11,640 Speaker 1: King Junior, not just with their song Pride in the 71 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:14,640 Speaker 1: Name of Love, but by publicly calling out the Governor 72 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:17,839 Speaker 1: of Arizona on the Joshua Tree Tour when he refused 73 00:05:17,839 --> 00:05:20,880 Speaker 1: to observe the new MLK holiday at the state level. 74 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:25,240 Speaker 1: You two made that public statement just hours before their 75 00:05:25,279 --> 00:05:29,640 Speaker 1: show and Tempe. Word traveled fast, and the phone rang 76 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:33,000 Speaker 1: in Sun Devil Stadium, the Arizona State Coliseum, where you 77 00:05:33,080 --> 00:05:35,880 Speaker 1: two were set to perform that evening. The caller was 78 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:39,960 Speaker 1: anonymous and the threat was clear and present. If you 79 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:42,400 Speaker 1: two dared to play that Martin Luther King song at 80 00:05:42,400 --> 00:05:44,880 Speaker 1: the show, Bono wasn't going to live to sing the 81 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:49,279 Speaker 1: final chorus. Federal agents swarmed through the sold out crowd 82 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:51,400 Speaker 1: of more than one hundred and ten thousand, searching in 83 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:55,320 Speaker 1: vain for bombs, for guns, for an assassin. U two 84 00:05:55,400 --> 00:05:59,560 Speaker 1: didn't back down. They played their set as planned, including 85 00:06:00,279 --> 00:06:03,799 Speaker 1: In the Name of Love, not because they weren't afraid 86 00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:05,839 Speaker 1: that someone would take a shot at their lead singer, 87 00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:09,480 Speaker 1: because you two had lived under the threat of violence 88 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:16,640 Speaker 1: their entire lives. Violence was one of Bono's earliest memories 89 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:19,880 Speaker 1: growing up in Ireland during the time of the so 90 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:27,560 Speaker 1: called Troubles. Violence was everywhere, Catholics versus Protestants, Unionists versus nationalists, 91 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:32,680 Speaker 1: thousands dead. In nineteen seventy two, British soldiers shot and 92 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:37,320 Speaker 1: killed fourteen unarmed protesters in Derry, a tragedy that inspired 93 00:06:37,440 --> 00:06:41,040 Speaker 1: U two's early hit Sunday, Bloody Sunday. They wrote it 94 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:46,440 Speaker 1: to condemn violence full stop. Instead, it created confusion which 95 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:49,720 Speaker 1: side were you two really on. Bono was a good man, 96 00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:51,800 Speaker 1: a stand up man, but he knew better than to 97 00:06:51,839 --> 00:06:55,880 Speaker 1: answer that question by naming names. Speaking out against the 98 00:06:55,920 --> 00:06:59,040 Speaker 1: IRA could get a dublin or killed. A fact made 99 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:01,640 Speaker 1: crystal clear the two men who approached the house where 100 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:04,920 Speaker 1: Bono was staying shortly after Sunday Bloody Sunday was released. 101 00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:10,040 Speaker 1: They wore green berets and carried rifles, definitely not police. 102 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:15,840 Speaker 1: Bono's heart pounded, instinct took over violent instinct. He grabbed 103 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:18,400 Speaker 1: a large knife from the kitchen, prepared to use it 104 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:23,080 Speaker 1: to slip fully into the darkness. Seconds passed. The men 105 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:27,720 Speaker 1: said nothing, did nothing, just made their presence known and 106 00:07:27,760 --> 00:07:32,760 Speaker 1: then walked away. The sense of relief that he never 107 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:37,040 Speaker 1: had to use the knife was huge. That same sense 108 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:39,960 Speaker 1: of relief washed over years later at the show in Tempe, 109 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:43,560 Speaker 1: where Bono managed to sing Pride without catching a bullet 110 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:49,560 Speaker 1: in the head. Still wielding that knife made Bono feel 111 00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:52,720 Speaker 1: like a hypocrite. He was a good man, a man 112 00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:57,680 Speaker 1: who preached an anti paramilitary agenda, anti apartheid, anti hate, 113 00:07:57,720 --> 00:08:00,560 Speaker 1: with an anti guitar hero doling out three chords and 114 00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:03,760 Speaker 1: truth by his side. But to think that even he 115 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:07,280 Speaker 1: could be corrupted by violence, by evil, but he was. 116 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:12,440 Speaker 1: It crawled all over his skin whenever he sang Exit, 117 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:15,880 Speaker 1: one of the songs from the Joshua Tree album. He 118 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:19,680 Speaker 1: was singing it Now at RFK Stadium in Washington, d C. 119 00:08:20,440 --> 00:08:24,960 Speaker 1: September nineteen eighty seven. Exit was Bono's attempt to write 120 00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:26,840 Speaker 1: a song from the point of view of a killer, 121 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:30,640 Speaker 1: inspired by American true crime books such as Truman, Capodi's 122 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:34,240 Speaker 1: and Cold Blood. For the audience, it was a highlight 123 00:08:34,280 --> 00:08:36,880 Speaker 1: of each night's show. For You Too. It was part 124 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:38,920 Speaker 1: of a stretch of songs that they called the Set's 125 00:08:39,040 --> 00:08:42,319 Speaker 1: Heart of Darkness. Bono didn't know if he was Willard 126 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:45,160 Speaker 1: searching for that darkness in order to terminate it with 127 00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:49,680 Speaker 1: extreme prejudice, or if he was Kurt's evil gone rogue, 128 00:08:49,720 --> 00:08:52,800 Speaker 1: a cancer of violence metastasizing in the jungle of his 129 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:58,360 Speaker 1: own soul. Either way, this thing, this evil was inside 130 00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:02,520 Speaker 1: him now row his legs to walk. It pumped blood 131 00:09:02,559 --> 00:09:05,520 Speaker 1: through his heart, and it used his voice to sing 132 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:15,800 Speaker 1: to sing about hands, hands of love. Robert John Bardo 133 00:09:15,960 --> 00:09:18,920 Speaker 1: hit rewind on the cassette player. He wanted to hear 134 00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:25,960 Speaker 1: it again. Side to track five, the song Exit, He 135 00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:30,679 Speaker 1: Loved You Too, especially this deep cut on the Joshua Tree. 136 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:33,920 Speaker 1: Exit reminded him of his own life in his own 137 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:38,439 Speaker 1: split emotional state of God and the devil, always inside 138 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:44,439 Speaker 1: his head, always in constant conversation. Mostly though, when Bono 139 00:09:44,559 --> 00:09:47,880 Speaker 1: sang about the hands of love, it reminded Robert John 140 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:55,120 Speaker 1: Bardow of her, Rebecca Schaeffer, so pure, so innocent, when 141 00:09:55,160 --> 00:09:57,199 Speaker 1: he first saw her on a commercial for her TV 142 00:09:57,320 --> 00:10:01,160 Speaker 1: sitcom My Sister Sam, And that was it. He had 143 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:04,560 Speaker 1: to go to Hollywood, all the way from Tucson, to 144 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:07,319 Speaker 1: tell her how he felt he was sick with love. 145 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:11,240 Speaker 1: Couldn't they see that? The security guard at the Burbank 146 00:10:11,280 --> 00:10:14,280 Speaker 1: Studios front gate didn't want to hear it. Miss Shaffer 147 00:10:14,360 --> 00:10:16,719 Speaker 1: doesn't want to see you, Miss Shaeffer doesn't want to 148 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:22,199 Speaker 1: be disturbed. So Barto returned to Tucson, heartbroken and frustrated. 149 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:26,360 Speaker 1: He thought about the letter he'd sent to Rebecca. How 150 00:10:26,400 --> 00:10:30,320 Speaker 1: she actually wrote back. She said his letter was the 151 00:10:30,320 --> 00:10:34,400 Speaker 1: most beautiful letter she'd ever received. How could someone who 152 00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:38,240 Speaker 1: said that not want to see him? Barto decided to 153 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:42,640 Speaker 1: return this time, no one would stop him, and this 154 00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:46,920 Speaker 1: song was going to guide him. But the song was over. 155 00:10:49,360 --> 00:10:52,400 Speaker 1: He hit rewind again on the cassette player, then he 156 00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:56,800 Speaker 1: pressed play exit started up again. He bobbed his head 157 00:10:56,800 --> 00:10:59,880 Speaker 1: to the throbbing bassline. He banged on his knees when 158 00:10:59,880 --> 00:11:03,160 Speaker 1: the drums came crashing in, and he listened to Bono's 159 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:06,920 Speaker 1: voice singing about a man with a heavy head, his 160 00:11:06,960 --> 00:11:10,760 Speaker 1: fingers inside the pocket of his jeans, touching cold steel. 161 00:11:11,160 --> 00:11:15,040 Speaker 1: A pistol. Of course, it was so clear to him 162 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:20,200 Speaker 1: now studio gates, security guards. There were all obstacles between 163 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:23,120 Speaker 1: him and her. A pistol would make quick work of 164 00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:27,200 Speaker 1: them all. Only then would he reach her, Rebecca Schaeffer, 165 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:35,560 Speaker 1: reach her hands, the hands of love. Bono was singing 166 00:11:35,559 --> 00:11:37,880 Speaker 1: about the hands of love as you two brought Exit 167 00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:42,160 Speaker 1: to its thunderous climax at RFK Stadium. Though the stage 168 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:45,320 Speaker 1: lights were on him, Bono was still in the darkness, 169 00:11:45,360 --> 00:11:49,480 Speaker 1: still in character, with that thing, that evil crawling all 170 00:11:49,520 --> 00:11:53,560 Speaker 1: over his skin. It animated him and moved him too fast. 171 00:11:54,320 --> 00:11:57,160 Speaker 1: He slipped, His body hit the ground, and he heard 172 00:11:57,160 --> 00:12:01,920 Speaker 1: the pop. He felt the excruciating pain, his arm dangling, 173 00:12:01,960 --> 00:12:07,360 Speaker 1: his shoulder dislocated. He carried on, managing to finish the 174 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:09,840 Speaker 1: set before merging for the encore with his arm in 175 00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:13,080 Speaker 1: a sling, knowing full well that what had just happened 176 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:16,760 Speaker 1: wasn't an accident or a coincidence. It was what happened 177 00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:48,560 Speaker 1: when you fucked with the devil. Nineteen seventy six, Dublin 178 00:12:48,920 --> 00:12:52,280 Speaker 1: Lived in. Village wasn't a real village. It was a 179 00:12:52,320 --> 00:12:56,360 Speaker 1: state of mind, an invention, a collective of disaffected youth, 180 00:12:56,480 --> 00:13:00,880 Speaker 1: deliberately kicking against the pricks, against the conservative ideology that 181 00:13:00,960 --> 00:13:04,520 Speaker 1: snuffed out hope, hope that a bright future might lay ahead. 182 00:13:05,760 --> 00:13:09,240 Speaker 1: Ireland in the seventies and eighties was devoid of future, 183 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:13,200 Speaker 1: embroiled in a brutal conflict that ripped apart families and 184 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:16,840 Speaker 1: seemed to have no bottom or end. Ireland was not 185 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:19,880 Speaker 1: all right, but the kids were and they saw it 186 00:13:19,960 --> 00:13:24,080 Speaker 1: spiritual refuge in punk rock and in a parallel universe. 187 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:29,280 Speaker 1: They called Lipton Village a place where reinvention was necessary. 188 00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:32,240 Speaker 1: Ditch your Christian name and make up a new one. 189 00:13:32,640 --> 00:13:36,720 Speaker 1: Call yourself Googie or strong Man or Gavin Friday. It 190 00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:41,600 Speaker 1: was at Lipton Village that Paul David Houston became Bono Vox, 191 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:45,720 Speaker 1: named so not for the Latin translation of clear Voice, 192 00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:49,560 Speaker 1: but for a local hearing aid factory, and where David 193 00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:53,560 Speaker 1: Evans became the Edge, the kid whose style of guitar 194 00:13:53,640 --> 00:13:57,120 Speaker 1: playing was so unique it sounded like a transmission echoing 195 00:13:57,160 --> 00:14:00,560 Speaker 1: from somewhere deep in the future. For Bono and the 196 00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:04,120 Speaker 1: Edge and their friends Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Junior, 197 00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:08,160 Speaker 1: all four of them were just outcast punk teens when 198 00:14:08,240 --> 00:14:12,280 Speaker 1: U two first started. Lifton Village would never truly be 199 00:14:12,360 --> 00:14:16,400 Speaker 1: their future. The future was somewhere else. It was all 200 00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:19,520 Speaker 1: the way across the Atlantic, in the Redwood Forest and 201 00:14:19,560 --> 00:14:24,120 Speaker 1: the Gulf Stream Waters. Wide awake. In America, the future 202 00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:27,000 Speaker 1: was in the pages of Flannery O'Connor and Alan Ginsburg, 203 00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:31,840 Speaker 1: Raymond Carver, and Sam Shepard, but it wasn't finished. It 204 00:14:31,920 --> 00:14:36,200 Speaker 1: was still being written, just like America. The greatest idea 205 00:14:36,320 --> 00:14:40,720 Speaker 1: the world ever had that didn't actually exist yet, but 206 00:14:40,840 --> 00:14:43,960 Speaker 1: it could. A place where the streets had no name, 207 00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:46,600 Speaker 1: a place where everyone could find what they were looking for. 208 00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:50,000 Speaker 1: You two didn't have the map, but they were finding 209 00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:52,520 Speaker 1: their way, a way to bring the future they had 210 00:14:52,520 --> 00:14:56,359 Speaker 1: discovered back to their home country. To use this platform 211 00:14:56,400 --> 00:15:00,200 Speaker 1: they found themselves ascending to throughout the nineteen eighties as 212 00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:02,480 Speaker 1: one of the biggest bands in the world to bring 213 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:07,200 Speaker 1: attention to Ireland's troubles. A song like Sunday, Bloody Sunday 214 00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:11,440 Speaker 1: gave them purpose. Bonnard didn't sing that song. The song 215 00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:15,400 Speaker 1: sang hymn, a song that was more than a song. 216 00:15:15,840 --> 00:15:19,200 Speaker 1: It could change the future and maybe even the world. 217 00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:24,840 Speaker 1: You two's best intentions and big hearts drew snickers from 218 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:28,760 Speaker 1: the Lipton Village crowd, a scene led by Gavin Friday's band, 219 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:31,800 Speaker 1: The Virgin Prunes. Good friends of You two from back 220 00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:33,600 Speaker 1: of the day, who had remained as punk as You 221 00:15:33,680 --> 00:15:38,680 Speaker 1: two were now populist, changing the world with music lame. 222 00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:42,160 Speaker 1: By the time The Joshua Tree was released in nineteen 223 00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:44,840 Speaker 1: eighty seven, You two was on the other side of 224 00:15:44,880 --> 00:15:49,320 Speaker 1: the globe from that imagined village, literally and figuratively. Their 225 00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:52,280 Speaker 1: punk cred was all but gone. But it wasn't just 226 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:54,960 Speaker 1: the punks who I beef with you two. The eyes 227 00:15:55,000 --> 00:16:01,520 Speaker 1: of the world were on them now. Nineteen eighty seven, 228 00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:05,920 Speaker 1: Denver Bono was in the future in America, but he 229 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:10,320 Speaker 1: was thinking about the past, about home, about Ireland. He 230 00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:14,120 Speaker 1: was thinking about rubble and shattered glass, about an explosion 231 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:16,440 Speaker 1: so powerful it tore off the end of a building 232 00:16:16,520 --> 00:16:19,280 Speaker 1: and sent vibrations rippling through people who stood waiting for 233 00:16:19,320 --> 00:16:24,200 Speaker 1: a parade. Nowhere to run, nowhere to escape to Bodies 234 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:27,840 Speaker 1: thrown against the steel railing on the sidewalk, crushed under 235 00:16:27,920 --> 00:16:32,640 Speaker 1: smoldering debris, Children stumbling around on their two feet through 236 00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:38,320 Speaker 1: a landscape now suffocated by dust and smoke, their ears ringing, bodies, bleeding, 237 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:42,280 Speaker 1: men and women, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, gone 238 00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:48,000 Speaker 1: eleven dead, another sixty three injured. Word of the remembrance 239 00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:51,360 Speaker 1: Sunday parade bombing in the Northern Ireland town of Inniskillen 240 00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:54,360 Speaker 1: reached U two just hours before they performed at the 241 00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:57,280 Speaker 1: McNicol Sports Arena during the third and final leg of 242 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:02,200 Speaker 1: the Joshua Tree Tours made Bono sick. He was sick 243 00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:04,919 Speaker 1: of it all, Sick of the violence ripping apart his 244 00:17:04,960 --> 00:17:07,880 Speaker 1: home country, Sick of the assumption that you two had 245 00:17:07,920 --> 00:17:11,560 Speaker 1: ties to an organization like the IRA. Sick that when 246 00:17:11,600 --> 00:17:14,399 Speaker 1: he said this is not a revel song, a portion 247 00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:18,000 Speaker 1: of his audience still didn't get it, instead tossing money 248 00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:20,040 Speaker 1: on stage in hopes that it would find its way 249 00:17:20,080 --> 00:17:23,520 Speaker 1: back to the quote unquote, cause he was tired of 250 00:17:23,520 --> 00:17:26,879 Speaker 1: living in fear of speaking his mind. After all, he 251 00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:29,720 Speaker 1: was a good man, a man who stood up against 252 00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:32,919 Speaker 1: the injustices, bringing other people down. It was what was 253 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:36,480 Speaker 1: expected of him and what he expected of himself. He 254 00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:38,639 Speaker 1: was a singer, but he didn't sing the songs. The 255 00:17:38,760 --> 00:17:42,520 Speaker 1: song sang him. He had surrendered to this fact years ago, 256 00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:47,520 Speaker 1: and tonight he surrendered again. He did what the song wanted. 257 00:17:48,359 --> 00:17:50,719 Speaker 1: Right in the middle of You two's performance of Sunday, 258 00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:54,800 Speaker 1: Bloody Sunday, as a film crew rolled tape, Bonos stood 259 00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:58,920 Speaker 1: up and spoke, let me tell you something. I've had 260 00:17:59,040 --> 00:18:01,159 Speaker 1: enough of Irish mayor Americans who haven't been back to 261 00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:03,560 Speaker 1: their country in twenty or thirty years come up to 262 00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:07,160 Speaker 1: me and talk about the resistance the revolution back home 263 00:18:07,560 --> 00:18:10,240 Speaker 1: and the glory of the revolution and the glory of 264 00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:15,280 Speaker 1: dying for the revolution. Fuck the revolution. They don't talk 265 00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:18,560 Speaker 1: about the glory of killing for the revolution. What's the 266 00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:21,040 Speaker 1: glory in taking a man from his bed and gunning 267 00:18:21,119 --> 00:18:23,280 Speaker 1: him down in front of his wife and his children. 268 00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:27,359 Speaker 1: Where's the glory in that? Where's the glory embalmbing a 269 00:18:27,400 --> 00:18:31,480 Speaker 1: Remembrance Day parade of old age pensioners, the medals taking 270 00:18:31,480 --> 00:18:34,520 Speaker 1: out and polished off for the day. Where's the glory 271 00:18:34,560 --> 00:18:38,159 Speaker 1: in that? To leave them dying or crippled? For life 272 00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:41,159 Speaker 1: or dead under the rubble of a revolution that the 273 00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:44,840 Speaker 1: majority of the people in my country don't want no more, 274 00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:51,000 Speaker 1: say it no more. Bono knew what he was doing, 275 00:18:51,480 --> 00:18:53,480 Speaker 1: and he knew that his rerant would draw the full 276 00:18:53,560 --> 00:18:57,840 Speaker 1: fury of the IRA, which of course it did. The IRA, 277 00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:00,800 Speaker 1: like the Devil, was not an entity. You fucked with. 278 00:19:01,800 --> 00:19:04,760 Speaker 1: Fundraising for the quote unquote cause took a nose dive 279 00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:08,280 Speaker 1: in America. The IRA blamed the band and their naive 280 00:19:08,320 --> 00:19:11,760 Speaker 1: plea for peace, and when You Two returned to Dublin 281 00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:14,320 Speaker 1: following the end of the US tour, they were all 282 00:19:14,359 --> 00:19:18,399 Speaker 1: fingerprinted by the local police, and their toes too, not 283 00:19:18,560 --> 00:19:21,959 Speaker 1: because they'd done anything wrong, because if their bodies were 284 00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:26,359 Speaker 1: mutilated beyond recognition by an IRA bomb, authorities would be 285 00:19:26,359 --> 00:19:30,560 Speaker 1: able to identify them all because of a song. A 286 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:34,159 Speaker 1: song that still got played even as death threats rolled in, 287 00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:39,320 Speaker 1: even after Special Branch, Ireland's counter Terrorism Unit advised the 288 00:19:39,359 --> 00:19:42,840 Speaker 1: band to increase security and told Bono that the IRA 289 00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:46,520 Speaker 1: would likely target his wife before they targeted him, and 290 00:19:46,560 --> 00:19:53,639 Speaker 1: the songs didn't stop except for one. Nineteen eighty nine, 291 00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:58,680 Speaker 1: You Two was touring again, this time Australia down Under 292 00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:04,159 Speaker 1: Bono was way under back inside that darkness. He was 293 00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:07,280 Speaker 1: singing Exit, the song that put him on his ass 294 00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:10,960 Speaker 1: two years earlier in DC, a song that still frightened 295 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:13,919 Speaker 1: Bono when he performed it. He thought it best that 296 00:20:13,960 --> 00:20:17,040 Speaker 1: he didn't fuck with that one anymore. He respected the 297 00:20:17,080 --> 00:20:20,960 Speaker 1: devil too much, not in a religious sense, but as 298 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:25,760 Speaker 1: a powerful mindset to tap into. Bono himself was tapped out. 299 00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:30,080 Speaker 1: So on this eighty nine tour forty seven shows total, 300 00:20:30,520 --> 00:20:35,280 Speaker 1: you two played Exit once. Bono for one was ready 301 00:20:35,280 --> 00:20:38,680 Speaker 1: to leave the darkness and come back to the light. 302 00:20:42,520 --> 00:20:46,360 Speaker 1: Robert John Bardo could not stop playing Exit. He rebound 303 00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:48,720 Speaker 1: the cassette tape again and started it from the top. 304 00:20:49,359 --> 00:20:53,159 Speaker 1: He was obsessed with U two, with the song, and 305 00:20:53,200 --> 00:20:57,280 Speaker 1: with her, Rebecca Schaeffer. He bought another copy of The 306 00:20:57,359 --> 00:21:00,399 Speaker 1: Joshua Tree, this one on CD is a game for her. 307 00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:03,439 Speaker 1: When he got to Los Angeles again, he placed the 308 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:06,840 Speaker 1: CD inside a shopping bag, right next to a three 309 00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:10,520 Speaker 1: fifty seven magnum and a box of Hollow Points and 310 00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:13,560 Speaker 1: a paperback copy of The Catcher in the Rye, the 311 00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:17,119 Speaker 1: same book that Mark David Chapman carried when he assassinated 312 00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:21,600 Speaker 1: John Lennon. The magnum gave him peace of mind, made 313 00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:26,400 Speaker 1: him feel like dirty Harry Callahan, like Scarface, unfuck withable. 314 00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:31,200 Speaker 1: This time, he'd go right to the source, Rebecca's apartment. 315 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:35,359 Speaker 1: A private investigator in Tucson tracked down her address in 316 00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:40,120 Speaker 1: West Hollywood for him. One under twenty North Sweezer. Amazing, 317 00:21:40,160 --> 00:21:45,040 Speaker 1: what three hundred bucks could get you? So Robert John 318 00:21:45,119 --> 00:21:48,199 Speaker 1: Bardo boarded a late night bus and Tucson headed west. 319 00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:52,359 Speaker 1: Shopping bag in his hand, the song Exit in his head. 320 00:21:53,080 --> 00:21:57,840 Speaker 1: He cranked the volume on his walkman. The music drowned 321 00:21:57,880 --> 00:22:03,600 Speaker 1: out most everything else, doubt, uncertainty, morality. It couldn't drown 322 00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:07,520 Speaker 1: out the voices, though they were back now, God on 323 00:22:07,520 --> 00:22:12,040 Speaker 1: one side and the devil on the other. The voices argued. 324 00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:15,000 Speaker 1: As the bus cut through the California Desert along Eye ten, 325 00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:19,359 Speaker 1: just south of the Joshua Tree National Park, stars heavy 326 00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:23,280 Speaker 1: in the night sky, Bardo let them argue. There was 327 00:22:23,320 --> 00:22:26,840 Speaker 1: no stopping them now, no stopping this bus from reaching 328 00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:31,440 Speaker 1: its destination, and no stopping Robert John Bardow from getting 329 00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:40,880 Speaker 1: what he wanted. We'll be right back after this. We're, We're, 330 00:22:41,240 --> 00:22:50,280 Speaker 1: we're July eighteenth, nineteen eighty nine. Robert John Bardow ate 331 00:22:50,320 --> 00:22:54,040 Speaker 1: the onion rings first, and then the cheesecake. Didn't matter 332 00:22:54,080 --> 00:22:56,359 Speaker 1: that it was still morning. It was eating like it 333 00:22:56,400 --> 00:23:00,520 Speaker 1: was later in the day, morning, afternoon, evening. It was 334 00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:04,200 Speaker 1: all the same. One hour bled into the next. Time 335 00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:09,520 Speaker 1: was inconsequential. The only linear thing was his path from 336 00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:14,760 Speaker 1: Tucson to here West Hollywood. First stop some greasy spoon 337 00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:18,040 Speaker 1: to satisfy the rumbling in his stomach, then over to 338 00:23:18,119 --> 00:23:22,280 Speaker 1: North Sweezer to Rebecca's apartment, where he would satisfy his mission. 339 00:23:23,040 --> 00:23:26,120 Speaker 1: The bus ride was long. He barely slept all night. 340 00:23:26,640 --> 00:23:29,160 Speaker 1: He kept looking out the window, up at the stars, 341 00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:33,240 Speaker 1: nails in the sky, just like Bono Sang, thinking about her, 342 00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:35,879 Speaker 1: How about what she would say or do when he 343 00:23:36,040 --> 00:23:39,159 Speaker 1: just showed up. What if she didn't like him? She 344 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:42,320 Speaker 1: was capable of shutting him out of that same arrogance 345 00:23:42,359 --> 00:23:46,600 Speaker 1: so grotesquely displayed by the security guard in Burbank, and 346 00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:49,879 Speaker 1: she had disappointed him before that new movie she was 347 00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:53,399 Speaker 1: in scenes from a class struggle in Beverly Hills. Was 348 00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:57,240 Speaker 1: nothing like her squeaky clean sitcom roll. In that movie, 349 00:23:57,480 --> 00:24:00,560 Speaker 1: she was in bed with her male co star. They 350 00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:04,280 Speaker 1: didn't show anything, but Bartow could imagine it hands all 351 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:09,639 Speaker 1: over her body, making her unclean, impure, dirty. The thought 352 00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:13,399 Speaker 1: enraged him. The voices in his head joined in like 353 00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:17,560 Speaker 1: a Greek chorus, shouting his rage becoming the devil's rage, 354 00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:20,560 Speaker 1: and the devil's rage drawing forth the wrath of God. 355 00:24:21,520 --> 00:24:26,439 Speaker 1: Bardo felt momentarily betrayed. The feeling quickly passed, and so 356 00:24:26,560 --> 00:24:30,320 Speaker 1: did the voices. He had nothing to worry about. She 357 00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:33,600 Speaker 1: would like him, She wouldn't be pissed. She would open 358 00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:35,359 Speaker 1: the door and he would be standing there, and he 359 00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:39,520 Speaker 1: would say, Hi, I'm Robert John Bartow from Tucson, Arizona. 360 00:24:39,840 --> 00:24:42,320 Speaker 1: I'm a big fan of yours. And then he'd give 361 00:24:42,320 --> 00:24:44,639 Speaker 1: her the copy of the Joshua Tree, along with another 362 00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:48,200 Speaker 1: letter he'd written, a special letter, a letter so special 363 00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:53,240 Speaker 1: he wanted to hand deliver it. He finished his cake, 364 00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:56,600 Speaker 1: paid his tab, and left the diner. He wasn't sure 365 00:24:56,680 --> 00:24:58,720 Speaker 1: who or what he would encounter between now and the 366 00:24:58,720 --> 00:25:01,959 Speaker 1: moment he had been waiting for. He had to prepare. 367 00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:07,680 Speaker 1: He ducked into an alley there alone, unseen. He pulled 368 00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:10,080 Speaker 1: the three fifty seven magnum from his shopping bag and 369 00:25:10,119 --> 00:25:13,240 Speaker 1: loaded five of the hollow point rounds. He left one 370 00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:15,920 Speaker 1: cylinder empty, just in case he jostled the bag and 371 00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:19,840 Speaker 1: the hammer accidentally struck. He didn't want to literally shoot 372 00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:21,800 Speaker 1: himself in the foot with the pistol, just like he 373 00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:24,080 Speaker 1: didn't want to metaphorically shoot himself in the foot if 374 00:25:24,119 --> 00:25:26,919 Speaker 1: he said the wrong thing to Rebecca. This was it 375 00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:31,560 Speaker 1: his big chance, his future. Don't fuck this up, fucking 376 00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:32,960 Speaker 1: it up with me and going back to the way 377 00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:37,120 Speaker 1: things were. He was nineteen, too old for Foster Holmes now, 378 00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:39,639 Speaker 1: but not too old for an institution like the one 379 00:25:39,680 --> 00:25:43,160 Speaker 1: he'd been put in four years prior. The doctor's there 380 00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:45,679 Speaker 1: asked him the kinds of questions that his drunk father 381 00:25:45,760 --> 00:25:49,600 Speaker 1: and mentally ill mother never could, Questions about the voices 382 00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:53,040 Speaker 1: in his head, about the things he wrote, things like 383 00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:56,639 Speaker 1: I will fight because I am evil and I feel 384 00:25:56,640 --> 00:25:59,879 Speaker 1: that if I get pushed around, I will kill. Bardo 385 00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:02,400 Speaker 1: rode as big and as bold as the devil felt 386 00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:07,760 Speaker 1: to him. K I L L all caps, all powerful. 387 00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:12,240 Speaker 1: But killing wasn't on the agenda today, not at this moment. 388 00:26:13,359 --> 00:26:17,320 Speaker 1: At this moment, it was ten point fifteen am Pacific time, 389 00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:20,320 Speaker 1: and Robert John Bardo was standing in front of Rebecca 390 00:26:20,359 --> 00:26:23,640 Speaker 1: Schaeffer's apartment at one twenty North Sweezer pressing the buzzer. 391 00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:29,680 Speaker 1: Seconds passed, the door opened, and there she was right 392 00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:33,040 Speaker 1: in front of him, no security, just the two of 393 00:26:33,080 --> 00:26:38,959 Speaker 1: them alone together. It was perfect. A wave of euphoria 394 00:26:39,119 --> 00:26:44,600 Speaker 1: smacked Bardo in the face. He smiled, Hi, I'm Robert 395 00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:48,159 Speaker 1: John Bartow from Tucson, Arizona. I'm a big fan of yours. 396 00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:52,639 Speaker 1: He was so excited, so nervous. He told her he 397 00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:54,600 Speaker 1: was sorry to bother her, but he just had to 398 00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:57,960 Speaker 1: see her. He reached it into his shopping bag. His 399 00:26:58,119 --> 00:27:00,840 Speaker 1: hand grazed the copy of the Catcher in the and 400 00:27:00,840 --> 00:27:04,240 Speaker 1: then the pistol. He pushed them aside and fished out 401 00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:06,960 Speaker 1: not his new letter, but the letter she had sent him. 402 00:27:07,359 --> 00:27:10,480 Speaker 1: Remember this, Rebecca, you said my letter was the sweetest 403 00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:13,840 Speaker 1: one you ever got. Rebecca herself was sweet at this 404 00:27:14,040 --> 00:27:17,359 Speaker 1: very moment. She did remember it was a nice letter. 405 00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:20,160 Speaker 1: She told him to take care, and then she shut 406 00:27:20,240 --> 00:27:25,439 Speaker 1: the door. Bardo was elated. As he walked away. He 407 00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:28,080 Speaker 1: thought about running to the bus station, hopping the next 408 00:27:28,119 --> 00:27:30,520 Speaker 1: greyhound back to Tucson so he could tell his brother 409 00:27:30,560 --> 00:27:33,720 Speaker 1: all about it. He would never believe him. She remembered 410 00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:36,880 Speaker 1: his letter said he was sweet and told him to 411 00:27:36,920 --> 00:27:40,199 Speaker 1: take care. What does she mean by that? Now that 412 00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:42,520 Speaker 1: he was thinking about it, what did she meant by 413 00:27:42,520 --> 00:27:46,639 Speaker 1: that entire interaction? Was she actually being honest or was 414 00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:49,840 Speaker 1: she just acting? That's what she did for work? After all? 415 00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:53,199 Speaker 1: How could he be sure she was being sincere? And 416 00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:55,280 Speaker 1: the more he thought about it, the more it bothered him. 417 00:27:55,840 --> 00:27:58,119 Speaker 1: Seemed like she was in a hurry, like she didn't 418 00:27:58,119 --> 00:28:00,560 Speaker 1: have time for him. She bum rushed him. The whole 419 00:28:00,600 --> 00:28:02,639 Speaker 1: thing was over so fast he forgot to give her 420 00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:06,280 Speaker 1: the CDE and the letter. Shit, what would happen if 421 00:28:06,359 --> 00:28:09,200 Speaker 1: you went back there? Will she smile at him again? 422 00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:14,280 Speaker 1: Or was she get angry this time? A breeze picked up, 423 00:28:14,840 --> 00:28:17,760 Speaker 1: and so did the sounds inside his head, the voices 424 00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:21,240 Speaker 1: of good and evil, of Bono howling in a desert wind. 425 00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:24,960 Speaker 1: He had to do it, to go back, to place 426 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:31,480 Speaker 1: those things in her hands, the hands of love. His 427 00:28:31,640 --> 00:28:35,639 Speaker 1: heart raised. He reached into the shopping bag again and 428 00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:38,080 Speaker 1: took out the pistol and loaded the final empty chamber 429 00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:40,720 Speaker 1: with the final bullet. He didn't think about it, He 430 00:28:40,840 --> 00:28:43,120 Speaker 1: just did it, just like what he was doing now. 431 00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:48,120 Speaker 1: Walking back to Rebecca's apartment, he rang the bell, no answer. 432 00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:51,120 Speaker 1: His heart was pounding in his chest. Now he rang 433 00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:54,480 Speaker 1: the bell a second time. At last, the door opened, 434 00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:57,840 Speaker 1: and Rebecca Schaeffer stood in the doorway in her bathrobe. 435 00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:02,760 Speaker 1: You came to my door again. She was annoyed, so 436 00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:06,080 Speaker 1: obvious he was bothering her. He knew it. He was 437 00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:09,360 Speaker 1: a pest, a creep, a piece of fucking shit. She 438 00:29:09,440 --> 00:29:12,120 Speaker 1: didn't know him. He was a fan, and not just 439 00:29:12,280 --> 00:29:15,320 Speaker 1: any fan, her biggest fan. She was it for him, 440 00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:17,640 Speaker 1: and she was just gonna treat him like an annoyance 441 00:29:17,960 --> 00:29:22,160 Speaker 1: and inconvenience. It was callous as what it was disappointing, 442 00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:28,040 Speaker 1: It fucking hurt. The voices were swirling now. His heart 443 00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:32,880 Speaker 1: was beating, beating, beating. He reached his hand inside the 444 00:29:32,920 --> 00:29:36,360 Speaker 1: shopping bag, and the pistol weighed a ton. I forgot 445 00:29:36,360 --> 00:29:39,280 Speaker 1: to give you something, he said. He pulled out the 446 00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:42,480 Speaker 1: three fifty seven magnum its barrel. As long as the 447 00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:45,200 Speaker 1: devil was bold, the same devil that talked to him 448 00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:47,880 Speaker 1: back at the fucking institution, and was talking to him now, 449 00:29:48,280 --> 00:29:51,320 Speaker 1: talking not through a pencil that scribbled K I L L, 450 00:29:51,640 --> 00:29:54,280 Speaker 1: but through a pistol that spoke the same language, only 451 00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:59,479 Speaker 1: with greater force and greater violence. Robert John Bardow's mission 452 00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:04,040 Speaker 1: a near path. It ended here. He pointed the gun 453 00:30:04,080 --> 00:30:07,320 Speaker 1: at Rebecca's chest. He wrapped his finger around the trigger, 454 00:30:07,720 --> 00:30:35,760 Speaker 1: and then he fired. The attorney approached the judges bench, 455 00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:38,600 Speaker 1: where he loaded the tape inside a small black portable 456 00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:44,680 Speaker 1: cassette deck. He pressed play. The courtroom was silent, the judge, 457 00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:48,600 Speaker 1: the prosecution, the defense, the small crowd assembled in the gallery. 458 00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:56,240 Speaker 1: They all listened, first the sound of crickets, then the 459 00:30:56,280 --> 00:31:02,160 Speaker 1: bass guitar beating, beating, eating, like a human heart, but 460 00:31:02,240 --> 00:31:06,800 Speaker 1: not Rebecca Shaeffer's heart. Her heart beat no more. Her 461 00:31:06,840 --> 00:31:09,520 Speaker 1: heart stopped in an instant when it was hit with 462 00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:12,480 Speaker 1: a hydroshock hollow point from the muzzle of Robert John 463 00:31:12,520 --> 00:31:17,960 Speaker 1: Bardo's gun. Rebecca Schaeffer, twenty one years old, was dead, 464 00:31:18,760 --> 00:31:22,720 Speaker 1: and Robert John Bardo couldn't sit still. He listened to 465 00:31:22,840 --> 00:31:25,480 Speaker 1: U two song Exit, along with the rest of the 466 00:31:25,520 --> 00:31:28,400 Speaker 1: courtroom from his seat at the defence table, and he 467 00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:32,920 Speaker 1: rocked back and forth. The song cradled him in darkness, 468 00:31:33,520 --> 00:31:37,080 Speaker 1: a darkness that was already inside him, that spoke to him, 469 00:31:37,080 --> 00:31:40,240 Speaker 1: and the voices of good and evil. But evil was 470 00:31:40,280 --> 00:31:43,400 Speaker 1: once again in the driver's seat. Evil brought a smile 471 00:31:43,480 --> 00:31:46,400 Speaker 1: to Bardo's face. As the song's dynamic shift went from 472 00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:50,600 Speaker 1: quiet to loud. Bono's voice from a whisper to his scream. 473 00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:53,440 Speaker 1: The beat clear cut and steady, but the guitar is 474 00:31:53,480 --> 00:31:57,040 Speaker 1: becoming fuzzy and distorted, the sound of a shell cracking 475 00:31:57,080 --> 00:32:00,400 Speaker 1: open in the red hot ooze inside, spilling out. Who 476 00:32:00,480 --> 00:32:04,880 Speaker 1: Robert John Bardo climbed inside that broken shell, into a vacuum, 477 00:32:05,080 --> 00:32:09,240 Speaker 1: nothing but him and the song. He mouthed the words, 478 00:32:09,360 --> 00:32:13,760 Speaker 1: every line, loving it, obsessed with it. Who wasn't singing 479 00:32:13,800 --> 00:32:18,440 Speaker 1: the song? The song sang him right there, right there 480 00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:22,719 Speaker 1: in the courtroom, Robert John Bardo, on trial for murder, 481 00:32:23,360 --> 00:32:32,080 Speaker 1: rocking the fuck out. When the song ended, it was 482 00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:35,280 Speaker 1: like a toggle switch at flipped. Bartow reverted to the 483 00:32:35,280 --> 00:32:40,840 Speaker 1: way he'd been these last three weeks of this trial, silent, still, complete, 484 00:32:40,960 --> 00:32:44,080 Speaker 1: and total lack of effect. The judge had the song 485 00:32:44,120 --> 00:32:45,920 Speaker 1: played for the court so that he could witness the 486 00:32:45,960 --> 00:32:48,960 Speaker 1: hold it had on Bardow for himself, but it wasn't 487 00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:52,120 Speaker 1: enough to convince him that Bartow's schizophrenic illness was to blame. 488 00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:56,880 Speaker 1: He planned and plodded, He loaded every last chamber of 489 00:32:56,880 --> 00:33:00,160 Speaker 1: his three fifty seven magnum. He lay in weight for 490 00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:03,480 Speaker 1: Rebecca Schaeffer to emerge from her apartment and murdered her 491 00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:07,720 Speaker 1: in cold blood. He did that, not the song, a 492 00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:13,000 Speaker 1: song which now belonged to him. Robert John Bardow stole 493 00:33:13,080 --> 00:33:17,120 Speaker 1: the song Exit from U two, just like Charles Manson 494 00:33:17,240 --> 00:33:21,120 Speaker 1: stole Helter Skelter from the Beatles in Rattle and Hum, 495 00:33:21,560 --> 00:33:24,520 Speaker 1: both the concert film and the double album that documented 496 00:33:24,560 --> 00:33:27,920 Speaker 1: the Joshua Tree tour. Bono opens YOU Two's cover of 497 00:33:27,920 --> 00:33:30,760 Speaker 1: Helter Skelter by saying they were stealing the song back 498 00:33:30,800 --> 00:33:33,760 Speaker 1: from Manson. Rattle and Hum was intended to be a 499 00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:37,560 Speaker 1: document of U two's ongoing obsession with America, with Elvis 500 00:33:37,680 --> 00:33:40,720 Speaker 1: and Graceland, the Blues and R and B, with a 501 00:33:40,760 --> 00:33:43,560 Speaker 1: future and a hope they found lacking back in Ireland. 502 00:33:44,640 --> 00:33:48,040 Speaker 1: It came off as a self indulgent ego trip. You two, 503 00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:50,640 Speaker 1: of course, had only the best of intentions, as they 504 00:33:50,640 --> 00:33:53,400 Speaker 1: always did, but they were beginning to believe what was 505 00:33:53,440 --> 00:33:56,520 Speaker 1: being written and said about them that they jumped the shark, 506 00:33:56,920 --> 00:33:59,880 Speaker 1: that their best days were behind them. They did feel 507 00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:06,360 Speaker 1: creatively and physically exhausted at a Crossroads future unknown, so 508 00:34:06,480 --> 00:34:10,200 Speaker 1: they employed an old trick that punk rock Lipton Village 509 00:34:10,200 --> 00:34:16,400 Speaker 1: state of Mind. They reinvented themselves. Their next album, Oktong Baby, 510 00:34:17,040 --> 00:34:21,120 Speaker 1: traded America for Europe. It used new sounds to envision 511 00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:24,239 Speaker 1: a new future, a future now being written by a 512 00:34:24,239 --> 00:34:27,680 Speaker 1: busted up Berlin wall, and the promise of German reunification. 513 00:34:28,640 --> 00:34:32,000 Speaker 1: Oktong Baby was released in November of nineteen ninety one, 514 00:34:32,640 --> 00:34:35,800 Speaker 1: just weeks after Robert John Bardow was convicted of first 515 00:34:35,840 --> 00:34:40,040 Speaker 1: degree murder, sentenced to life without parole at a California 516 00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:45,000 Speaker 1: state prison where he'd never see the outside again. Outside 517 00:34:45,520 --> 00:34:49,160 Speaker 1: the place where the future continued to unfold, where the 518 00:34:49,200 --> 00:34:53,960 Speaker 1: world slowly began to change, the provisional IRA ceasefire in 519 00:34:54,040 --> 00:34:57,799 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety four, the Good Friday Agreement of nineteen ninety eight, 520 00:34:58,200 --> 00:35:01,560 Speaker 1: which brought decades of bloodshed Ireland mostly to an end. 521 00:35:02,760 --> 00:35:05,600 Speaker 1: In the thirtieth anniversary tour for the Joshua Tree in 522 00:35:05,600 --> 00:35:10,040 Speaker 1: twenty seventeen, when You Two performed Exit for the first 523 00:35:10,080 --> 00:35:13,960 Speaker 1: time in nearly three decades. They were stealing the song 524 00:35:14,120 --> 00:35:17,359 Speaker 1: back from Robert John Bardow, from a man who had 525 00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:23,000 Speaker 1: tried and failed to make the music a Disgrace. I'm 526 00:35:23,120 --> 00:35:41,279 Speaker 1: Jake Brennan and this is Disgraceland. Disgraceland was created by 527 00:35:41,320 --> 00:35:44,280 Speaker 1: Yours Truly and is produced in partnership with Double Elvis. 528 00:35:44,600 --> 00:35:46,879 Speaker 1: Credits for this episode can be found on the show 529 00:35:46,920 --> 00:35:50,640 Speaker 1: notes page at disgracelampod dot com. If you're listening as 530 00:35:50,680 --> 00:35:54,000 Speaker 1: a Disgraceland All Access member, thank you for supporting the show. 531 00:35:54,080 --> 00:35:56,799 Speaker 1: We really appreciate it. And if not, you can become 532 00:35:56,840 --> 00:36:00,240 Speaker 1: a member right now by going to disgracelamppod dot com 533 00:36:00,280 --> 00:36:04,600 Speaker 1: slash Membership. 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