Roy Orbison - She's a Mystery to Me (1989)

"She's a Mystery to Me" is a song by Roy Orbison, written by Bono and the Edge of U2. It was released on Orbison's final ...

"She's a Mystery to Me" is a song by Roy Orbison, written by Bono and the Edge of U2. It was released on Orbison's final (posthumous) album, Mystery Girl (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.

Music video

The video for the song was directed by David Fincher and it aired first in April 1989. Two versions of the video were made and both were broadcast by MTV and other outlets, though one more often than the other. Each version depicted the buildup to a girl departing on an airplane voyage. In the more popular video, it is a woman who 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 it is 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.