Synopsis

Depeche Mode arrive in a battered yellow Ford Cortina at a bleak, abandoned mining landscape. Against the stark hills and ruined industrial surroundings, the three members perform the song with a mixture of swagger, detachment, and dark humor. The video favors striking poses, close-ups, and fragmented interactions over a conventional storyline, making the landscape feel as desolate as the song's emotional world. Its dry, rugged imagery gives "Useless" a distinctly earthy contrast to the band's electronic sound.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was filmed on August 29 and 30, 1997, in the Cwmystwyth mining area near Aberystwyth, Wales.

• The location is a former lead-mining site whose abandoned structures and barren surroundings provide the video's unusually stark backdrop.

• The car used in the video is a 1981 Ford Cortina GL Mk V. It was repainted for the production and marked with a large "U" on its side.

• "Useless" was released on October 20, 1997, as the fourth and final single from the album "Ultra."

• The video uses the remixed single version of the song, produced through a new mix by Alan Moulder rather than the original album recording.

• This was the last Depeche Mode music video directed by Anton Corbijn for more than eight years. His next conventional music video for the band was "Suffer Well," released in 2006.