One Thing

Album: Girl On Fire (2012)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Keys penned this melancholy slow-burner with Frank Ocean and his frequent collaborator, James "Malay" Ho. Their collaboration started with the pair just conversing and getting to know one another. "We were just gonna hang out and talk and next thing we knew I was like, 'but I have these chords,'" she recalled to MTV News. Malay them picked up a guitar and started strumming and according to Keys a "natural, cool vibe" emerged that became this song.
  • The song is about the memory of a passed relationship during a journey "I really love ["One Thing"], because it's this story about this relationship," Keys told MTV News. "It starts out on the train and by the end of the song you figure out who I got on that train. And how there's one thing you're searching for and what happens in that story."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Graduation Songs

Graduation SongsFact or Fiction

Have you got the smarts to know which of these graduation song stories are real?

Emmylou Harris

Emmylou HarrisSongwriter Interviews

She thinks of herself as a "song interpreter," but back in the '80s another country star convinced Emmylou to take a crack at songwriting.

Actors With Hit Songs

Actors With Hit SongsMusic Quiz

Many actors have attempted music, but only a few have managed a hit. Do you know which of these thespians charted?

Wherefore Art Thou Romeo Lyric

Wherefore Art Thou Romeo LyricMusic Quiz

In this quiz, spot the artist who put Romeo into a song lyric.

Ben Kowalewicz of Billy Talent

Ben Kowalewicz of Billy TalentSongwriter Interviews

The frontman for one of Canada's most well-known punk rock bands talks about his Eddie Vedder encounter, Billy Talent's new album, and the importance of rock and roll.

Al Kooper

Al KooperSongwriter Interviews

Kooper produced Lynyrd Skynyrd, played with Dylan and the Stones, and formed BS&T.