Bono talks U2's 'Ordinary Love' tribute in Mandela biopic, song nominated for a Globe, Oscar contender

We first gave you a sneak peek at U2's "Ordinary Love" in the trailer for the Nelson Mandela biopic, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. U2's song has especially become a tribute to the life of Mandela since his passing on December 5th, 2013.

Deadline recently interviewed Bono about how "Ordinary Love" came to life. The Weinstein Company was behind the idea to get U2 for the film's song. Harvey Weinstein was actually a band promoter back in the day, working with U2 in 1981.

Bono says, "Harvey is remarkable. And he has the same fire in his belly now that he did back then."

U2 had to push their album back when they accepted the offer to compose and perform the song for the film.

Bono sees writing for film as "a holiday from the first-person for me." He says, "We really like writing for other people for the same reason. I remember writing for Willie Nelson and Roy Orbison. It's so wonderful to get out of your own head."

Bono took inspiration from Nelson Mandela's letters to Winnie Mandela when he was in prison. He also gets into another complicated theme:

"...he fought against his own party, against the ANC, against his best friends, to make peace. He didn't want to become a monster to defeat a monster, and so 'Ordinary Love' is also an appeal to South Africa. So it works in the personal and it works in the political. That's why we took it in the central image of the song."

The song took some time to come to fruition. Harvey Weinsten literally came to Bono's doorstep for the song before it was ready. Bono asked for more time and Weinstein accepted. Bono said he "broke all the rules for us."

And luckily Weinstein did, because there is an unforgettable tribute that resulted. Bono says the song is number one in 15 countries without any promotion.

Bono has taken Mandela's words as an "instruction book" in his charitable efforts against poverty -- which he sees not as an act of charity, but an act of justice. He says poverty is man-made, like apartheid.

Of the song "Ordinary Love," Bono says: "We just wanted to make it a very emotional moment to bring people back to the heart of the film, which is a human heart. That's more complicated than any political situation."

Tags

Bono, U2, Nelson Mandela