Very recently, PrinceVault added the information below.

So what seems to be suggested is that The Question of U was already concieved before 12 Keys. And there seems to not only exist a longer cut of the album version, but Clair Fisher recorded overdubs for it. In addition to that, where does the two clips of the strings version fit into all this? (see: Work It 2.0)

It was my understanding that '12 Keys' was always thought to have been recorded after the main track (and the song was unfamiliar to the other players during that session).

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I believe ?oU was tracked July/August 1985 (around approximately the same time as 'Empty Room'), and overdubbed again on one or more occasions mid/late 1987. The released GB track is based upon this 1987 overdubbed version.

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The isolated sampled string instrumental 'dubs' may have been intended for use with a deleted scene, and possibly sourced from a GB film outtake or workprint.

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While it's just the very kind of song that seems ripe for being submitted to Clare Fischer, this is the first time that has been claimed by a [quasi-]authoritative source.

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P seemed to have fallen out the loop with CF around ~1988 for a number of years, so the exact timing and surrounding facts may be off a bit.

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It's clear from listening to the instrumental excerpts, however, that P both samples and works in what are indisputably CF additions recorded for the track.

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There was a rumor that the ?oU was being considered oddly enough for a single release at one point during the GB/Nude Tour era; those stringstramentals may alternatively relate to that, if there is any merit to that rumor, perhaps as prologues or codas for some maxi-suite release. Or they could have been put together merely for proprietary use on the Nude Tour, as was the case with 'Intermission' on the LS Tour.

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[Edited 5/7/17 20:14pm]

imprimis said:

There was a rumor that the ?oU was being considered oddly enough for a single release at one point during the GB/Nude Tour era; those stringstramentals may alternatively relate to that, if there is any merit to that rumor.

This is a theory I've entertained as well.

I don't think it's a rumour, afaik QofU was originally slated as he first single from GB.