Who was the inspiration for the song “one”?

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I guess it would depend on the mood of media coverage, but I'd tend to agree. A cop out response that's totally plausible though would be a medley of all their hit slower songs.

I love this song, a lot of the times we (myself included) let the cognitive dissonance of it being overexposed or misunderstood by a lot of people (choosing this as your wedding song? :huh:) overshadow its simple brilliance, is it a groundbreaking composition? No its not complex at all, but the lyric is so much denser than what the surface level would suggest, its the signature example of that in U2's catalog (funny how many different modes Bono has as a songwriter, one of which is complex poetic, and another the kind he often gets criticized for, writing songs that sound too universal and easy, but to me with songs like this you can always hear that they come from the heart and that means something to me, and the lyrics do leave space for people to add their own significance to). The connection its conception has with really uniting the band on their new direction should of course make it infinitely important to a fan, just think about the alternate universe where they didn't write this, or someone scoffed it off cynically... AB doesn't fit together as the pop masterpiece that it was, U2's only known for one sound and that's the UF-JT sound (unfortunately to fools this is the biggest criticism of them in the mainstream, and its so perverse because its simply untrue)... ZooTV doesn't happen, and we don't have U2 to love (or push around) for the past 20 years... as a lover of this band and their amazing history, that connection they have with this song should mean everything, the band obviously still feel that union which is why it is still played every night even when some hits finally take a break here and there, so don't complain about it being worn out, appreciate what you have,

and ontop of that you have to have no pulse not to feel a resonance with it.
 
I still don't think I've ever heard that Mary J. Blige version --- it came on my friend's car one night as he was driving me in Vancouver, but I didn't hear all of it. And I don't listen to radio and I live in the far East, so... definitely something I'm glad to have avoided.

I also never saw the Vertigo i-Pod commercial.
 
Not to turn this into another "One live version" thread, but to me, one of the major problems with the song in its live incarnation is that for the past 3 tours, it's been linked to the One Campaign and DATA and Jubilee 2000, which doesn't fit the tone of the song.

I know "we're one...we get to carry eachother" sounds like the perfect slogan for charity work, but it kind of kills the emotion of One. It's a breakup tune. It reminds me of so many past relationships, not the global crisis.
I feel this way too.
 
There was the story that the ‘voice’ is a gay son, dying of AIDS, talking to his estranged father who disapproved of the sons sexuality and life, hiding behind religion, and is now trying to make last minute amends at the death bed – and so the son, and song, swings between reconciliation and anger. I can’t remember whether that came from Bono, the band, someone close or around, or just someone’s translation, but that’s what I’ve always thought from waaay back when. Something I must have read at the time, not someone’s musings on the internet. The lyrics make perfect sense in that context. Some of it is very accusatory, some very much reaching for common ground. You say this, you say that, did you come here for this, did you come here for that, but put all that aside, because in the end we’re one.
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Good luck getting the christian biggots(no offense to those christians who are really beautiful people) to believe Bono would have written one of his biggest songs about a Homo dying of the filthy AIDS disease. I for one see that making the most sense.. Especially with the single cover and all..
I myself have always seen it as a breakup song, maybe not with a lover but just someone( a friend or family member?) you loved so much but you still gotta turn away..
 
There was the story that the ‘voice’ is a gay son, dying of AIDS, talking to his estranged father who disapproved of the sons sexuality and life, hiding behind religion, and is now trying to make last minute amends at the death bed – and so the son, and song, swings between reconciliation and anger. I can’t remember whether that came from Bono, the band, someone close or around, or just someone’s translation, but that’s what I’ve always thought from waaay back when. Something I must have read at the time, not someone’s musings on the internet. The lyrics make perfect sense in that context. Some of it is very accusatory, some very much reaching for common ground. You say this, you say that, did you come here for this, did you come here for that, but put all that aside, because in the end we’re one.

This is by far my favourite interpretation of the song. Anton Corbijn said in "The Story of One" documentary that he interprets the song like this. And all those video hints are there - Bob Hewson appearing in the Corbijn version, the single profit being handed out to the AIDS foundation, the David Wojnarowicz (an American gay artist who had died from AIDS complications) artwork that had inspired the Mark Pellington video...

It's too bad the song is such a cliche now, especially after the Mary J Blige fiasco. Still, listening to the original version and the ZooTV live versions (check out the Tacoma 1992 version, easily the greatest ever), it is without a doubt one of their finest moments.
 
It seems to me that to "casual" fans, the song has that singular association with DATA/Drop the Debt/AIDS in Africa/Bono's cause du jour, but for those of us who are "die hard" fans, we see a deeper, and perhaps more profound, meaning about human relationships/spirituality/etc.
 
I've heard the "gay son dying of AIDS" story before, but I'm not necessarily sure that's it. Bono has indicated that the "lepers in your bed" line is a nod to AIDS because when writing a song about sex and infidelity, the spectre of AIDS has to be present (especially in the early 90s).

While this may be true, I think the lyric is "lepers in your head".
 
"Did I ask too much, more than a lot"

Talking about high ticket prices.

"You gave me nothing, now thats all I got"

Sneeking into concert for freeee. :D

""Love is a temple, love a higher law"

Putting a value on money, or knowing the value of everything, but the price of nothing (backwards on purpose).

"We are one, but not the same"

You may think you are like me, but your not, or 'you may think its butter, but its not "its Chiffon".

My flame suit is on...procede as you may.
 
Most people do not realize that almost every song that is written

Not necessarily. "Trip Through Your Wires" and "Please" are among the few songs that Bono specifically said were written with certain specific people in mind. "One" is more generic, I always thought.

BTW, around the time the "Stuck in a Moment" single was released, I heard Bono doing a brief interview on Irish radio giving an explanation of the song - and the explanation he gave was absolutely nothing to do with Hutchence!

So, even with songs that were alleged by Bono to be written about specific people, he can say different things at times.
 
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