One Thing

Album: Up All Night (2011)
Charted: 9 39
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The third single from British boy band One Direction's debut album Up All Night, finds them declaring to a girl that she's got that 'one thing' they need. The song was written by X Factor vocal coach Kotecha and Swedish songwriters Carl Falk and Rami Yacoub. The same trio also penned One Direction's debut single, "What Makes You Beautiful."
  • One Direction performed this song live for the first time on Capital FM's Jingle Bell Ball on 4 December 2011, at London's O2 Arena. The group debuted the tune in the United States along with "More Than This" and "What Makes You Beautiful" for the first time on the Today Show at New York City's Rockefeller Center on March 12, 2012. On April 7, 2012 the boys performed both this and "What Makes You Beautiful" on Saturday Night Live. It was the first appearance by a boy band on the show in over three years.
  • Despite not being released as a single, the song debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #90 on the chart dated March 21, 2012. It subsequently rose higher.
  • Both Liam Payne and Niall Horan have said this is their favorite song on Up All Night.
  • Carl Falk told the story of the song during an interview with Examiner.com: "That was originally written as two different songs: One had a really, really good verse. And the other had a really, really good chorus. So we merged those two songs together. It was actually Savan Kotecha who came up with the idea. So we just merged the two songs and turned them into one song. When we did that, everything fell into place.

    We all loved the verse. It almost has a lullaby feeling to it, the way it's structured. So it just made sense to have that with a huge chorus and all of that. It felt like the perfect 'sister song' to 'What Makes You Beautiful.' It was a long process of getting there, but once we got there and the song was finished, we thought it could be even better than 'What Makes You Beautiful.' In my mind, 'One Thing' is a better song. It's my favorite out of the three songs [that I have on the Up All Night album]."

Comments: 2

  • Siahara Shyne Carter from United StatesThis have lot of mix Version just really cool Unforgettable !
  • Dasha from Woodstock, GaThis song is AMAZING! I LOVE IT so much!
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Sarah Brightman

Sarah BrightmanSongwriter Interviews

One of the most popular classical vocalists in the land is lining up a trip to space, which is the inspiration for many of her songs.

Al Kooper

Al KooperSongwriter Interviews

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

Reverend Horton Heat

Reverend Horton HeatSongwriter Interviews

The Reverend rants on psychobilly and the egghead academics he bashes in one of his more popular songs.

90210 to Buffy to Glee: How Songs Transformed TV

90210 to Buffy to Glee: How Songs Transformed TVSong Writing

Shows like Dawson's Creek, Grey's Anatomy and Buffy the Vampire Slayer changed the way songs were heard on TV, and produced some hits in the process.

Van Dyke Parks

Van Dyke ParksSongwriter Interviews

U2, Carly Simon, Joanna Newsom, Brian Wilson and Fiona Apple have all gone to Van Dyke Parks to make their songs exceptional.

Richard Marx

Richard MarxSongwriter Interviews

Richard explains how Joe Walsh kickstarted his career, and why he chose Hazard, Nebraska for a hit.