The One

Album: Coming Up For Air (2015)
Charted: 27
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This anthemic tune was written the night before Kodaline engineer Phil Magee's wedding, and performed for the first time at the ceremony. "There were only 100 people there but it was scarier than playing Glastonbury," vocalist Stephen Garrigan told Q magazine.
  • Garrigan wrote the song for the happy couple as a last minute wedding present. "Like an idiot, I left writing it until the night before," he recalled.
  • Other songs originally written as wedding presents, which became successful releases in their own right include "The Day Before You" by Rascal Flatts and "Love Song" by The Cure.
  • Kodaline hadn't planned to record this for their Coming Up For Air album. During a gig in Toronto, a fan proposed to his fiancée onstage. She said yes, so Kodaline played Phil Magee's wedding song to mark the occasion. Some fans at that Toronto concert recorded their own version of the song and put it up on YouTube. Kodaline were so pleased with it, they decided to record the tune. Garrigan told Radio.com: "It's weird that it took somebody covering our own song to actually make us think about recording it and putting it on the album. That was definitely a first."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty

Rob Thomas of Matchbox TwentySongwriter Interviews

Rob Thomas on his Social Distance Sessions, co-starring with a camel, and his friendship with Carlos Santana.

Stephen Christian of Anberlin

Stephen Christian of AnberlinSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer/lyricist for Anberlin breaks down "Impossible" and covers some tracks from their 2012 album Vital.

Part of Their World: The Stories and Songs of 13 Disney Princesses

Part of Their World: The Stories and Songs of 13 Disney PrincessesSong Writing

From "Some Day My Prince Will Come" to "Let It Go" - how Disney princess songs (and the women who sing them) have evolved.

Rosanne Cash

Rosanne CashSongwriter Interviews

Rosanne talks about the journey that inspired her songs on her album The River & the Thread, including a stop at the Tallahatchie Bridge.

Gene Simmons of Kiss

Gene Simmons of KissSongwriter Interviews

The Kiss rocker covers a lot of ground in this interview, including why there are no Kiss collaborations, and why the Rock Hall has "become a sham."

Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes

Chris Robinson of The Black CrowesSongwriter Interviews

"Great songwriters don't necessarily have hit songs," says Chris. He's written a bunch, but his fans are more interested in the intricate jams.