It's about Bono seeing his deceased mom on video; this is well-documented.
The video is based on the work of Edward Muybridge.
As with the rest of U2's ZooTV/Zooropa stuff, the whole idea of media, virtual realities, etc. comes into play here. In most cases, seeing video footage is a pale stand-in for actual experience, but in the case of this song, it's the closest Bono can get to actually seeing his mother again...It's "Even Better than the Real Thing", get it? This sense of ambiguity and moral uncertainty is part of what made this stuff so impactful at the time of its release, right at the end of the Cold War, etc., etc.
It's about Bono seeing his deceased mom on video; this is well-documented.
The video is based on the work of Edward Muybridge.
As with the rest of U2's ZooTV/Zooropa stuff, the whole idea of media, virtual realities, etc. comes into play here. In most cases, seeing video footage is a pale stand-in for actual experience, but in the case of this song, it's the closest Bono can get to actually seeing his mother again...It's "Even Better than the Real Thing", get it? This sense of ambiguity and moral uncertainty is part of what made this stuff so impactful at the time of its release, right at the end of the Cold War, etc., etc.