Song of Freedom and Resilience

As Bono explained, the band purposely revived the enduring Crowded House classic for its inspirational essence:

"The idea is to record something special to honour Alexei Navalny's widow, Yulia, who is continuing the fight against Vladimir Putin" Bono told the audience.

"It's a song about freedom, that's the truth."

The iconic New Zealander gave his full blessing, feeling honoured that his uplifting lyrics carry such a powerful message.

"The other day, we got a beautiful e-mail from Neil Finn who wrote this bewilderingly beautiful song" said Bono.

"Attached to the e-mail was a version of the song he said we could play whenever we wanted.

"It's a new version that he did, and we're going to try and record it. Neither party has spoken to our record label [about releasing this], so this might be the only recording that might ever exist.

"Please take your phones and send it to whoever loves freedom you know.

"Maybe send it to people that don't. There's a few of them around."

With that, the band kicked off the song's recording, which featured Finn singing the verses, thereby allowing U2 and their fans to sing the chorus.

Unsurprisingly, the crowd was happy to participate, resulting in an emotion-filled collaboration.

Poignant words that resonate

The soaring 1986 hit has resonated across generations with its message to keep persisting through struggles:

"Don't dream it's over, 'cause every night I will lie awake..."

For Navalny's wife Yulia, continuing her husband's democracy movement requires resilience.

Trailblazing virtual collaboration

The collaboration took place on March 3rd during the final night of U2's Las Vegas residency.

Finn told RNZ's Culture 101 that he was grateful for the enduring popularity of Don't Dream It's Over.

"I just see it as a great privilege for it to communicate so much to so many people."

Finn's mother, a devout Catholic, moved to New Zealand from Ireland at the age of two. She maintained a religious influence over the family.

Speaking of Catholicism, Finn stated "It's a great fertile ground for pulling lyrics out.

"[There's] lots of good stuff going on in there, good rituals and imagery and lots of guilt. It's a very potent combination.

"I think you're blessed, really, to be brought up with some kind of weird dogma like that."

Finn and his brother Tim were educated at Sacred Heart College, Auckland and Te Awamutu College in Te Awamutu, Waikato, New Zealand.

Sources

• RNZ
• Wikipedia
• Qthemusic

Francis' comments came as he answered a question from U2's lead singer Bono, the co-founder of the anti-poverty organisation ONE.

Bono told the pope that in ONE's "Poverty is Sexist" campaign, girls' education is presented as the "superpower" in fighting extreme poverty.

"Girls' education is a superpower in fighting extreme poverty and I would like to ask His Holiness if he thinks that women and girls play the same powerful role in tackling the climate crisis.

"We always speak of Mother Earth and not Father Earth," drawing laughter from Bono and the whole audience.

"Women know more about harmony than men," added the pope.

On its website, ONE is described as a global movement campaigning to end extreme poverty and preventable disease by 2030, so that everyone, everywhere can lead a life of dignity and opportunity.

Bono, 62, and the 85-year-pope shared star billing at an event organised by Scholas Occurrentes, a worldwide network of schools that promotes virtual and in-person encounters and aims to boost educational opportunities.

The organisation was started by Francis when he was the archbishop of Buenos Aires. It has since spread to more than 70 countries, many in the developing world.

Bono attended the event as one of the "teachers" of the Laudato Si' school, Scholas' latest project.

Laudato Si' is Pope Francis's 2015 document on the environment and the care of God's creation.

The project brings together young people from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Spain, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay and Portugal to develop socio-environmental projects.

The U2 frontman said that he first got involved with Scholas four years ago, "drawn to this idea of a culture of encounter."

In his speech, Bono said he had given students music lessons earlier in the day and called for wider educational opportunities for young people.

The pope told the young people to live lives full of courage and poetry and "to go beyond what is politically correct."

Sources

Crux Now

Reuters

Daily Mail