One More Night

Album: Overexposed (2012)
Charted: 8 1
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This reggae-tinged tune was released as the second single by Maroon 5, from their fourth studio album, Overexposed. Despite its sunny production, lyrically the track is quite dark with Levine crooning about being guilt-ridden about his part in a dysfunctional relationship, but still wanting to spend "one more night" together. The song was premiered by the band on May 18, 2012, at the Revel Casino and Hotel in Atlantic City, USA and was released on June 19, 2012.
  • Levine penned the song with Texas songwriter Savan Kotecha (One Direction's "What Makes You Beautiful") and it was produced by the Swedish hitmaking duo of Shellback and Max Martin. Shellback also contributed to Maroon 5's previous two singles "Moves Like Jagger" and "Payphone," whilst Martin oversaw the Overexposed album project.

    It was Gwen Stefani's debut solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. that persuaded Levine to get some outside help on the album. He told UK newspaper The Sun: "She's amazing and had that fearless approach to recording with all of the best people in the business. And her record was incredible, because she had the courage to step outside her comfort zone. So we said, 'Why not try something completely different that could totally radicalize the idea of who we are?'

    "And I think Max Martin is an absolute genius," he added. "I took him aside and asked him if he would be executive producer. There aren't many guys out there who can write amazing music but also who people respect enough to allow to be at the helm of the operation."
  • The song's music video was directed by Peter Berg, who is responsible for such films as Battleship and also devised the cult TV sports drama series Friday Night Lights. One of Friday Night Lights's leading ladies, Minka Kelly, plays Levine's love interest, whom we see leaving him out of frustration with his boxing career. "I play a heartbreaker, I guess," she told MTV News journalist James Montgomery. "I do very bad things... but necessary." Some fans queried whether the clip was a response to Levine's break-up from model Anne Vyalitsyna, which happened just before the band debuted "Payphone."
  • The song was Maroon 5's third #1 on the Hot 100 following "Makes Me Wonder" in 2007 and "Moves Like Jagger" in 2011.
  • An entirely different "One More Night" previously reached the Hot 100 summit. A Phil Collins composition of the same name spent two weeks at #1 in 1985.
  • The song sought to repeat the wild success of their previous single, "Payphone." The track mixes Pop songwriting styles with reggae elements, creating a slightly downtempo piece of contemporary Pop. The song falls in line with the majority of Maroon 5's signature hits by taking on themes of both romantic love and hooking up, with the dissonance between the two giving the song it's central appeal. The lyrical treatment of the above themes describes a very universal narrative, which gives the song a broad and immediate appeal.

    On the musical side of things, the reggae-tinged sound serves to add a warm, emotional touch to the sound. The song itself progresses linearly with frequent section breaks, keeping listeners both immersed and consistently re-engaged. Somewhat atypically, it doesn't rely overheavily on the chorus - however, the song is so compelling and infectious in each section that this doesn't matter. All of this is buoyed by lead singer Adam Levine's trademark vocals, which are distinct and well-known enough to immediately give the song Maroon 5 brand power to somebody listening to the song for the first time. This is at its most infectiously effective during the lead-in "oo oo oo"'s, which create an irresistible earworm. The song is a tightly written, somewhat straightforward take on modern pop flavored with reggae that is sure to become a future signature song of Maroon 5.

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