The One I Love

"The One I Love"
Single by R.E.M.
from the album Document
Released	August 1987
Format	7", cassette, CD
Recorded	1987
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	3:17
Label	I.R.S.
Writer(s)	Berry, Buck, Mills, Stipe[1]
Producer	Mitch Easter, R.E.M.
R.E.M. singles chronology
"Ages of You" (1987) "The One I Love" (1987) "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" (1987)

"The One I Love" is a song by American rock band R.E.M. It was released on the band's fifth full-length studio album, Document, and also as a 7" vinyl single in 1987. The song was their first hit single, reaching #9 in the US Billboard Hot 100, #14 in Canada, and later reached #16 in the UK singles chart on its UK release (1991). The song was included in Activision's Guitar Hero World Tour and is in Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades.

The accompanying video's director was artist Robert Longo. The director of photography was Alton Brown, who later became a Food Network celebrity chef.

In March 2005, Q magazine placed "The One I Love" at number 57 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.

The song is included on R.E.M. Live.

Lyrics and meaning

In the ensuing months, listeners who misunderstood the song's meaning made the song a popular radio dedication to loved ones, relying on the main lyric, "This one goes out to the one I love." However, they missed an ensuing line: "A simple prop to occupy my time"; the song was not particularly a love song. Stipe related in 1987 to Rolling Stone, "I've always left myself pretty open to interpretation. It's probably better that they just think it's a love song at this point."^[2] However, in an interview in the January 1988 issue of Musician magazine he said that the song was "incredibly violent" and "It's very clear that it's about using people over and over again".^[3]

The song contains only three verses, which are all near identical, with small variations each repeat of the verse. (For example "A simple prop to occupy my time", "Another prop has occupied my time"). The chorus consists of just the word "fire", repeated (with the backing vocal of "She's coming down on her own now/Coming down on her own", sung by Mike Mills).

Track listing

All songs written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe unless otherwise indicated.

1. "The One I Love" - 3:16
2. "Maps and Legends" (live)¹ - 3:15

12": IRS / IRS-23792 (US)

1. "The One I Love" - 3:16
2. "The One I Love" (live)¹ - 4:06
3. "Maps and Legends" (live)¹ - 3:15

12": IRS / IRMT 146 (UK)

1. "The One I Love" - 3:16
2. "Last Date" (Floyd Cramer) - 2:16
3. "Disturbance At The Heron House" (live)¹ - 3:26

¹ Recorded at McCabe's Guitar Shop, Santa Monica, California; May 24, 1987.

Charts

• ¹ - The single originally reached #51 in the UK. It reached #16 in 1991 after the song was re-released.
• ² - Only charted in 1991 after the song's re-release.

References

External links

• Video clip at REMhq.com