Does anyone know the meaning behind the song "One" by Mary J and U2?

Answer 1

The band has always left this song ambiguous as to what they meant. There are 3 different official videos showing very different stories.

The interpretation that gets the vote for "most likely" is that the song is about the relationship between Bono and his father after Bono's mother died when he was still a teenage.

Answer 2

These are just a few facts about this great song from a reat band!
They are playing tomorrow night in Sydney can't wait!!!!

This can be interpreted many ways. It could be about the band, a girl, or an AIDS victim. Bono has said it is "About relationships."

The message of acceptance was welcomed by members of the gay community, many of whom interpreted it as a son telling a father he is dying of AIDS.

Three different videos were made, each interpreting the song differently. The first showed a buffalo running in a field. The second, which was mostly seen in Europe, featured U2 in drag. The third, shown mostly in the US, was built around Bono reflecting over a cigarette.

In 2005, Bono got involved in the "One" campaign, which tried to convince the US government to give an additional 1% of its budget to help poor regions in Africa. On the Vertigo tour, fans who signed up had their names displayed on video screens when U2 played this.

Hope you found these interesting!

Answer 3

its about being in a relationship and feeling trapped by the other 1/2s emotions. its a love song but not a happy love song. the one is the one relationship. its probably one of the most poetic pop songs ever written so what you think it means is just as valid as what anyone else thinks it means. in a relationship most people have been at that point -- you have a fight and you are the one that plays bad guy to make the other feel better but it builds anger and isolation instead and really doesn't make anyone feel better. in the original video there is the brilliant image of David Wojnarowicz's buffalos jumping off a cliff while bono sings "we get to carry each other" -- the opposition between the image and the lyrics is very powerful.

for more interpretations you can see wikipedias page here --

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_%28U2_song%29

Answer 4

The song was written by U2 when they were at crossroad in their relationship. They weren't sure if they were breaking up or staying together. You can get the story on VH1 Legends. I like Mary J's version but U2's is much better.

Answer 5

this song was written during a point in U2's career when things weren't looking too bright. They were riding off the success of their most recent album, "joshua tree", and had just finished touring for that album. adam and larry wanted to stay that course, while bono and edge wanted to experiment with new sounds, dance, electronica, etc. This created a rift between the band, which was not good. they were almost at the point of breaking up, when Larry overheard Edge playing some chords by himself in a room, loved it, and joined in on some improvised drums. Bono came in improvised some lyrics about how he was feeling at the time with everyone in the band blaming eachtoher and not really working togehter, and Adam added his basse and that was the birth of one of the best songs of our time. Bono said this is the song that saved the band. After all the arguing they have been doing in the past few weeks, this session suddenly reminded them of why they were a band, and how they are able to do what they do best: just four guys in a room jamming. to not overthink, just be themselves and trust eachother. With this renewed vision, they continued on this track and made the rest of "achtung baby". It's a love song, but not in a romantic kind of way which people often misunderstand. They whole "one"ness theme is idealistic and romantic, but Bono said in an interview that it's about the bitterness in a relationship, but in knowing that you guys are one, you must work hard to sort out your problems. don't just give up and end the relationship. that sort of thing.

here's an except from U218.com (to promote the release of their new best hits compilation out in two weeks) about the shooting of this video by the director Anton Corbijn =)
"What you see in the beginning of the video are circles, U2 stand in a circle and you see the circle of the lamp. A circle is 'one'. That is one reference to 'ONE'. Some others: "Father, Son and Holy Ghost are 'One'. That explains the presence of Bob, Bono's father. And then man and wife are "One" so I have played with that a little bit, each of the band is at some point a woman. There are two cars, one female and one male. Both painted by me by the way. It's all filmed in Berlin where the wall had just come down so that city had become 'one'. There are references to being out of balance when you are on your own although that is open to interpretation, but you see Bob standing on a see-saw. In one image he is standing in front of what was left of the wall at the time, with the year 1955 painted on it where it says '1' underneath. That is also a reference to me but no-one got that I guess. ONE is the video where I have put more time, energy and emotion into than any other video, and when the band turned the result down, it was not an easy time for me. I re-edited it for them but to no avail. Fortunately, they came back on their decision four months later and released it to the world, and I am very grateful for that as I believe it is their best video. But that is a subjective view I know. I have since restored it to its original version but the version on this compilation is the one that was released to MTV."

Anton Corbijn

btw, if you are new to this song, please note that this song was written in 1992, and Mary J. Blige had nothing to do with it. she only recently (2005) got the permission to cover it and sing it with bono for variosu appreances (hurricane katrina benefit, grammys, U2 vertigo tour New York and Las Vegas stops).

Answer 6

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_(U2_song)

Explains a couple of the believed meanings of the U2 song 'One'