14 January 2014
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom achieved its first success of the film awards season at the 71st Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills on Sunday night, winning the Best Original Song award for “Ordinary Love”, composed by Irish superband U2.
U2 were inspired to write a song for the big-screen dramatisation of Mandela’s autobiography after watching an early cut of the film.
U2 has a long association with South Africa as supporters of the anti-apartheid movement and as supporters of Nelson Mandela’s projects, including 46664, Mandela’s global HIV/Aids prevention and awareness campaign.
“This is amazing,” U2 guitarist The Edge said on accepting the award. “We have been working for President Mandela since the ’70s, since we were teenagers and when we did our very first concert against the apartheid movement, so it has taken us 35 years to write this song.”
“This really is personal for us,” U2 lead singer Bono said. “Very, very personal. This man turned our life upside down, right side up. A man who refused to hate, not because he didn’t have rage or anger, but he thought love would do a better job.
“We wrote a love song because it’s kind of what’s extraordinary about the film. You know about the global statesman, but you don’t know about the man, that’s why you should see this film.”
Producer Anant Singh congratuled Bono and U2, saying they had composed “an amazing song that truly captures the love story of Madiba and Winnie. ‘Ordinary Love’ was their first song in three years. We thank them for their contribution to our film, and for their commitment to Madiba and to our continent.”
Source: Nelson Mandela Foundation
