U2 On Mandela And The Song “Ordinary Love”

The Hollywood Reporter has a story up which chronicles U2’s involvement with Mandela and South Africa since the early days. The Hollywood Reporter posted an exclusive video of a candid conversation with the band in New York.

“At a very early stage, we realized that there was more to music than just rocking out and that we could actually — maybe — make a small difference,” Mullen said. Therefore, when the quartet — which The Edge describes as “the essential high school band that just kept going” — learned about Nelson Mandela and Apartheid, they decided to take action, playing a gig to protest the institutional segregation and discrimination taking place half a world away.
Why did they care? “We really related to what was going on in South Africa,” Bono said. “Irish people are very aware of how the currents of politics — indeed, global politics — can affect their own life. For example, it’s well known that our interest in developing economies around the world is because not long ago we were one. And we’re interested in the fight against extreme poverty because we were on the other side of that. And we also understand famine — it cost our country half its population.”

You can read the full article on The Hollywood Reporter website.