Bono Shares New Song Let Your Love Be Known For Italians Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

U2 frontman Bono has dedicated a new song to the Italian people who are on lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic – although not everyone’s impressed with the gesture. 

The singer took to U2’s official Instagram page yesterday, March 17, where he announced he was sharing the video as a ‘postcard’ from ‘bubbling Dublin’ on St. Patrick’s Day.

He admitted the song, which he ‘thinks’ is called Let Your Love Be Known, had only been made up an hour earlier, but he clearly didn’t want to keep it to himself for another second as he launched into the tune on his piano.

Let Your Love Be Known makes reference to self-isolation and quarantining, which is currently being practised by much of the world as government officials urge social distancing to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Bono acknowledged this sense of community in his video, as he sang:

I walk through the streets of Dublin and no one was near/Yes, I don’t know you/No I didn’t think I didn’t care

You live so very far away/Just across the square/ You can’t touch, but you can sing across rooftops/Sing on the phone/

Sing and promise me you won’t stop/Sing your love be known.

In his caption, Bono dedicated the song to the ‘Italians who inspired it’, as well as to the Irish on St. Patrick’s Day.

He also honoured the healthcare workers helping to tackle the outbreak, adding:

for ANYONE who this St. Patrick’s day is in a tight spot and still singing. For the doctors, nurses, carers on the front line, it’s you we’re singing to.

Bono

Though the frontman’s gesture was kind, and offered a nice nod to the solidarity displayed by Italians, it was met with mixed reviews online.

Some of Bono’s Italian Instagram followers showed their appreciation for the gesture, with one writing:

Grazie [thank you] From Palermo, Italy

Another wrote:

I’m proud to be an Italian nurse. Thank you Bono.

However, people on Twitter seemed to be much less taken with the song, with many ridiculing the singer for making those in isolation ‘suffer’ even more.

Bono’s song, though not welcomed by all, works to bring a bit of light into the tough situation, reminding people that although we have to be apart physically, there are still ways we can be together.