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Face Down is a Prince (as  ) video released for broadcast. The song was released as a promotional single three months before the first airing of the video, shortly before EMI Records' closure.
Face Down is the most (if not only) playful and joyous video from the Emancipation era, being a pure comedy despite its angry and tongue-in-cheek lyrics. It was likely shot in late Winter - early Spring 1997 at Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, Minnesota.
The video features three different settings. The first is a funeral, with a figure dressed as Prince (wearing clothes from the Act II tour face down in an open casket. A mourner in a large black hat and holding Mayte's dog is shown crying over the body and accepting condolences. At the end of the video, the mourner is revealed to be Prince and not Mayte. The second setting is an amusing scene in which Prince is telling a psychotherapist (played by Kat Dyson) his story while she listens with disinterest. The third setting is a performance with The NPG. Humour is also added to the performance when Prince yells "horns" or "orchestra": he is shown playing saxophone next to two other members of The NPG and then playing a fiddle with a huge grin on his face (and for the first time in public wearing boots with no high heels).
The version of Face Down used for the video is an alternate mix with a vocal intro. A slightly censored ('clean version') of the video also exists.
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