U2 Spotlights Ireland’s Youth in ‘Love Is Bigger Than Anything In Its Way’
The video for U2’s new single, “Love Is Bigger Than Anything in Its Way” focuses on different youth cultures in the band’s native Ireland with a series of portraits in motion.
The song, which appears on last year’s Songs of Experience, fuses a big chorus with electronic overtones, as Bono sings, “So young to be the words of your own song/I know the rage in you is strong/Write a world where we can belong to each other,” in the second verse. Meanwhile, the imagery is all bright colors, angular haircuts and carefree dance moves.
Director David Mushegain, who is also the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ band photographer, helmed the clip and used it as an extension of photographing groups of kids in Dublin, something he’d been doing on his own beginning about seven years ago. “I took [U2’s lyrics] really literally,” he explained to Vogue. “‘Love is bigger than anything in its way’ is such a strong message, especially when the world is in such turmoil. I think the message is be yourself, but also have some fun in life and expressing yourself.”
His original idea was to focus on LGBTQ youth, but he expanded it to young people from all walks to make it more inclusive. “The LGBTQ community is made up of course of people who are LGBTQ themselves, but the community also includes friends and family so really it’s inclusive of everyone,” he explained to U2.com. “It’s about being young and expressing yourself. It’s about how we all have friends and relatives who dress or look or style themselves differently but, as the song says, love is bigger than anything in its way. I’ve always loved the LGBTQ community, I go to Pride parades around the world – I can’t imagine a better party – and the idea behind the video is about a celebration, to celebrate love, to celebrate individuality, to celebrate everyone.”
U2 will be kicking off a North American leg of its Experience + Innocence Tour next week with a gig in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It will stretch into July when it wraps with a performance at Uncasville, Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun.