Oh cool, a thread addressed to me that isn't about setlists! Makes a change.
Honestly, I don't think I hate One quite as much as some other people here, like Khan and The Sad Punk. I'd say I'm closer to dislike than outright hatred, even if I sometimes turn on the hyperbolic scorn for effect.
I honestly don't find the song to have much in the way of layers; I certainly don't see it as complicated. I find the lyrics - with a couple of exceptions - are superficial and derivative; generalised beyond the point of usefulness. They are a shadow of Bono's 1984-89 lyrical ability. Put simply, they're boring.
In musical style and structure, I feel like One lives in the shadow of U2's great ballads. It wanted to be WOWY or AIWIY but isn't; later, U2 got the formula right again with Stay. I'm not saying it's identical to such songs, rips them off, or is a WOWY Part II or anything, but it obviously belongs in their category and it's just got nothing on the beautiful WOWY intro, the AIWIY solo, etc.
I also really dislike how the song just waffles off into the distance without really getting anywhere. The only truly good part of the song, the live climax with "do you hear us coming?", is missing from the album version and that to me is the final nail in the coffin.
Then the spittle on the grave is the way U2 have whored out the song to any cause they can possibly give it to. The song has become redundant. What does it even mean any more? Tibet, AIDS, third world debt, President Clinton, the list just goes on and on. Let it go, U2. Stop just falling back on One. This obviously isn't relevant to my opinion on the studio version, but I think it negatively impacts upon the song's legacy and I'm thankful my favourite U2 songs, e.g. OTH, ASOH, 11OTT, haven't received this treatment.