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U2 sets Rushdie's poem to music

The Irish rock group U2 have taken a poem by writer Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses, and set it to music, The Guardian has reported.

The new song uses a love poem from Rushdie's new novel, The Ground Beneath Her Feet, due to appear on April 13, the paper said yesterday.

Rushdie described the song as a ballad: ''Bono (lead singer for U2) and I have been friends for several years, and I sent him the novel when I'd finished it, and he responded by coming up with this beautiful melody. Simple as that, but of course very pleasurable.''

U2 manager Paul McGuinness confirmed that the song, which is currently in demo form, had been recorded.

''The track exists and it would be great to make it available on its own at the same time as Salman's book comes out and well before the next U2 album. Let's wait and see if we can pull it off,'' he said.

Rushdie's poem reads, in part: ''She was my ground, my favourite sound, my country road, my city street, my sky above, my only love, and the ground beneath my feet.''

UNI

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