U2: SALMAN RUSHDIE ROCKS

Friday May 07, 1999 12:00 AM EDT

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Author Salman Rushdie has contributed lyrics to a new song by the Irish rock band U2, reports Britain's Guardian newspaper. Rushdie, who has lived in hiding for nearly a decade since being condemned to death by Iran's supreme leader for his 1989 book "The Satanic Verses," gave U2 lead singer Bono the lyrics, which were taken from his new novel, "The Ground Beneath Her Feet," the paper said. The romantic ballad, also to be called "The Ground Beneath Her Feet," will be on U2's next album. "Bono and I have been friends for several years, and I sent him the novel when I'd finished it, and he responded by coming up with this beautiful melody," the Guardian quoted Rushdie as saying. "Simple as that, but of course very pleasurable."