| The One | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Single by Kylie Minogue | ||
| From the album X | ||
| Released | 28 July 2008 | |
| Recorded | 2007 | |
| Genre | Electropop · synthpop · electronica | |
| Length | 4:05 | |
| Label | Parlophone | |
| Writer(s) | Kylie Minogue · Richard Stannard · James Wiltshire · Russell Small · John Andersson · Johan Emmoth · Emma Holmgren | |
| Producer(s) | Richard Stannard · Freemasons | |
| Kylie Minogue singles chronology | ||
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| X track listing | ||
| "Heart Beat Rock" (6) |
"The One" (7) |
"No More Rain" (8) |
| Music Video | ||
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"The One" is a song by Kylie Minogue taken from her tenth studio album, X (2007). "The One" was written by Kylie, Richard Stannard, James Wiltshire Russell Small, John Andersson, Johan Emmoth and Emma Holmgren, while production was handled by Stannard and Freemasons. The song was released by Parlophone in Europe and the United Kingdom, and by Warner Music in Australia and New Zealand. Originally the song was to be accompanied with a physical release to coincide with the UK leg of the KylieX2008 was released as digital-only instead becoming Kylie's second digital single after "Over the Rainbow".
"The One" was originally performed by dance music group Laid and Emma Holmgren, but decided to give it to Kylie. There are two official composition mixes: the album edit is a midtempo synthpop song, while the single remix is a more upbeat dance-pop song. Freemasons decided to remix the original song for the single release. Lyrically, the song is directed at a lover, telling him that she is the one and wanting him to love her. "The One" was generally acclaimed received from music critics, with many praising the musical composition, and lyrical content
Commercially, the song was not successful in the music charts, due to very limited promotion. The song did not chart in her native Australia, becoming a failure in the Oceanic region outside of reaching the top of the airplay chart in New Zealand and peaking at number ten on the dance chart in Australia. In Europe, the song managed to chart inside the top ten in Belgium (Flanders) and Slovakia, and reached number thirty-six in the United Kingdom. The song has featured in several concerts since its release.
Background[]
"The One" was officially announced as the fourth and last official single from X (2007), and was originally performed by dance music group Laid and Emma Holmgren, but they eventually gave it to Kylie to record. Their version managed to appear on the dance compilation Mastercuts: Funky House in 2006. The song was recorded and produced in Brighton, England where they came with other songs with other producers, one being "In My Arms". Kylie's version, however, features new verses than the original recorded.
In an interview with Russell Small, a producer of the album, on UK TV station Channel 4, he revealed that the album had suffered a delay. The main reason why was that when they sent "The One" to Stannard, they did not receive it back and waited for a total of 10 months. He explained; "We co-produced a track for her new album called 'The One' with a guy called Biff Stannard who writes for Spice Girls and has a couple of other tracks on the Kylie album. We sent the track away a year ago and didn't hear anything for about ten months, by which point we were trying to pull it back because we wanted it on our own record, but the day before we finalized our album we found out it had been accepted out of the hundreds of tracks submitted for Kylie."
In an interview with The Sun, Kylie discussed her disappointment with the single releases of the album, including "The One". She said "In retrospect we could definitely have bettered it, I'll say that straight up [...] "Wow" , In My Arms and "2 Hearts" are crackers. They go off like a frog in a sock." Regardless, it was later announced that "The One" would be the last single from the album.
Initally, "The One" was set to be released as the fourth single from the album in late April - early May, right after the double release of "Wow" and "In My Arms", remixes were commissioned and Freemasons, who were responsible for the single mix of the song, were already promoting it as "Kylie's new single", but Kylie wanted to release another track which created conflict between her and Parlophone; this lead to the territorial switch between "Wow" and "In My Arms"; when this proved a mistake, Parlophone came forward with plans for "The One" though it had doomed fate; A 2 CD set was planned and meant to include the studio version of "Ruffle My Feathers", from KylieX2008 and a new track called "Deepest Blue" as B-sides, but they were cancelled.
Reception[]
Critical response[]
"The One" was generally acclaimed from music critics. Fraser McAlpine from BBC Music acclaimed it in his review, awarding it five out of five. Though he gave the tracks individual reviews, he concluded about "The One"; "I've waxed lyrical about how seductively friendly Kylie is, vocally, before and there's nothing so utterly extraordinary about this song, musically, that it really needs a total breakdown to be reviewed and perhaps that means its generic, rather than genius but if Kylie can sell this where Roisin Murphy and (to some extent) Cyndi Lauper are failing, then it's far from a bad thing." Michael Hubbard from MusicOMH declared the song the most memorable song of the album X. He compared the song to New Order and Goldfrapp, but stated it "ultimately fails to lift off." Lost at Sea magazine also felt that she paid "homage to New Order."
Jax Spike from About.com said that the song isn't bad, but he did say the song failed to add anything "new to the table in the progression of the album." However, Jason Shawhan from the same website ranked the song at 12 for his "Song of the Year" chart. Tom Ewing from Pitchfork Media had declared "This kind of unfussy, hook-first music is what Minogue has always been best at, and back in her comfort zone she thrives." Giving the song four out of five stars, Nick Levine from Digital Spy wrote: "This glittery, shimmering techno-pop beauty suits Minogue perfectly, and she responds by investing it with one of her better vocal performances, managing to sound angelic and lusty at exactly the same time. It won't be enough to save X, but 'The One' is a neat reminder that almost nobody beats Kylie when she's on top form."
Peter Robinson from The Observer gave it an acclaimed remark by calling it "a sad disco epic" and said the song is ranked for being one of her best songs ever in her career. The Boston Globe called it a "icy dance-pop anthem." Chris True from Allmusic called the song a "cold, calculated dance-pop that is more indicative of her recent work". BBC Music said "though even that is topped by "The One", which follows in her fine tradition of making songs capable of both breaking your heart and shaking your rump." Evan Sawdey from PopMatters suggested the song would have been good back in her Stock Aitken Waterman days, but said "which, it should be noted, is not a good thing." Dave Hughes from Slant Magazine said along with "Stars"; "[although the songs] don't break a lot of new ground for Minogue, at least she sounds comfortable on them."
Chart performance[]
Although the song was released in Australia, it failed to make an impact on the Australian Singles Chart. However, the song did peak at ten on the ARIA Dance Charts. In the United Kingdom, the song debuted at thirty-six but fell out after just three weeks in the chart. This was basically due to the cancellation of the physical release of the song, as it was primarily served as a digital download. However, after its failure in the UK, it was released in Europe. Although the song was released in New Zealand, it failed to make an impact on the New Zealand Singles Chart. However, it did chart on the New Zealand Airplay Chart, where it debuted at number two. The song then rose to number one, becoming Kylie's first number one on the radio chart, and her second overall in New Zealand. However, it fell out the next week.
In Belgium, the song was a success, debuting at number thirty in Flanders. The song eventually rose to its peak of number seven. In Wallonia, the song debuted at twenty-six and peaked at fifteen. In the Czech Republic, the song debuted and peaked at thirty-eight for two consecutive weeks. In Hungary, the song peaked at twenty-six on the charts. In Slovakia, the song debuted at number ninety-four. In its tenth week, it rose into the top twenty until peaking at six, becoming a huge success and stayed in the charts for twenty-five weeks.
Live Performances[]
"The One" made live debut on Kylie's TV special in 2007, The Kylie Show, as one of the ten songs performed during it. It then was included on the KylieX2008 tour, which was launched to promote X; the song was originally featured in the "Xposed" section, between "Slow" and "2 Hearts" but was moved to the encore after a few shows. The song was also included on most of the shows of Kylie's For You, For Me Tour in 2009, which was Kylie's first tour in North America; it was featured in the encore section. "The One" was also included in the Aphrodite: Les Folies Tour, where it served as the second song in the show following a performance of "Aphrodite. Most recently, the song was included in the 2016 shows of the A Kylie Christmas concert series, where it closed the second section and followed performances of "Come into My World" and "Confide in Me".
In 2018, the song was performed during the Kylie Presents Golden mini-tour which was launched to promote Golden, and was one of only five singles performed at the shows; it was performed with an acoustic beginning followed by the Freemason's remix. This version of the song also performed during the Golden Tour, and was later included on the set list for Kylie Summer 2019.
Formats and track listings[]
CD single
- "The One" – 4:05
- "The One" (Freemasons Vocal Club Mix Edit) – 3:41
Digital bundle single
- "The One" (Edit) – 3:36
- "The One" (Freemasons Vocal Club Mix Edit) – 3:41
- "The One" (Freemasons Vocal Club Mix) – 9:14
Lyrics[]
Starlight shimmers everywhere
There's a certain something in the air
Can you feel what I feel in me?
It's in the air, electricity
Glimmering under neon lights
I can see the look, that's in your eyes
Like a shooting star in a galaxy
Making its way to the heart of me
I'm the one, love me, love me, love me, love me
I'm the one, love me, love me, love me, love me
I'm the one, love me, love me, love me, love me
I'm the one, love me, love me, love me, love me
My pulse is racing and I'm feeling high
Never-ending starts tonight
When you do what you do to me
Come on and let yourself feel the need in me, oh whoa
Circling and we're getting close (So close)
Can you imagine? Just suppose
It's a feeling that I need to know
Close to touch like Michelangelo
I'm the one, love me, love me, love me, love me
I'm the one, love me, love me, love me, love me
I'm the one, love me, love me, love me, love me
I'm the one, love me, love me, love me, love me
Can you hear me?
I'm connecting with you
Can you feel me?
I'll do anything to have you near me
I was wondering, will you reach me?
Can you hear me?
I'm connecting with you
Can you feel me?
I'll do anything to have you near me
I was wondering, will you reach me?
I'm the one
Can you hear me? (Ooh)
I'm connecting with you
Can you feel me?
I'll do anything to have you near me
I was wondering, will you reach me? (Oh)
I'm the one
Can you hear me?
I'm connecting with you
Can you feel me?
I'll do anything to have you near me
I was wondering, will you reach me?
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