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U2 — One
Album: Achtung Baby
Avg rating:
8.1

Your rating:
Total ratings: 4518









Released: 1991
Length: 4:32
Plays (last 30 days): 0
Is it getting better?
Or do you feel the same?
Will it make it easier on you, now
You got someone to blame
You say one love, one life
When it's one need, in the night
One love, we get to share it
It leaves you, baby, if you don't care for it

Did I disappoint you?
Or leave a bad taste in your mouth?
You act like you never had love
And you want me to go without
Well, it's too late, tonight
To drag the past out into the light
We're one, but we're not the same
We get to carry each other, carry each other
One...

Have you come here for forgiveness
Have you come to raise the dead
Have you come here to play Jesus
To the lepers in your head
Did I ask too much, more than a lot
You gave me nothing, now it's all I got
We're one, but we're not the same
Well, we hurt each other
Then we do it again.

You say love is a temple, love a higher law
Love is a temple, love the higher law
You ask me to enter, but then you make me crawl
And I can't be holding on, to what you got
When all you got is hurt

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 (lone)
One...

Make in it, make in it, higher...
Comments (398)add comment
Johny Cash does an excellent version of this song 
 mardisoninnc wrote:

What an album this was.  Achtung Baby and Joshua Tree were incomparable and peerless, in my opinion.  And I attribute that to the magic touch of Daniel Lanois.


I find that Acting Baby was the continuation of U2’s decline into pretentiousness and mediocrity that started with Rattle and Hum.  Some good songs on both.  For me, One is a major misfire. Just boring.  Oh well.  To each his own. 
 deniseperry wrote:

20 years old! How can that be? And still hold the same potency.




GREAT TUNE!!    ...sometimes greatness ages very well!  ...as in this tune!   
GORGEOUS. Only „Running to stand still“ moves me as this masterpiece does.
Just a reminder to choose to be kind to one another folks.  It's not hard and the results are better for everyone.
Great song and album like all their previous albums and a few tracks  afterwards. It's good and then that's it, it's my adolescence and I don't like how this group has aged, but that's another story....
20 years old! How can that be? And still hold the same potency.
 coloradojohn wrote:

Truly a fantastic song, and a really good one to play in the car on the way to a show. The emotional impact is so very, very intense, as on many U2 songs, but the fact that my ex- and I shared such a love for them, and mutually adored this song, espccially, made it burn all the more when we ultimately split. U2; it's been the perfect soundtrack of much of my life...and RP is what helps most to keep it all going!


Long Live RP brother!!
 scrubbrush wrote:
I had similar situation to DaidyBoy back in college in the early 90s and this album was the soundtrack to that period of time. I've never resolved whether this song makes me sad or relieved about the path I ultimately chose.

Since my college days were in the middle 70's, comments like this make me smile. We all have those moments, and some of us more than one.

You only live once and we make many bad choices during that lifetime. Do not linger with regrets; recognize your bad choices, give them the respect they deserve, be thankful that they did not destroy your life, ... then embrace your future.
Just sublime and a band at their peak (even though I'm more of a Joshua Tree/Unforgettable Fire guy).
Through the test of time, this is my favourite U2 song :)
Excellent!
This is an example of why this band is so loved (and possibly, so hated too), tapping into some primal aspect of human experience in both a new and yet familiar way. Evoking emotions and a sense of connection.
Are they flawed? Obviously, just like you and I, and they know that, and that's part of the appeal.
An absolutely genius musical composition. The way all the layers join up is astounding... And, IT REALLY ROCKS WHEN CRANKED!
DaidyBoy wrote:               This is one of the deepest songs for me. At one time I spent a lot of time with a group of very close friends and something happened with a girl friend that meant we parted ways. One of those big crossroads in life that you look back on and realise that everything would have been different if I had chosen the other one..... This song was playing at the crucial moment, and I remember the time all too well.


LPCity wrote:

Wow!  Just stumbled across this comment from years ago.  I (like others I presume) had a very similar decision/crossroads in my much younger life that makes me wonder from time to time.  What IF I had gone the other direction?  No regrets but memories to ponder as we all get older.

I had similar situation to DaidyBoy back in college in the early 90s and this album was the soundtrack to that period of time. I've never resolved whether this song makes me sad or relieved about the path I ultimately chose.
Truly a fantastic song, and a really good one to play in the car on the way to a show. The emotional impact is so very, very intense, as on many U2 songs, but the fact that my ex- and I shared such a love for them, and mutually adored this song, espccially, made it burn all the more when we ultimately split. U2; it's been the perfect soundtrack of much of my life...and RP is what helps most to keep it all going!
This beautiful, uncomfortable lesson of a song reminds me of thoughtless inconsideration and hits too close for me to be able to listen, even now. 
Great track. One of my favourite albums of all time. Really dig it.


U2 re-recorded the song as part of a duet with R&B recording artist Mary J. Blige on her album The Breakthrough. This blew me away and made me gain deeper respect to Mary J. Blige. 

 DaidyBoy wrote:

This is one of the deepest songs for me.  At one time I spent a lot of time with a group of very close friends and something happened with a girl friend that meant we parted ways.  One of those big crossroads in life that you look back on and realise that everything would have been different if I had chosen the other one.....  This song was playing at the crucial moment, and I remember the time all too well.




Same, but for me it was "With or without you."
Probably U2's best song, and one of the best songs ever.
If only U2 had a guitar player. Edge is the Stu Sutcliff of modern stage props.
Last week when hearing this it applied to missing my lovely wife for 2 months as she's taking care of her dad when he recovers.

This week it's missing my dear grandmother and best friend who passed away this weekend 3 months shy of 100 years old.

True telling of a great song-it can connect to anything at anytime, and move you every time. 
You ask me to enter, but then you make me crawl
IMHO, their best album; slagged by the critics; there you go, ho hum!
 user4176 wrote:


Let's just hope it's not "banging your two flintstones above your head" ;-)
 
Unfortunately, after today, it just might be...  Unless we can understand that "We get to carry each other..."
 Proclivities wrote:


I'm not sure a truly "reasonable" person would bother arguing who the "greatest band ever" was.  It's a matter of personal taste and aesthetics, there are no hard, scientific facts or proofs.  Qualitative information cannot really be measured.  What logical or "reasonable" method(s) could be used?
 

songs ratings on RP ?!
I prefer the original Johnny Cash version. What?
This song saved my marriage years ago. The line, "We've got to carry each other," hit me like a brick as I walked through the living room while our son was watching U2 perform this song on an awards show.
This is a GREAT song ... and somehow the Mary J Blige version is even better.
I don't usually like U2, except this One!
My favourite U2 album
I remember playing this newly purchased CD as a sound check on big playback setup for a movie in Prague in 1991...blew everyone away. 
 SquiddlyDiddly wrote:
When released it was 'Lighters in the air'. Now it is 'waving Smartphones with the flashlight turned on'.

What will it be in another decade or two? 'Getting your implanted RFID chip to glow?'
 
In March 2020 no public gatherings. All concerts cancelled 
I hope that's not the future..
 SquiddlyDiddly wrote:
When released it was 'Lighters in the air'. Now it is 'waving Smartphones with the flashlight turned on'.

What will it be in another decade or two? 'Getting your implanted RFID chip to glow?'
 
Whatever it will be, one thing will never change. One will always  sing to the other: "We're one but we 're not the same.". 
 
 SquiddlyDiddly wrote:
When released it was 'Lighters in the air'. Now it is 'waving Smartphones with the flashlight turned on'.

What will it be in another decade or two? 'Getting your implanted RFID chip to glow?'
 

Our you mentally activate the bio-luminescent layer underneath your fingernails to glow in the dark so you can just "wave your hands in the air like you just don't care."
Funny, when it's just U2, I give it a 5ish. But with Mary J. Blige, it's a totally different song, with a special vibrancy and passion--and I give that version a 9 :)
One of my favorite songs by u2 besides Sunday Bloody Sunday
Worth checking out the Cowboy Junkies cover of One on their 21st Century Blues album.
Long Live                                                                                                                                Radio Paradise
My rating:                                                                                                                           9 -  OUTSTANDING
Great song, meanwhile slightly overplayed.
 SquiddlyDiddly wrote:
When released it was 'Lighters in the air'. Now it is 'waving Smartphones with the flashlight turned on'.

What will it be in another decade or two? 'Getting your implanted RFID chip to glow?'
 

Let's just hope it's not "banging your two flintstones above your head" ;-)
 johnalexford wrote:
I'm pretty sure no band gets more hate than U2 on RP. I can understand, given U2's mass worldwide appeal, that they can be considered too mainstream for music lovers, but come on, folks. And they probably are a bit overplayed given all the other great music being played on RP. But give 'em a break. They do have some decent songs and One is one of them...my two cents.
 

As others have mentioned DMB and TH do get some of that. And look at the comments for Suzanne Vega, Tori Amos and other female singer/songwriters. THEY are getting the full treatment ;-))
 chitown wrote:

dennis_chary wrote:This is a fine
song-by my rating system,I give it a solid 7.However,with the exception
of "Love Comes Tumbling",so much of U2's music comes across as too self
conscious, as if Bono was more concerned with the appearance of anguish
rather than geniunely communicating the anguish musically.This song is
very well crafted,but it feels too scripted.


You are trying way too hard to find something poor in a great thing.  Just sit back and enjoy, stop over analyzing.  

Hm. I think he does have a point there. I like U2, and I like this song very much. But I have to agree, there's something of what dennis_chary says in many U2-songs. A sort of trying-too-hard. Never heard it before, but now I can't unhear it. Maybe it's something to do with that album, I don't hear it as much in songs from Joshua Tree.
 
one of the best U2 song imho and way better than anything they have churned out recently. 9 from me.
 DaidyBoy wrote:
This is one of the deepest songs for me.  At one time I spent a lot of time with a group of very close friends and something happened with a girl friend that meant we parted ways.  One of those big crossroads in life that you look back on and realise that everything would have been different if I had chosen the other one.....  This song was playing at the crucial moment, and I remember the time all too well.
 
Wow!  Just stumbled across this comment from years ago.  I (like others I presume) had a very similar decision/crossroads in my much younger life that makes me wonder from time to time.  What IF I had gone the other direction?  No regrets but memories to ponder as we all get older.
 TRC wrote:
A reasonable man could argue that U2 is the greatest band that ever was. Im not sure myself after all there was The Beatles. But the phrase , He could Play his guitar like ringing a bell.  comes to mind.
 

I'm not sure a truly "reasonable" person would bother arguing who the "greatest band ever" was.  It's a matter of personal taste and aesthetics, there are no hard, scientific facts or proofs.  Qualitative information cannot really be measured.  What logical or "reasonable" method(s) could be used?
Almost did it with this blonde girl ... I was 19. But she went away with the neighbour, they both loved this new u2 song ... And when I hear it now, I only think of my blonde and perfect wife ... Thank u life, thank u u2 from France
Strong 8 tending to 9. One of Bono’s best, but the Mary J Blige version with Bono is a 10
 cavemanleong wrote:
This has got to be one of U2's finest. Loving it! Thanks for playing this Bill. 
    
I agree    
My rating is 9 - O U T S T A N D I N G                                    

Thanks for playing this RP

 cavemanleong wrote:
This has got to be one of U2's finest. Loving it! Thanks for playing this Bill.
 

Agreed.  This is a terrific song.  

I think U2 is a fabulous band and Bono's vocals really do seal the deal.  

Some of the song structure is so simple but is SO well done.  
Can never get enough of this song by the boys love it
 SquiddlyDiddly wrote:
Ahhhh, one of the best performances from the Deluded Marching Dwarf. 

(with apologies to all height challenged beings)
 
He towers over the chaps in Anthrax.

 SquiddlyDiddly wrote:
Ahhhh, one of the best performances from the Deluded Marching Dwarf. 

(with apologies to all height challenged beings)
 
xD Best description of Bono I've seen in a while. :D
OneLiveAtSlaneCastle
 neilhmclean wrote:
Johnny Cash covers this better!

 
Definitely not.
Ahhhh, one of the best performances from the Deluded Marching Dwarf. 

(with apologies to all height challenged beings)
No doubt, one of their best songs. Well- everything -- written, sung, played, produced. It's a very thoughtful and moving song. 
 johnalexford wrote:
... given U2's mass worldwide appeal, that they can be considered too mainstream for music lovers ... 

In what way are "mainstream" and "music lovers" mutually exclusive?
This has got to be one of U2's finest. Loving it! Thanks for playing this Bill.
 johnalexford wrote:
I'm pretty sure no band gets more hate than U2 on RP. I can understand, given U2's mass worldwide appeal, that they can be considered too mainstream for music lovers, but come on, folks. And they probably are a bit overplayed given all the other great music being played on RP. But give 'em a break. They do have some decent songs and One is one of them...my two cents.
LPCity wrote:

Check out the comments about any Dave Mathews Band or Talking Heads song the next time it comes up.  All the Haters make sure to let their feelings be heard.

Not that it's unwarranted in the case of DMB.....

 
Funny reply LPCity, I'm there with you on DMB

As for U2, I will say I'm not a big fan AND that this is probably the highest I've rated a U2 track (8) because this song seems so damn special to me....and keep playing what you want to BillG!!  Long Live RP!!

 johnalexford wrote:
I'm pretty sure no band gets more hate than U2 on RP. I can understand, given U2's mass worldwide appeal, that they can be considered too mainstream for music lovers, but come on, folks. And they probably are a bit overplayed given all the other great music being played on RP. But give 'em a break. They do have some decent songs and One is one of them...my two cents.

 
Check out the comments about any Dave Mathews Band or Talking Heads song the next time it comes up.  All the Haters make sure to let their feelings be heard.

Not that it's unwarranted in the case of DMB.....
Brilliant, powerful lyrics, but I'm not so interested in the music as I am with many other U2 songs.
 thewaxtadpole wrote:
A very reluctant 10.

 
an enthusiastic 2. 
Very disappointed that Bono did not save the world like he promised.    On the other hand, this song and the entire Achtung Baby album is most excellent! 
I'm pretty sure no band gets more hate than U2 on RP. I can understand, given U2's mass worldwide appeal, that they can be considered too mainstream for music lovers, but come on, folks. And they probably are a bit overplayed given all the other great music being played on RP. But give 'em a break. They do have some decent songs and One is one of them...my two cents.
A very reluctant 10.
U2 does most things right and they are from my generation....not sure why I don't like them that much. I just have a 'meh' reaction to their music. I do appreciate their War album though. Some good solid tracks on that one.
A reasonable man could argue that U2 is the greatest band that ever was. Im not sure myself after all there was The Beatles. But the phrase , He could Play his guitar like ringing a bell.  comes to mind.
I remember talking about this track on the album as a standout before it became a single. Massive choon.
When released it was 'Lighters in the air'. Now it is 'waving Smartphones with the flashlight turned on'.

What will it be in another decade or two? 'Getting your implanted RFID chip to glow?'
 mardisoninnc wrote:
What an album this was.  Achtung Baby and Joshua Tree were incomparable and peerless, in my opinion.  And I attribute that to the magic touch of Daniel Lanois.

 
absolutely!
What an album this was.  Achtung Baby and Joshua Tree were incomparable and peerless, in my opinion.  And I attribute that to the magic touch of Daniel Lanois.
Radio Paradise a/k/a Bash Bono.  Sad!
Johnny Cash covers this better!
This band has always annoyed me to anger.
DRIVEL.
Bill...
STOP THE MADNESS 
HOT TAKE ALERT: This song is fine, but no better than that.
one of the regular radio station songs give it a 9 because its a marley covercant give a 10 and looking for new stuff but by rating easily mainstream known stuff it helps shape stuff i am to discover
 dennis_chary wrote:
This is a fine song-by my rating system,I give it a solid 7.However,with the exception of "Love Comes Tumbling",so much of U2's music comes across as too self conscious, as if Bono was more concerned with the appearance of anguish rather than geniunely communicating the anguish musically.This song is very well crafted,but it feels too scripted.

 
You are trying way too hard to find something poor in a great thing.  Just sit back and enjoy, stop over analyzing.  
I got this excellent classic song from the PSD button because I can't afford listening to Talking Heads. I suggest you to use that RP's wonderful feature.

Peace.
 

zurcronium wrote:
Bill one song a day from U2 please. And when I am not listening preferably.  

Most overrated band ever. Not terribly just terribly overrated.  

 

 


Bill one song a day from U2 please. And when I am not listening preferably.  

Most overrated band ever. Not terribly just terribly overrated.  

 
 4merdj wrote:
Still sounds great! 

 
Excellent way of putting it!
If you get a chance to see them live, just do it.
 Vakse wrote:
1 it is!

 
Now do the Bad joke.  It's every bit as good!
Prefer the Cowboy Junkies version on Early 21st Century Blues, myself.
This is passion, coming in a long set of songs relaying this quintessential trait of creatively-bent beings... Still brings the chills, always...
Still sounds great! 

"That's what I want,
for all of you to be One" {#Cheers} 
 Vakse wrote:
1 it is!

 
{#Roflol}
1 it is!
I would like this if it didn't have U2 on it. 
I'm so glad RP always plays this version of the song, and not that horrible version with Mary J. Blige. 
Thanks! :) 
               TIP - I - TIP   TB-ONE
I'm worried about my future, I may be dyslexic.
          I pray, let it be better days
unn Martina hoffentlich hast du ausgefickt , shame on u
This is good but you should hear the version with Mary J Blige. It's fantastic
jazzdevil wrote:
When you hear this song automatically you feel the pain in his voice so that's why it's great performance. Of course great is the contibution of the Producer, Daniel Lanois

  
yeshetarchin wrote:
 quite likeable but Cash is doing it much better. And on that cover with Cash it is pretty much the producer as well..
 
I prefer Johnny Cash's version of Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus" and Nick Cave's "The Mercy Seat", but I tend to agree with jazzdevil. Bono hasn't the greatest voice but he's very convincing when singing about tortured love.  
Not one of my favorites but it's impossible to deny that these are some damn fine lyrics.
Their last truly awesome album.....  
 dennis_chary wrote:
This is a fine song-by my rating system,I give it a solid 7.However,with the exception of "Love Comes Tumbling",so much of U2's music comes across as too self conscious, as if Bono was more concerned with the appearance of anguish rather than geniunely communicating the anguish musically.This song is very well crafted,but it feels too scripted.

 
Wow. Was it difficult for you to pull yourself away...(restraint exercised); to spend a few minutes scripting that comment?
Also, I disagree.

You say love is a temple, love a higher law...
You ask me to enter, but then you make me crawl
And I can't be holding on, to what you got
When all you got is hurt...
                                      ...We've got to carry each other...

Haven't you known that woman? I certainly have!
This is a damn fine pop song! Nothing more, nothing less.

 quite likeable but Cash is doing it much better. And on that cover with Cash it is pretty much the producer as well..

jazzdevil wrote:
When you hear this song automatically you feel the pain in his voice so that's why it's great performance. Of course great is the contibution of the Producer, Daniel Lanois

 

 dennis_chary wrote:
This is a fine song-by my rating system,I give it a solid 7.However,with the exception of "Love Comes Tumbling",so much of U2's music comes across as too self conscious, as if Bono was more concerned with the appearance of anguish rather than geniunely communicating the anguish musically.This song is very well crafted,but it feels too scripted.

 
BS
When you hear this song automatically you feel the pain in his voice so that's why it's great performance. Of course great is the contibution of the Producer, Daniel Lanois
Even though that's one of the rare U2 songs I'm not keen on (heard too much?... especially on French radios, where it's the only one played daily), for some reason I don't feel like PSD/muting it because it fits so well in RP's playlist, and removing it would paradoxically create a miss.
 ElainaEast wrote:
I've always found U2 to be masterful manipulators... and I dislike being manipulated...

 
My sentiments,exactly.Please see my comment above.
This is a fine song-by my rating system,I give it a solid 7.However,with the exception of "Love Comes Tumbling",so much of U2's music comes across as too self conscious, as if Bono was more concerned with the appearance of anguish rather than geniunely communicating the anguish musically.This song is very well crafted,but it feels too scripted.
such a great album and song.{#Music}
 On_The_Beach wrote:

Yah, whatever. It's not cool to like U2, blah, blah, blah.
This is a great song, regardless of how many people whine about the band.

 
Indeed.  They cry, they whine, and that's it.  A lot of boohoo signifying nothing.
 DaidyBoy wrote:
This is one of the deepest songs for me.  At one time I spent a lot of time with a group of very close fiends and something happened with a girl friend that meant we parted ways.  One of those big crossroads in life that you look back on and realise that everything would have been different if I had chosen the other one.....  This song was playing at the crucial moment, and I remember the time all too well.

 
I would be willing to bet that this song has that effect on a few of us.
aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh please make it stop
THe new U2 has ruined the old U2 for me.
Wow, yet another day where RP is playing some of my all-time favorite songs. Thank you!!
Deep as any ocean, vast as any abyss; this gem contains it all:  Yin and Yang, in Eternal Quantum Flux Dance, for sure! AND it rocks!
This is one of the deepest songs for me.  At one time I spent a lot of time with a group of very close friends and something happened with a girl friend that meant we parted ways.  One of those big crossroads in life that you look back on and realise that everything would have been different if I had chosen the other one.....  This song was playing at the crucial moment, and I remember the time all too well.
 lunatic wrote:
Ah, but the lyrics are about love, read over the entire lyrics in this song. Love isn't just about the good times. Love can be painful at times. Love can break as well as heal.
Imho the song is about trying to face the pain of not only a relationship, but a world if division and strife in humanity.
The overall message is to keep trying to love and to mend/heal/ over come the pain we cause each other.
 
Love that causes pain is not love it's longing. It's best to let it go if it hurts.
 KevinM wrote:
Johnny Cash's cover is better

 
Not really
 bev wrote:
Okay, maybe it's just me but I've NEVER thought of this as a religious song or even a love song, in terms of the lyrics. The lyrics, to me, sound
angry, and for whatever reason I've ALWAYS thought they were about him having a fight with his wife...about sex, actually. Ahem.

Did I disappoint you?
Or leave a bad taste in your mouth?
You act like you never had love
And you want me to go without
Well it's too late tonight
To drag the past out into the light...

That sounds like something pretty specific, and not very loving. (He wants it, she doesn't.)

Did I ask too much?
More than a lot.
You gave me nothing,
Now it's all I got

And, we hurt each other then we do it again...

I can't be holding on to what you got
When all you got is hurt

I like the song...I like the tune, but as I said, the lyrics, to me...well. This is no love song as far as I can tell...


 
Right—to me this is very painful, and beautifully written song about a breakup. Though I never thought it was about sex per se. I think it is a superb song, but it always makes me sad. The lyrics expand to cover "one world" etc at the end, but....
Best song ever!
Great lyric. Great song.