U2 Release “Ordinary Love,” Their First New Song in Four Years

Irish rock heroes U2 have released a lyric video for "Ordinary Love," the first taste of new U2 music since 2009's No Line on the Horizon. The song, available on U2's Facebook page, is from the soundtrack to the biopic Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.

Mid-paced and pensive, the keyboard-driven number showcases Bono's vulnerable vocals and is comparable to such tracks as "The First Time" from Zooropa or "The Sweetest Thing," which was the B-side to the single "Where the Streets Have No Name."

Though it's fairly traditional in composition and structure, it's an enjoyable addition to the band's collection of sensitive songcraft.

The lyric video for "Ordinary Love" was created by Oliver Jeffers and Mac Premo and features evocative images of various mundane items: brick walls, fences, a blackboard, a globe, a painting. The lyrics are presented first in script scribbled by a moving ink pen over paper, and later over the many earlier images shown in the clip.

While "Ordinary Love" is obviously a love song, it's not all chocolate and roses, addressing the blemishes that tend to impair relationships over time: "I can’t fight you anymore/It's you I'm fighting for/The sea throws rocks together/But time leaves us polished stones."

Ultimately, Bono concludes that true love stems from healthy day-to-day activities, not wining, dining, and partying. "We can't fall any further/If we can't feel ordinary love/We cannot reach any higher/If we can't deal with ordinary love," he sings in the chorus.

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom comes out Thanksgiving weekend. The film stars Idris Elba as the South African freedom fighter who served 27 years in prison before being released in 1990. He became president of the country in 1994 and served until 1999. No word on when the next U2 album will be released.