"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 will be included on the upcoming Activision release Guitar Hero: World Tour

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. 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".

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).

Cover versions

• The band Bush recorded a live version of the song at Woodstock '99 which was included on the second disc of their greatest-hits album The Best of: 1994-1999.
• Rosie Thomas covered the song on her 2006 album These Friends of Mine.
• Sufjan Stevens played a live version of the song at a New York City acoustic-solo-benefit show in 2005.
• The Butthole Surfers covered the song during their late 1980s tours, and a performance of it can be found on their Double Live release.
• Over The Rhine covered the song at several shows in 2007. One version is available publicly on the Live Music Archive
• The Moog Cookbook covered the song on their 1995 album The Moog Cookbook.

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

Chart (1987/1991)	Peak position
Canadian Hot 100	11
Irish Singles Chart	52
UK Singles Chart	161
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	9
U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	2

• 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.

Notes

External links

• Video clip at REMhq.com