Deseree Stukes ([email protected])
Fri, 22 Jan 1999 09:03:36 -0500
Bono and Rushdie united in song
The long-standing friendship between, the notable novelist, Salman Rushdie
and Bono, the lead singer of, Irish band, U2, has blossomed into a
collaboration on a ballad bearing lyrics taken from Rushdie's forthcoming
book, 'The Ground Beneath Her Feet' with music performed by the band. Bono
and Rushdie have been friends since the early 90's when Bono invited the
writer to appear on stage at Wembley Arena with the band during their 1993
world tour and his, highly publicised, 'exile'.
There are plans afoot to release the track, via the Internet, at around the
time of publication of Rushdie's book, in April, an advance copy of which he
sent to Bono, who wrote the melody for the song, also titled 'The Ground
Beneath Her Feet'. Another alternative is for it to be included as a bonus
track on U2's next album, which is likely to be part II of their Greatest
Hits compilations, part I of which was released at the end of last year.
The Guardian newspaper has printed extracts from the song which include the
lines - "All my life I worshipped her, her golden voice, her beauty's beat.
How she made us feel, how she made me real, and the ground beneath her
feet."
Rushdie, a former advertising copywriter, was for years forced into hiding
after the contents of his book 'Satanic Verses', so outraged Iran's
religious leaders, that a contract on his life was offered to the world's
Moslem community. The 'price on his head' was around 2 million pounds and
caused massive media attention, throughout the world, at the time. The,
so-called, 'Fatwa' resulted in Rushdie's virtual imprisonment, under the
government's protection, at constantly changing addresses, from which he was
only released at the end of last year when the Iranians lifted the contract.
U2 are also involved in a, Johnny Cash, tribute concert, next April, at New
York's Hammerstein Ballroom, which also features Bruce Springsteen, Lyle
Lovett, Roseanne Cash, Trisha Yearwood and Willie Nelson. 67 year old Cash
has been ill for some time with 'Shy Drager Syndrome', which is similar to
'Parkinson's Disease'
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U2 And Rushdie's Common Ground
Q Magazine Online
[Jan 22 1999 12:17PM]
Depending on your music and literary tastes it's either a marriage made in
Heaven or Hell. U2 and Salman Rushdie have collaborated on a song. The
Ground Beneath Her Feet takes its lyrics from Rushdie's new novel of the
same name which sets the tale of Orpheus in the Underworld in a rock 'n'
roll environment. According to Rushdie "Bono and I have been friends for
several years (Rushdie appeared on stage with U2 in 1993) and I sent him the
novel when I'd finished it, and he responded by coming up with this
beautiful melody. Simple as that, but of course very pleasurable." It is
unclear what will become of the track though there is talk of it being
released on the internet to coincide with the novel's publication
deseree
U2 news: http://www.interference.com
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