When Bank of America merged with MBNA back in 2006, they had a big internal event for bank executives. Two of them got up on stage and performed a remade version of U2’s hit single, “One.”
The song was rewritten to commemorate and celebrate the merger. You can read all the lyrics below.
The duo — one guy singing and another guy on guitar — gave a pretty good performance. The singer, Ethan Chandler, a Manhattan banking center manager, is amazingly earnest and sincere. It’s pretty darn good, unless, of course, you’re a U2 fan, in which case you may equate it with musical murder.
The video has been viewed over 438,630 times on YouTube.
Go figure. A remake of a song about a bank merger sung by a bank executive. In a white shirt and tie. On about the dullest stage you can imagine. And it was viewed almost half a million times.
The party poopers over at Universal Music Publishing Group didn’t care for it. They promptly fired off a cease-and-desist to B of A, claiming copyright infringements. This is kind of surprising, since it’s obviously a gag, and meant for an internal audience only. UMPG’s legal maneuver must have failed though, since the video is still up.
You can read the New York Times story here.
Lyrics to Bank of America’s remake of “One” by U2
It is even better
Now that we’re the same
Two great companies come together
Now, MBNA is B of A
And it’s one bank
One card
One name that’s known all over the world
One spirit
We get to share it
Leading us all to higher standards
Ooooohhh, mmmmmm.
Do you like the Cowboys?
Or your university?
Do you like the Yankees?
Or is NASCAR more your speed?
Well, it’s your choice
Your right
To pick a card that shows your heart and your pride
We’re one
With affinity
And we’ll carry each other
Carry each other
Onnnnee
Have you come to meet Bruce Simmons?
Have you come to meet Liam McGee?
Have heard about Michelle Shepard?
She’s leading the team in the northeast?
And we’ve got Bank One on the run
What’s in your wallet?
It’s not Capital One
It’s us
So which card are you
Integration has never had us feeling so good
And we’ll make lots of money
Forever I can sing
About trust and teamwork
And doing the right thing
We’ll live out our core values
While the competition crawls
Because they want what we have got
But it’s only here
At Bank of America
And it’s one bank
One card
One name that’s known all over the world
One heart
Filled with spirit
We feel it
Share it
One bank working every day
to bring higher standards
Higher standards
Onnnnneeee
We are oonnneeee, yeah
We are onnnneeee, yeah
We are one bank