In 1985, members of the U2 group took part in Steven Van Zandt’s United Stars Against Apartheid project, the main idea of which was to protest against racial discrimination in South Africa. This event for the first time united Irish rockers and Nelson Mandela, who, however, was still in prison at that time.
Later, when the legendary Madiba was released, the musicians from U2 repeatedly supported the campaigns he organized and maintained friendly relations with him.
Naturally, when it became necessary to write the main song for the film “Mandela: Long Road to Freedom”, dedicated to the famous South African politician, the Irish rockers willingly took it up. This was the beginning of the story of the song “Ordinary Love”. Here’s what producer Harvey Weinstein had to say about her:
I had a great relationship with U2 over the years, including collaborating on Martin Scorsese’s “The Hands that Built America” for Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York, which was nominated for an Academy Award and won a Golden Globe. When I asked them to consider writing a song for Mandela: Long Road to Freedom, it was the quickest “yes” I have ever received in response. Over the course of the summer, the band watched various cuts of the film and worked hard to come up with a song that truly portrays Nelson Mandela. I think they’ve done a brilliant job of honoring the man and leader they’ve known for twenty years.
U2 official website
The song “Ordinary Love” was mixed at New York’s Electric Lady Studios and was included in the trailer for the movie “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom”. On November 29, 2013, it was released on a 10″ LP in a limited edition of ten thousand copies.
Nelson Mandela died a week later on December 5th.
Lyrics of Ordinary Love by U2
The sea wants to kiss the golden shore
The sunlight warms your skin
All the beauty that’s been lost before
Wants to find us again
Sunlight warms your skin
Beauty lost before
Wants to find us again
It’s you I’m fighting for
The sea throws rock together
But time leaves us polished stones
I fight just for you
The sea builds a rock
But time leaves us only polished
Chorus stones:
We can’t fall any further
If we can’t feel ordinary love
We cannot reach any higher
If we can’t deal with ordinary love
We can’t fall any further
If we can’t feel ordinary love
We can’t get higher
If we can’t handle ordinary love
Birds fly high in the summer sky
And rest on the breeze
The same wind will take care of you and
I will build our house in the trees
And soar in the light breeze
The same wind will take care of you, eh
I’ll build our house in the woods
Your heart is on my sleeve
Did you put there with a magic marker
For years I would believe
That the world couldn’t wash it away
You magically painted him in my soul
For many years I believed
That nothing in the world can wash it away
The first two lines of the last verse are verbatim (I could not pick a better one):
Your heart is on my sleeve
You drew it with a magic marker
Song quote
“Ordinary Love” is about the seeds of dreams, and U2 played it superbly: without being pretentious, but with reverence.
David Fricke, Rolling Stone
