She's a Mystery to Me

I read somewhere that this song was written around the time of the Joshua Tree, and appeared on the Roy Orbison album, "Mystery Girl." It's a simple song which was performed live a few times with the BB King band on the Lovetown tour. Of particular interest are the lines: "And if my love is blind/Then I don't want to see," which should sound familiar to most U2 fans, from the song "Love is Blindness." It's interesting to see how long the seeds of an idea can dwell in an artists head before sprouting into a full-blown work of art.

Apparently Bono was strumming this song out on a guitar one night after a U2 concert and Roy Orbison happened to arrive backstage to meet the band. He overheard the song or Bono played it for him or something, and Roy asked if he could sing it. I heard Bono talk about this on a documentary about Orbison's life. It's a beautiful song.

It's about the artist's muse and the elusiveness of creative inspiration. Inspiration comes to the artist---in this case the songwriter/poet---deep in the night in the form of dreams (Darkness falls and she Will take me by the hand) which often evaporate with daylight (Daylight falls,our heaven turns to hell. The artist is left frustrated (Am I left to burn And burn eternally) and without words to express his artistic vision (Words tangled in her hair Words soon to disappear). It's a beautiful song which really expresses the mystery at the heart of creation. Apparently the song was written by U2, but I prefer the Roy Orbison version.