U2 are back. The Irish rockers are lending their talents to the animated sequel Sing 2, with the release of their new track “Your Song Saved My Life” on Wednesday (Nov. 3).
The piano-and-strings-driven pop track sees frontman Bono singing about the transformative nature that music holds and pushing through life even in difficult times. “You know your song saved my life/ I don’t sing it just so I can get by/ Won’t you hear me when I tell you, darlin’/ I sing it to survive,” he sings on the chorus.
U2 first teased the song after joining TikTok on Monday, posting an official lyric video snippet of the track and alerting viewers that Sing 2 — in which Bono stars as the reclusive rock star lion Clay Calloway — will be in theaters Dec. 22. “Your Song Saved My Life” will appear in the closing credits of the movie.
Garth Jennings, director of Sing 2, told Entertainment Weekly that Bono was eager to sing on the movie’s soundtrack and didn’t need much convincing. After telling the celebrated rock icon that “some people sing for a living and some people sing to survive,” Bono was game to do a song for the soundtrack. Jennings said he “couldn’t believe [Bono’s] enthusiasm for it,” and added, “The band recorded this amazing U2 song. It’s just full of so much emotion and heart and literally did exactly what he said in that first phone call. It just says, ‘OK, here’s how we want your audience to feel as they leave the cinema.’”
U2 has received two Oscar nods for best original song, for “The Hands That Built America” from Gangs of New York (2002) and “Ordinary Love” from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013). Will “Your Song Saved My Life” become their third Oscar contender? We’ll find out when the 94th annual Academy Award nominations are announced on Feb. 8, 2022.
“Your Song Saved My Life” is U2’s newest offering since April’s The Virtual Road: iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE (Live In Paris) EP. Listen to the track in full below.