Political causes can shape popular culture and vice versa.
"We can't fall any further if we can't feel ordinary love," Bono sings in the song's chorus, as he evokes Mandela's character in the group's first new studio recording since 2009's No Line on the Horizon album. "We cannot reach any higher if we can't deal with ordinary love."
Mandela's life also prompted a new version of Breathe, a song from No Line on the Horizon, which was released as the B-side of the Ordinary Love vinyl single on Record Store Day Nov. 29.
The U2 songs are among many inspired by Mandela, who rose to the presidency of South Africa after being imprisoned as an anti-apartheid protester for 27 years. From the Specials' 1984 single Free Nelson Mandela to Ordinary Love, Mandela's influence on music shows how political causes can shape popular culture and vice versa.
1984 – Jerry Dammers, founding member of The Specials, wrote Free Nelson Mandela. Although the song was upbeat, the subject matter revealed Mandela's suffering. That song, which rose to the top 10 in the U.K., is often credited as the spark that brought Mandela to the attention of major music stars from Peter Gabriel to U2 to Joey Ramone.
1985 – Springsteen's E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt recruited an impressive list of contributors for his Sun City single, from Run-DMC and Afrika Bambaata to rockers Bob Dylan, U2, Ringo Starr, Lou Reed and Joey Ramone. He called the group Artists United Against Apartheid. While the song was not directly about Mandela, it inspired U2 to get involved with his plight.
1986 – Paul Simon sings of apartheid on his Grammy Award-winning album, Graceland, a fusion of African music and American pop.
1988 – Artists from Sting and George Michael to Whitney Houston and the Bee Gees converged at London's Wembley Stadium for the Free Nelson Mandela Concert, Mandela's 70th birthday tribute. After 27 years in prison, Mandela was released in 1990.
1999 – Mandela himself cemented the impact of artist Johnny Clegg's Asimbonanga, a song that mixed Zulu and English and incorporated a multi-ethnic band, by joining Clegg onstage during a performance.
2008 – To celebrate Mandela's 90th birthday, Will Smith hosted an event at London's Hyde Park. Among the attendees:
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