The Song, The Epiphany, The Catharsis that is, 'One'

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namkcuR

ONE love, blood, life
Joined
Sep 7, 2004
Messages
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Location
Kettering, Ohio
I've had 'One' on repeat for the last hour now and have been listening to it quite a bit the past few days. For a long time I thought 'With Or Without You' was U2's crowning achievement...but as I've grown up a little, I've come to think that 'One' holds that title. The thing is, when I listen to WOWY, no matter how much I love it, it doesn't have that emotional weight to it that puts me at peace and makes me want to cry at the same time. 'One' does.

One love
One blood
One life
You got to do what you should
One life
With each other
Sisters, Brothers
One life
But we're not the same
We get to carry each other, carry each other
One
One

The message in this song is so universal, so relatable, and yet so ambigious. Is it about a failed relationship? Is it about death? Is it about AIDs or other diseases? Is it about the band itself? Could be any of them, could be none of them. But at the root of the four subjects just outlined, is the same basic concept:

Unconditional tolerance of and amongst all humans in life and in death. That when all the excess stuff is stripped, nationality, race, religious/political beliefs, sexual orientation, etc etc, that we are all just people trying to get through life. That tolerance of and amongst each other, not neccessarily love for or even like for each other, but just that tolerance and respect of/for all, is essential for the journey.

And when you think about it, that is the essence of the human spirit, the will to do the best you can in life and the eternal need all throughout life for kinship with your fellow humans. And 'One' has captured that, the human spirit, in four minutes. I don't know that any other single rock song has.
 
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a huge song.. for me at a time when I couldnt find a common ground with my father it was an eye opener I spent so much time thinking how different we were I never saw the "one" thing that united us. This song will always just be really healing for me ..
 
Funny thing is if you listen to the version of WOWY from Rattle and Hum (the movie), this is how the song ends:

We'll shine like stars in the summer night
We'll shine like stars in the winter night
One heart
One hope
One love
With or Without You...

One great song begets another....classic!
 
I think what I love most about "One" is that Bono wrote "we GET TO carry each other." Alot of people would say that we "have to" carry each other in order to make it through this life, but Bono knows it is our privilege to "cry with those who cry and rejoice with those who rejoice."
 
shart1780 said:
I honestly think it's overated. I think there's many better U2 songs.

I may be wrong, but didn't this song, this revelation, keep U2 from breaking up? Any song that keeps the lads together is not overrated. Sure, a lot of people like it, but that's because of the universal themes in the song. I'm curious to know what songs you put above "One" on your list.
 
Chewbee said:
Funny thing is if you listen to the version of WOWY from Rattle and Hum (the movie), this is how the song ends:

We'll shine like stars in the summer night
We'll shine like stars in the winter night
One heart
One hope
One love
With or Without You...

One great song begets another....classic!

I totally agree!!! To me, it just shows that Bono always had "One" somewhere inside of him and that it was only a matter of time until he found it. Great, great song.
 
i had to listen to this again a few times before i posted...

i struggle with this song
i've always found it over-rated - not because i dont like it, it's easily one of U2's best songs, but mostly because a lot of people i speak to who aren't really fans say its their best song, but when asked how many albums they own or how much U2 they listen to, it always seems to be limited to like 1 maybe 2 albums.
i find it difficult to take people's opinion of U2s best work when they only know a tenth of it! theres so much they probably havent heard. the way i see it (please dont shoot or ban me!) One is the ignorant U2 fan's no1, the guy who doesnt know any better or hasnt heard some of the other stuff they've done that maybe didn't hit the publics eye so hard.

i suppose its my ingrained stubborness reacting and its mostly a matter of principle to me, but i must admit theres no doubt it is a fantastic, amazing, beautiful song though, without a doubt one of the best ever made and not just by U2
i just prefer WOWY and above all, Streets
 
digsy said:
i had to listen to this again a few times before i posted...

i struggle with this song
i've always found it over-rated - not because i dont like it, it's easily one of U2's best songs, but mostly because a lot of people i speak to who aren't really fans say its their best song, but when asked how many albums they own or how much U2 they listen to, it always seems to be limited to like 1 maybe 2 albums.
i find it difficult to take people's opinion of U2s best work when they only know a tenth of it! theres so much they probably havent heard. the way i see it (please dont shoot or ban me!) One is the ignorant U2 fan's no1, the guy who doesnt know any better or hasnt heard some of the other stuff they've done that maybe didn't hit the publics eye so hard.

i suppose its my ingrained stubborness reacting and its mostly a matter of principle to me, but i must admit theres no doubt it is a fantastic, amazing, beautiful song though, without a doubt one of the best ever made and not just by U2
i just prefer WOWY and above all, Streets

I understand your point of view. Sorry if I put you on the spot. :reject:
 
macphistofreak said:


I understand your point of view. Sorry if I put you on the spot. :reject:

put me on the spot? really?
are you sure :lol:
and why apologise - because my opinions differ to yours?
thats what makes this place great, imagine how dull it would be here if we all had the same opinion on everything.

believe me, i've learnt a hell of a lot here from what other people have to say
 
I agree w/ ya all the way digsy, I didn't fully understand U2 until I visited this forum and found out all the religious refs 2 to their songs.

And havin out own opinions w/o bein shot at is a gr8 freedom some ppl take 4 granted.
 
Axel Rose said it was the greatest song ever written. I cant argue with him, I think its the greatest song ever recorded. Just because to me its perfection and I have a lot of personal memories that tie in with this tune.
 
In their recent interview, the band themselves rated One as their favorite song. And yes, it literally DID keep them from breaking up. Read the story behind this in Flanagan's book. The gist of it is, that the band were in Hansa in Berlin and things were not going well. For the first time in thier career, they could not gel in the studio. Ominously, though, it wasn;t just the lack of agreement on songwriting or sound; Bono and Adam were taking sides with Edge and Larry on the band's direction and reason d'etre. And they couldn't even come up with anything that sounded good. "There was a lot of yelling", as Edge later said. Then they stopped talking to each other. it got to the point where Edge seriously considered breaking the band up in order to preserve their friendship. If it was a choice between the band or their friendships, the band would have to go.

The story goes that one night they were in this surly mood but they decided to put in a final night's work jamming just to give it one more chance. They were THAT CLOSE to officially calling it quits. Then Edge came up with the opening riff, and played that over and over. Bono began singing: 'Is it getting better/or do you feel the same..." The lyrics of One popped right into his head then and there; it was total improvisation, and nothing has been changed. Then slowly Adam and Larry joined in. As they have said, One arrived fully complete. They had it done and cut within an hour.

Right from the start, they knew they had a masterpiece. And they realized at the time the signifigance of what had happened. Rarely if ever had that instataneous thing ever happened before in the studio. I forgot who it was who said it was probably a divine intervention. But later that night, as they realized that they could still work together and come up with something good, they went back and played some of the stuff they had done before, and relaized that with a little tinkering, some good stuff was in there. MW and Acrobat were supposedly 2 of the raw songs half-written at that point.

So what is incredibly moving to me is that every time the band play that song, night after night, they are verbally reaffirming a promise made to each other. Bono is speaking first and foremost to his band. It is about the band most of all. And as much as it has affected our lives, remember: it started with the band themselves.

Mention of One changing People's lives. For me it was 'Bad" (even though I'd been a fan for over 3 yrs before then.) still have this very long story to post in the Religion section about my Bad experience that Katey I know is waiting for...sorry, I've been short on time, my "U2 testimomy" I will post ASAP....
 
I never cry....
But when i saw U2-Popmart live from Mexico and they played One at the end, and then the part that edge plays and bono sings:

"Do you hear him coming, Lord
Do you hear his call
You hear us knocking
We’re knocking at your door
You hear us coming, Lord
You hear us call
You hear him scratching
Then you make us crawl"

It made me cry....




I'm not the only one, also bono cries in it....
Such an emotional song....
I just hope i'm not the only one.....:sigh:
 
It's amazing how many of U2's songs can invoke in me hope and inspiration and at the same time great sadness and despair. "One" is one of those songs for me. I cry, too.

These guys can take me to the deep recesses of my psyche. Isn't that what great artwork does? Geniuses!!! (I know I'm preaching to the converted, here - nothing new.) :dance:
 
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