Early Version of U2's "Get On Your Boots" Video Snatched From Web

The new video for U2's "Get On Your Boots," the first single from the band's upcoming No Line on the Horizon, hit the Web this weekend — and has already been removed (so instead, check out a bunch of puppets performing the band's tune, above).

What appears to have been an early, possibly unfinished version of the U2 clip starts off resembling an iPod commercial, but then the green screen behind the band begins showing a collage of images like candy apples, skulls, 50-foot women wearing regalia, nuclear warheads and more. Despite Bono's lyrics, "I don't wanna talk about the wars between nations," it's hard to imagine the video isn't toying with a vast political statement.

In a really strange moment at the 1:57 mark, a photo appears behind the Edge that is actually stamped with a "Getty Images" watermark. It happens again at the 2:04 mark, suggesting that the clip hit the Net before the final edit. And of course, there's a lot of "sexy boots," as Bono sings, before the video ends with the band being besieged by lava. In short, the video resembles an animated version of the album cover of Oasis' Dig Out Your Soul.

No Line on the Horizon will be released Stateside on March 3rd in five different formats. For Rolling Stone's exclusive preview of the new U2 album, check out our track-by-track breakdown of No Line on the Horizon.

Related Stories:

• U2 Break Down No Line on the Horizon
• U2 Reveal No Line on the Horizon Track List, Album Cover
• Cover Story: U2 Drops the Bomb

• 
  MUSIC The Top 25 Teen Idol Breakout Moments
• 
  MOVIES & TV 'Game of Thrones': The Show Vs. the Books
• 
  POLITICS Matt Taibbi: Facebook IPO vs. Shareholders
• 
  VIDEOS Exclusive: Garbage Rip Through 'I Think I'm Paranoid'

Song Stories

“Weird”

Hanson | 1997

Accomplished tunesmith Desmond Child co-wrote "Weird" with the three brothers that make up Hanson. Credited for dozens of cuts, including songs by Kiss, Cher, Bon Jovi and Aerosmith, Child told Rolling Stone that "Weird" holds a special place in his heart, "because it's about being different--and I grew up poor, I grew up being Latin, I grew up being gay, and now I'm fat!" The song was included on Hanson's 1997 album Middle of Nowhere, which sold more than ten million units.

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter