"She's a Mystery to Me" is a song by

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist known for his distinctive and powerful voice, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. Orbison's most successful periods were ...

, written by

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by the nickname Bono ( ), is an Irish singer-songwriter and activist. He is a founding member, the lead vocalist, and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Bono is known for his impassioned voca ...

and

the Edge David Howell Evans (born 8 August 1961), better known as the Edge or simply Edge,McCormick (2006), pp. 21, 23–24 is a British-Irish musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the lead guitarist, keyboardist, and backing vocalist o ...

of U2. It was released on Orbison's final (posthumous) album, ''

Mystery Girl ''Mystery Girl'' is the twenty-second album by American singer Roy Orbison. It was his last album recorded during his lifetime, completed in November 1988, a month before his death at age 52. Released posthumously by Virgin Records on January 3 ...

'' (also inspiring the album title), and as the album's second single in March 1989. The song was received favorably by several music critics and is considered one of the highlights of the album.

Composition

During a restless night of sleep in June 1987 in London during U2's

Joshua Tree Tour The Joshua Tree Tour was a concert tour by the Irish rock band U2. Staged in support of their 1987 album ''The Joshua Tree'', it comprised 109 shows over three legs, spanning from April to December that year. The first and third legs visited N ...

, Bono slept with the soundtrack to the film '' Blue Velvet'' CD on repeat. The CD had been given to him by the Edge's wife. The soundtrack includes the song "In Dreams" by Orbison. When he woke the following morning, Bono had a tune in his head which he assumed was from the soundtrack. He soon realised it wasn't, so he wrote down the basic structure of the song. Later that day he sang the unfinished song to the band at their pre-concert soundcheck at

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena () (originally the Empire Pool, currently known as OVO Energy, OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, Greater London, England. The 12,500-seat facility is Greater Lond ...

. After the concert, Orbison paid the band an unannounced visit backstage, where a perplexed Bono played the song for him. Bono and Orbison worked again on the song in mid-November in Los Angeles. The album ''Mystery Girl'' was named after the song's chorus ("She's a mystery to me, she's a mystery girl...").

Music video

The video for the song was directed by

David Fincher David Andrew Leo Fincher (born August 28, 1962) is an American film director. Often described as one of the preeminent directors of his generation, David Fincher filmography, his films, of which most are psychological thrillers, have collectiv ...

and it aired first in April 1989. Two versions of the video were made and both were broadcast by

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

and other outlets, though one more often than the other. Each version depicted the buildup to a woman departing on an airplane voyage. In the more popular video, she is planning to leave with a rich lover, while a faceless protagonist seen mostly in closeups of black cowboy boots (suggesting the late singer himself) helplessly watches her leave him behind. In the alternate version, the ending reveals that the woman is actually a pre-adolescent girl about to board the plane, with an older woman (suggesting her mother) arriving at the gate at takeoff; the girl abandons the plane and tearfully reunites with the woman. The same actress portrays both the pursued woman in the former video and the pursuer in the latter. The Mystery Girl in the video is played by

Ali Hewson Alison Hewson (née Stewart; born 23 March 1961) is an Irish activist and businesswoman. She is married to singer and musician Paul Hewson, known as Bono, from the rock group U2. Raised in Raheny, she met her future husband at age 12 at Mou ...

Reception

Critical reception towards the song was overwhelmingly positive.

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's Chris Jones praised the song, calling it "a true rarity". ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' called the song one of the best on the album. Reviewer Michael Azerrad wrote that the song vaguely sounded like U2 and compared Orbison's phrasing to that of Bono, but felt the chorus' singing style was distinctly Orbison's.

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered Alternative rock, alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres includin ...

felt the song revealed "wrinkles" in Orbison's voice, but wrote that it only added "texture and authority" to the song.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

wrote that the song was a highlight on the album; a haunting ballad, which was a perfect showcase to Orbison's vocal talent. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said it was "more rambling than the usual pointed material Roy excelled at" but that "it’s a still a strong offering." The song was featured in the film ''

Aquaman Aquaman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, the character debuted in ''More Fun Comics'' #73 (November 1941). Initially a backup feature in DC's anthology titles ...

'' in the scene where Arthur Curry and Mera arrived in

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Formats and track listings

Personnel

–

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

– electric guitar *

Benmont Tench Benjamin Montmorency "Benmont" Tench III (born September 7, 1953) is an American musician and singer, and a founding member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Early years Tench was born in Gainesville, Florida, the second child of Benjamin M ...

–

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, cheap strings * Howie Epstein –

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

Jim Keltner James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America". Howard Sounes. ''Do ...

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Charts

References

External links

Roy Orbison's official website
* {{David Fincher 1989 singles Roy Orbison songs Songs written by Bono Songs written by the Edge U2 songs Virgin Records singles Music videos directed by David Fincher 1989 songs 1980s ballads Songs released posthumously