Songfacts®:

• In 1985 The Stone Roses were locked in a room by their record producer Martin Hannett and told they weren't allowed out until they wrote a song. This tune was the result of this curfew. The original version was shorter and faster and was included on the Stone Roses 1985 Garage Flower album along with the original version of "I Wanna Be Adored." The album was finally released in 1996 without the Stone Roses permission. A live favorite for several years, the band modified "This Is The One" for their 1990 Stone Roses album.
• This is about a "girl consumed by fire," and her struggle to escape. Like many of their songs this has a number of Biblical references. The song's title refers to John the Baptist's proclaiming Jesus to be the promised Messiah: "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world ! This is the one I meant when I said, 'A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me'" (John 1: 29 - 30). Also, the first few lines about "A girl consumed by fire" refers to a description of The king of Tyre being consumed by fire in Ezekiel 28: 17 and 18. Some commentators believe this is also a description of Satan's expulsion from Heaven after he became too proud.
• Producer John Leckie in the April 2000 Q Magazine: "'This is the One' caused the most problems. There was always a big question as to whether it should go on the record. It worked real well live, a bombastic thing that got faster and faster and was a bit Nirvana-ish. But we had to work hard on getting the dynamics right and making the speed changes work smoothly."
• English football club Manchester United play this at their Old Trafford stadium when United walk onto the pitch. Stone Roses lyrics are a feature of banners such as "One United - One Love" among the United supporters. Vocalist Ian Brown is a lifelong United supporter. The Observer Sports Monthly asked him how he felt when they started playing this song at Old Trafford. Brown replied: "I wrote that tune in 1986 when I was on the dole, and there was no way I could have known that 20 years later United would be coming on to the pitch to it. It still gets me every time. It's an amazing feeling. I've got three season tickets now in the East Stand, the old K Stand, with my two oldest sons, and they buzz off it. I laugh and say, 'Well, the PRS [Performing Rights Society] is probably paying for the tickets.'" >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Edward Pearce - Ashford, Kent, England, for all above