A Life Less Ordinary

The famous directors Hammer & Tongs directed the video for the single, which consists of the band playing on a race-track inside a heart-shaped area marked with crash barriers. Four cars appear and crash into the band. The cars race forward with the band still playing the song on the bonnets of the cars. Towards the end, the cars crash into each other throwing one over the top. However, the cars land perfectly and they race off into the distance and out of view.

Footage from the film of the same name, staring Ewan Mcgregor and Cameron Diaz, is intercut with the band shots mentioned above. Rick was taken ill with bronchitis during the filming of this video, which explains why after the first few shots of him at the start, he has his hood up for the rest of the video. This was in fact a crew member filling in for him.

Ash on the concept of the video:

The song, “A Life Less Ordinary” was written specifically for the movie of the same name. Irish director Danny Boyle personally requested for us to contribute to the soundtrack. Straight off the back of “Trainspotting” we weren’t gonna say no! Produced by Arthur Baker our recording became the lead single for the movie and a UK Top 10 hit.

This is the first video which Charlotte appears in and she was thrown in the deep end! Hammer and Tongs found a location on an airstrip north of London, known for their wacky pop promos & decided to strap us to the roofs of rally cars (with our instruments) and speed up and down the runway! The final product is pretty amusing!

Rick was suffering with chronic bronchitis and was unable to film the whole video. During the shoot he collapsed, was rushed to hospital and put on a ventilator! One of the crew had to take his place and through parts of the video you can see him disguised with his hood up, giving South Park’s Kenny a run for his money!

  • Released:
  • Director: Garth Jennings
  • Shoot location: Airfield, North London
  • Shoot date: August, 1997
  • Producer: Nick Goldsmith
  • Production company: Hammer & Tongs