The Ground Beneath Her Feet (song)

Song infobox
Name = The Ground Beneath Her Feet


Type = Song
Artist = U2 and Daniel Lanois
Album =
Released = March 13, 2000
track_no = 1
Recorded =
Genre = Rock
Length = 3:44
Writer = Salman Rushdie
Composer = U2
Label = Island / Interscope
Producer = Daniel Lanois, Brian Eno
Misc = Extra tracklisting
Album = The Million Dollar Hotel Soundtrack
Type = soundtrack
prev_track =
prev_no =
this_track = "The Ground Beneath Her Feet"
track_no = 1
next_track = "Never Let You Go"
next_no = 2Extra tracklisting
Album = All That You Can't Leave Behind
Type = studio
prev_track = "Grace"
prev_no = 11
this_track = "The Ground Beneath Her Feet"
(UK and Japan bonus track)
track_no = 12
next_track =
next_no =

"The Ground Beneath Her Feet" is a song by U2 from the film, "The Million Dollar Hotel", and featured on the film's soundtrack, "". The song was recorded with Daniel Lanois on the pedal steel guitar for the film. However, a different mix than the one heard in the film appears on the soundtrack. The song credits author Salman Rushdie as its writer because its lyrics are taken from his book of the same name.

Composition

U2 singer, Bono, came up with the idea for the song after reading a manuscript of Rushdie's novel. In the novel, the fictional character Ormus Cama writes the lyrics as a lamentation for his lover, Vina Apsara, who had died recently. U2 uses these lyrics almost word for word, however omitting the following line::"She was my ground, my favorite sound, my country road, my city street, my sky above, my only love, and the ground beneath my feet." [cite book|title=The Ground Beneath Her Feet |last=Rushdie |first=Salman |authorlink=Salman Rushdie |isbn=0312254997 |pages=p. 523 |publisher=Picador |date=2000-03-16 |origdate=1999-04-13 |edition=paperback edition]

Rushdie, himself, was very pleased with the song, claiming it had "some of the most beautiful melodies [Bono] had ever come up with." In reference to the song, Rushdie said, "So I always knew, you know, that it wasn't going to be an uptempo foot-tapper, because it's a sad song. I think it sounds like, I hope, one of those big U2 ballads for which Bono's voice, actually, is beautifully well suited." [cite web|url=http://threesunrises.net/NAT.htm#.::%20THE%20GROUND%20BENEATH%20HER%20FEET|title=The Ground Beneath Her Feet|work=B-Sides & Other Non-Album Tracks|publisher=Threesunrises.net|accessdate=2007-04-03]

Promotion and releases

"The Ground Beneath Her Feet" was originally intended to be a single, therefore a music video was created for the song's release. However, Interscope Records declined to give the song a single release because U2 were on the verge of completing their new album, "All That You Can't Leave Behind", and record executives did not want to confuse fans by releasing a non-album single. [cite web|url= http://www.u2wanderer.org/disco/17.html|title= Million Dollar Hotel Soundtrack|publisher= U2 Wanderer|accessdate= 2007-05-21] Instead, a promotional single was released to media sources, but it received very little airplay on both radio and television. [cite web|url=http://www.u2wanderer.org/disco/pr125.html|title=The Ground Beneath Her Feet (Promo)|publisher=U2 Wanderer |accessdate=2007-04-03] After the song's release on the film's soundtrack, U2 hoped to feature the song on their newest album, "All That You Can't Leave Behind", but instead the song was only released as a bonus track on UK, Australian and Japanese releases of the album.

References