"One Man Army" is a 1999 song by Our Lady Peace

Our Lady Peace

Our Lady Peace is a Canadian alternative rock band that formed in Toronto, Ontario in 1992. Headed by lead vocalist Raine Maida since its formation, the band additionally consists of Jeremy Taggart on percussion, Duncan Coutts on bass, and Steve Mazur as lead guitarist...

, released as the first single from their third album, Happiness...Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch

Happiness...Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch

Happiness... Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch is the third studio album by Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace. It was released on September 21, 1999 by Columbia Records. The album was very successful in Canada, debuting at #1 on the Canadian Albums Chart. The album was certified 3x...

.

Meaning

"One Man Army is about the struggle for individuality. It's about finding the courage to metaphorically strip naked and set fire to all your inhibitions. It's about cleansing yourself of all the people and things that suffocate your individuality." ~Raine Maida

Release

The release of the live version of "One Man Army" from their Woodstock 1999

Woodstock 1999

Woodstock 1999, also called Woodstock 99, performed July 22–25, 1999, was the second large-scale music festival that attempted to emulate the original Woodstock Festival of 1969. Like the previous Woodstock festivals it was performed in upstate New York, this time in Rome, New York, around 200...

 performance forced the record label to release the single several weeks earlier than the planned date of August 4.

UK Pro CD

Epic XPCD2440

1. "One Man Army" (edit) - 3:08
2. "One Man Army" (album version) - 3:22

UK Ltd. Ed. CD

SBME Import

1. "One Man Army"
2. "Starseed
   Starseed (song)
   "Starseed" is the second single off Our Lady Peace's first album Naveed, released in 1994. It was remixed and released on the soundtrack to Armageddon. Also, a live version from the 2003 Live album was released as a single. The song was also planned to be included on the soundtrack for Drew...
   
   "
3. "Clumsy"
4. "One Man Army" (video)

Music video

This music video was directed by Mark Kohr and was filmed in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

 on August 5, 1999. It begins with lead singer Raine Maida

Raine Maida

Raine Maida , is a Canadian musician best known as being the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of the alternative rock band Our Lady Peace. He has come to be known for his unique countertenor nasal falsetto singing voice, as well as his cryptic and poetry-influenced song lyrics...

 sitting in a chair in what appears to be a hotel hallway. Using special effects, he stands up and walks away, but a second "copy" of him remains seated. The video is then split into two sets of scenes: In one set, the band is set up in the middle of a lobby and performs the song; in the other scenes, Maida walks through a city. During the choruses of the song, Maida is suddenly pulled through the air (apparently acting as gravity was pulling him), causing him to crash into several walls, and smash through a tree, a wall, and several windows. He tries holding onto a fire hydrant and a street sign, but is pulled away. At the end of the video, Raine sits down on a bench on a pier, but he is pulled away out over the water after trying to hold onto the bench.
In 2000, the video won another two MuchMusic Video Awards

MuchMusic Video Awards

The MuchMusic Video Awards are annual awards presented by the Canadian music video channel MuchMusic to honour the year's best music videos....

(both are People's Choice), Favourite Canadian Group and Favourite Canadian Video.