Multiple videos for 1 track: U2 One eg

You can find many articles on this example, eg The Inspiration Room.

I've mentioned this several times in past posts, but just realised I've never actually linked them...

Its fairly common for bands to reject a video, or simply to want to see an alternative version, perhaps to boost the chances of airtime.

For U2's global hit single One there were indeed three videos released!

DailyMotion blogger Vampira Maila Nurmi writes:

Three music videos were created for "One". The first, directed by Anton Corbijn, was filmed in Berlin and features the band members performing at Hansa Studios interspersed with footage of Trabants (an East German automobile they became fond of as a symbol for a changing Europe) and shots of them dressed in drag. Bono explained that the idea to crossdress "had been based on the idea that if U2 can't do this, we've got to do it!", and it was fostered by the group's experiences dressing in drag for the Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. However, the band pulled the video, fearing the single's status as an AIDS benefit would result in critics finding AIDS-related interpretations of the video. The Edge explained, "We didn't want to be involved in putting back the AIDS issue into the realm of sexuality... It wasn't worth the risk of people imagining we were saying something about the AIDS issue through the drag footage, which was totally not what we were trying to say."

Martin Gore drags up in Depeche Mode's Suffer Well

Use my playlist to explore the world of DMode vids!

Anton Corbijn, to me simply the best video-maker of all time, has worked with U2 in a way he also has with Depeche Mode: taking his original photography focus and expanding from cover art to videos plus concert projection footage. His was the original video which the band, as detailed above, effectively nixed for its crossdressing footage (which they were happy to shoot to satirise their own super-serious image), fearing it would be misinterpreted alongside the AIDS fundraising.

I can't find an unmuted/blocked upload on YouTube; it is here on DailyMotion (embeddable, but this will just fall foul of many web filters).
There is a rather odd fan-made video by 'Bono Hewson', another of whose efforts is embedded later...
Or you can try this 20-min feature on Corbijn and his varied work.

Of the 3, its the ultra-slo-mo buffalo running off a cliff edge cut that most people now associate with the track, this video taking on iconic status, having an undeniable power. I recall this as being a single-shot video (which are far from unique: I've blogged on these here, and highly recommend producing your own as part of any promotional package!), but have found multiple cuts of this itself when looking to embed it here:


Here it is, with audio muted for copyright infringement (but still with a quarter million hits):

Here it is again cut with live performance audio/footage:


Suitably, given the confusion over this track's promo clips, I think even the official U2 (U2Vevo) channel has mis-labelled the 3rd vid cut for One; the video below is labelled as Corbijn's, but its surely Phil Joanou's effort? Not great either, even if there was only a 1-week turnaround for it, including the shoot!

The fan-made video/UGC...
It inspired someone though...I became the 418th person to view this rather odd tribute/remake (but using solely the bar footage):


Oh...and then there's this version, which blends B+W photos with lyrics with some brief concert performance, and has attracted over 15m views despite its apparent unofficial status (Corbijn's original had 22m at the time of writing)...