"Obstacle 1" is a song by Interpol

Interpol (band)

Interpol is an American indie rock and post-punk revival band from New York City. Formed in 1997, the band's original line-up consisted of Paul Banks , Daniel Kessler , Carlos Dengler and Greg Drudy . Drudy left the band in 2000 and was replaced by Sam Fogarino...

, from their first album Turn On the Bright Lights

Turn on the Bright Lights

Turn On the Bright Lights is the debut studio album by American post-punk revival band Interpol, released in August 2002. The album was recorded in November 2001 at Tarquin Studios in Connecticut, and was co-produced, mixed and engineered by Peter Katis and Gareth Jones...

. The song was released as a single on November 11, 2002, then remixed by producer Arthur Baker

Arthur Baker (musician)

Arthur Baker is an American record producer and DJ best known for his work with hip hop artists like Afrika Bambaataa, Planet Patrol, and the British group New Order.-Early career:...

 and reissued as a single on September 15, 2003. The music video for "Obstacle 1" was directed by Floria Sigismondi

Floria Sigismondi

Floria Sigismondi is an Italian, naturalised Canadian, photographer and director.Apart from her art exhibitions, she is best known for writing and directing The Runaways, starring Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning...

. A WKQX Radio interview with the band states that they wrote the song after watching a news report about a model's recent death.

"Obstacle 1" is featured as a playable track on Guitar Hero World Tour

Guitar Hero World Tour

Guitar Hero World Tour is a music video game developed by Neversoft and published by RedOctane and Activision. It is the fourth main entry in the Guitar Hero series...

. Singer Charlotte Martin

Charlotte Martin

Charlotte Ann Martin is an American singer-songwriter, who performs predominantly on the piano. She has written several studio albums, two of which have received mainstream commercial releases, 2004's On Your Shore and 2006's Stromata...

 has a rendition of "Obstacle 1" on her album, Reproductions

Reproductions

Reproductions is a studio album of cover versions by Charlotte Martin.-Track listing:# "Angel" # "Obstacle 1" # "Constant Craving" Reproductions is a studio album of cover versions by Charlotte Martin.-Track listing:# "Angel" (Massive Attack)# "Obstacle 1" (Interpol)# "Constant Craving"...

.

2002 single

CD (OLE570-2):

1. "Obstacle 1" – 4:11
2. "PDA" (Live KCRW
   KCRW
   KCRW is a public radio station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, carrying a mix of National Public Radio news, talk radio and freeform music format. The general manager of KCRW is Jennifer Ferro...
   
    Morning Becomes Eclectic Session) – 4:56
3. "Hands Away" (Live Peel Session
   John Peel
   John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
   
   ) – 3:10

7" vinyl (OLE570-7):

1. "Obstacle 1" – 4:11
2. "Obstacle 2" (Live Peel Session
   John Peel
   John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
   
   ) – 3:50

2003 single

Remix CD (OLE594-2):

1. "Obstacle 1" (Arthur Baker Remix Edit) – 4:17
2. "Obstacle 1" (Arthur Baker Remix Long Version) – 5:55
3. "Obstacle 1" (Radio Edit) – 3:36

7" vinyl (OLE594-7):

1. "Obstacle 1" (Arthur Baker Remix Edit) – 4:17
2. "Obstacle 1" (Live Black Session) – 4:18

DVD (OLE594-9):

1. "Obstacle 1" (video) – 3:47
2. "Specialist" (Live Black Session) (audio) – 6:34
3. "Leif Erikson" (Live Black Session) (audio) – 3:55

Music video

The promotional video

Video

Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...

 for the song was directed by Floria Sigismondi

Floria Sigismondi

Floria Sigismondi is an Italian, naturalised Canadian, photographer and director.Apart from her art exhibitions, she is best known for writing and directing The Runaways, starring Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning...

.
It shows several shots of the band playing in an aisle, there are many wires moving up and down.
Then, a woman appears dancing the song on another aisle. In a shot, a glass of water fall down and breaks, the water begins to move through the aisles and arrives to the aisle where the woman is dancing. The woman falls down and is electrocuted as a result of the electrical wires in the water.