U2 - One I Singer Reacts I

[@gasaholic47]

When my wife and I were separating in 2010, it was this song that perfectly encapsulated how I was feeling towards her. It's a masterpiece, as is all of "Achtung Baby."

[@LordRahl1975]

U2 have such a deep rabbit hole and, as good as the instrumentals are, the lyrics are often even better and more meaningful. My favourites are Where The Streets Have No Name and Until The End Of The World.

[@goldenageofdinosaurs7192]

Yeah, I think Bono is really underrated as a lyricist. I mean, Actung Baby alone should be more than enough.

[@ellislee4333]

I can listen to the whole songs of experience album on repeat

[@celticwolf1896]

One is probably my favourite U2 song, I love the line "We get to carry each other" which makes the act of helping each other sound more like a privilege than a burden. If you want to check out more U2 I would suggest Bad (Live Aid) All I Want Is You/Where The Streets Have No Name (Slane Castle) and Every Breaking Wave (VMA Awards). All 3 are good examples of Bono's singing ability.

[@alexandriaocasio-smollett5078]

I absolutely love that lyric. So many people assume he says we “have to” carry each other. But by saying “get to”, it completely changes the tenor of, not only the lyric, but of the entire song with only a couple letters. Pretty cool.

[@Londonguy1987_]

The music video is amazining. Jesus. I forgot how good it was.

[@peterhartmann2460]

The Album "Achtung Baby" was produced in Berlin. The Band nearly break apart about their creative differences, but they find together. The song "One" was the first after that crisis. Sidenote: The city itself was just recently united. U2 has produced many great songs. My favourite is "New Year's Day".

[@McLeod2022]

I will Follow will always be an autobiographical/sentimental fav as it was the first U2 I'd heard, off of Boy... but New Year's Days is a next auto/sentimental as it was the first hit I heard of theirs making waves... at a bar that had teen non alcohol hours for a few hours once a week (filling a slow night likely)... of course Joshua Tree was my gospel later and on and on... but those two... I will Follow and New Year's Day were my intro to the band. AND THANK YOU for the reference to the wall having just come down... I lived through that but had lost the connection along the years and misspent brain cells. Danke!

[@wlopezmendez]

Auchtung Baby is arguably their best album.

[@luisphillipeferreiramachad1171]

One of the best songs ever made.

[@tara-leedawn5509]

The beautiful thing about this song for me is how it can be interpreted in different ways. I was once told this song is written from the perspective of a child who is homosexual and wasn’t accepted by their parent. That could be so far off base but that’s the point I think. This song has no base, it’s one of those treasures that is completely up to the individual what it means. It’s breathtaking. I first heard it when I was like 11 hrs old, I’m 42 now, it still hits like a tonne of bricks lol

[@funkysawmanwright5077]

Congrats we both made it 42 years on this crazy earth

[@PressStartOnce]

This song kept the band together... they were near breaking up when they discovered it and the rest of the album flowed..... the making of this album is very interesting.

[@lauraallen55]

Achtung Baby has it all.

[@JonneytheKidd]

@@lauraallen55 ya, this is actually the truth.

[@lauraallen55]

I'm going to watch them sing them all in a couple weeks too!@@JonneytheKidd

[@leercat4934]

What I love about this song is he starts singing about a loved one and then he switches to it being about humanity and we should all love each other.

[@anthonyguadagnino2681]

One of the best transitions between 2 songs is all I want is you/where the streets have no name from slane castle. Bono’s dad died a few days before the show and he still went on in an emotional concert

[@JonneytheKidd]

YESSS!!! I go back and listen to that often

[@fernandolr217]

You're spot-on about how the song could be just about anything or any type of relationship. I believe that's a key aspect as to why U2 achieved that level of popularity, because their lyrics are often vague and everyone can identify with them, regardless of their beliefs and/or backgrounds. This is what Bono wrote about the song in his memoir: "I don’t think we’re all one. We can be one, but I don’t think we have to see things the same way for that to be so. An anarchic thought: We’re one but we’re not the same. We get to carry each other, not that we’ve got to, just that we get to. Now I improvised a lyric about a son telling his religious father he was gay. About a lover who had been discovered finding sex outside a sexless marriage and explaining how she’d got there. Part of its drama is that it starts in the middle of an argument: “Is it getting better, or do you feel the same? Will it make it easier on you, now you’ve got someone to blame?” We don’t have to pretend we’re all the same, and we don’t have to carry each other. But in truth, like it or not, we do get to carry each other. Without the band, I can’t make the music I hear in my head. Without my partner, I can’t be the man I aspire to be. I succeed only through collaboration."

[@MikeKBar13]

Thanks for posting that. This song is such a gift to us and something incredibly special.

[@mikeh.8155]

your facial expressions at 8:38 is priceless!!!!! you appeared shocked, amazed, thrilled!!! LOL!! Glad you enjoyed it!!!

[@pensacola2015]

At its core, the tension between father and son, but the beauty is that the song offers several interpretations to the listener

[@richletram539]

So Chris Cornell was doing an acoustic solo tour. As well as his own original songs, Soundgarden songs and AudioSlave songs he would play around with some covers. He said he wanted to do a cover of U2's One. He knew the melody but didn't know the lyrics. But when he googled the lyrics he kept coming up with the lyrics for Metallica's One. So he did a mash up using the music from U2's One and the Lyrics from Metallica's One. It was actually pretty good. 🤣

[@rockerforlife194]

Excellent reaction. It's a pretty deep song indeed. Great job, Rayactions! Kudos!

[@chaseme65]

Bono’s lyrics are always amazing. “Once I knew there was a love Devine. Then came a time I thought it knew me not. Who can forgive forgiveness where forgiveness is not? Only the lamb as white as snow. -White as Snow…amazing deep cut from No alone On the Horizon.

[@tangerine4665]

One of only a handfull of song that I enjoyed as a child and still enjoy it even more. Probably will till the end.

[@tonybrookes4524]

I think there was a guitar or music shop in Dublin called 'Bono Vox', which is where he got the name from. I could be wrong, but I'm sure I read it somewhere years ago. Thanks for the vid.

[@thomasknudsen7184]

They are on a different level than all others.

[@LastlyMore]

It's actually not actually "Baby, baby, baby" he's singing. The subtitles got it wrong, if you listen closely he sings "My aching, my aching" And then falsetto "heart, heart" That's exactly what he's singing.

[@RR64434]

I was going to post the same thing.

[@darrylross3298]

say what??????? Where did you get that info? If you watch the video, he sings Baby Baby Baby.. he's not mouthing My aching...

[@LastlyMore]

@@darrylross3298 he's definitely mouthing it and singing it. Look closely. And it makes sense to say my aching and than follow it up with heart for the falsetto.

[@necia13xx]

I’ve always thought that at the end Bono sings: „Make it, make it….high”. I don’t know why, but good to know I was wrong 😅

[@craigknight4132]

“The song is a bit twisted,” Bono explained in Neil McCormick’s U2 By U2, “which is why I could never figure out why people want it at their weddings. I have certainly met a hundred people who’ve had it at their weddings. I tell them, ‘Are you mad? It’s about splitting up!’”

[@miluwi]

I know right! I used "All I Want is You" at my wedding!

[@robberezowski68]

8:40 - This kinda choked me up a bit. So glad you appreciate this song, it's so powerful

[@jrtruth2426]

Reminds me of my ex-wife every time I hear "you ask me to enter, but then you make me crawl, and I can't be holding on to what you got when all you got is hurt."

[@RonynLoneWolf]

With or without you is my favorite U2 song. It never wears out.

[@Cowdog1]

A lot of couples like to have this song played at their wedding. The funny thing ... or ironic thing is that this song is not about getting closer and being committed, it's about breaking up. Hahahaha... but it sounds like it's the opposite until you listen to the lyrics.

[@deanroddey2881]

The "Joshua Tree" and "Achtung Baby" albums are pretty much a perfect set of albums. The former is full of angst and gospel influences. The latter is full of amazing lo-fi production that I love, with these incredible layered guitar textures. In both cases, full of extremely well crafted songs, and of course all before music became part of the IT department, so it's all full of human imprecision that makes it even better.

[@steveblog1]

You should hear U2's cover of Elvis' Can't Help Falling in Love. If you thought Bono's falsetto was good here, it absolutely soars on that cover. They used to finish the Zoo TV concerts with it in 1993, which is where I first heard it live. I don't think he can hit that kind of note now, and even live I notice they transpose some of the chords. That said, he's still got one hell of a voice.

[@stevengusenius7333]

Agree. It's refreshing for a breakup song to be not about "I hate you, you suck" or "baby I'll never get over you", but "hey i care about you, but this is isht is unhealthy."

[@johnzushin198]

This is an amazing song!! Enjoyed the reaction!! OH!! Language Ray!!

[@jimjohns9051]

Love U2 reactions. If you can see U2 live, do it. Beautiful band, that always make live music perfect. He sounds like the album live

[@MarkChappell1]

Great song, very emotionally performed. Similar to this another U2 favorite for me is "All I Want is You". Always the studio version first.

[@Blumis2000]

Loved your reaction to the lyrics, your eyes tell that you can personally relate to the kind of relationship he's singing about.

[@andreajuanitodicandia5186]

This song is about a son (got sick with AIDS) who tells his father (with whom he had an argument due to the fact he had got sick - in the first 90s people with AIDS were "generally" considered "bad lifestyle" people, expecially because the most of them were gay) that, in spite of their differences, they both belong to the human kind and have to "carry each other". Great song, deep meaning: absolute masterpiece! Greetings from Italy

[@noseknows2834]

If you are having a hard time deciding which is the best song named "One", Chris Cornell left us with the gift that is the music to U2s one with the lyrics to Metallicas one. Definitely worth checking out!

[@patrickbreen1271]

Absolutely love that mashup.

[@Oscar-m1j]

If u read this, u need to know that this was mtv's demand. This was the third video version of the song. The first one depicted bulls running. Second one drag queens. And this was what mtv accepted

[@anthonyguadagnino2681]

There’s a collaboration they did of this song with Mary j blige as well.

[@jray7316]

While there are multiple interpretations of the lyrics in this song, one should keep in mind that at the time of the recording of the album, Achtung Baby, the Edge's marriage was falling apart. While Edge was (and is) a very private person, his pain and angst at the time were obvious to his bandmates, and you can hear much of that in his guitar work and in the lyrics that Bono composed for the album in general, and in this song specifically. And the pain wasn't limited to the Edge. His wife at the time, Aislinn, was a friend from school, who was also longtime friends with Bono and Bono's wife, Ali. A lot of pain and emotion all around, and it certainly comes through, in spades, in this incredible song.

[@nimboestrato]

Best song ever!!! Great reaction :)

[@lauraallen55]

From the best album ever.

[@nimboestrato]

Agreed! ;)@@lauraallen55

[@nimboestrato]

indeed!@@lauraallen55

[@Richardtv1968]

Best live band everrrrrr

[@aarongrooms3558]

Bono Vox = good voice That was the name of a hearing aid store in Dublin. His friend Guigi Gabe him the name b/c after listening to him you needed hearing aids- his voice as a teenager was not yet found or refined. That was the joke among his peers.

[@ericaferguson7169]

Most people (including whoever did the captioning for this video) fail on the lyrics at 3:47. There, he says "harry" each other, "harry" each other. /harry: to harrass, to carry out attacks on. The 2nd time, towards the end of the song, he says "carry" each other, "carry" each other, in the sense of coming together as One. Bono said this himself in a vh1 behind the music years ago. I wish people would get the lyrics right.

[@joshuas193]

I love really like this song and the whole album, Achtung Baby. There are so many great songs on this album. Even Better than the Real Thing, Until the End of the World, Who's Going to Ride Your Wild Horses, The Fly, Mysterious Ways(My favorite of the album) and Ultraviolet are my favorites other than this. They have some other great albums too. Definitely worth getting into.

[@lauraallen55]

AB is the best album ever. I love all the songs, but the last 3 together are just it for me

[@weldonbailey1005]

Ty for doing this reaction. This is my favorite U2 song and one of my most favorite songs of all time. THIS is my FAVORITE song lyrically ever. The words are as deep as it gets. A masterpiece of songwriting in my opinion. Not to be too critical, but toxic relationship way oversimplifies what is being told here and isnt really accurate. ALL relationships have issues ups and downs and truly people change. Life paths veer and people evolve as human beings as time goes on. Love has to be inclusive of all of the other person and held precious or it can be lost. It takes work and devotion and anyone too naive to recognize that and commit to it will never have a lasting relationship. It's a youthful and presumptuous notion of today that if one has to work at a relationship it isnt worth being in. Totally wrong. Life is tough and so can relationships be and will be. No avoiding it. You can't run when things go bad if you truly care and love another person. But one person cant do it alone. It takes both committed and working together as both partners and lovers. Sorry for the tangent. As with all great artists, U2 is much better LIVE. Check out ONE in their first Slane Castle concert. Any is great but the first Slane Castle concert performance adds some lyrics near end not found elsewhere that I know of. It disappeared from YT for some years I think due to copyright but back now and is the very best live performance of ONE imo. EPIC. Hugs. Mark

[@lukeizabelle2131]

Boy, whenever I listen to this song I can’t help but crying because for many years I have experienced once a case of deep unrequited love which still haunts me to this day once in while, because I never loved anyone in my life like her😢 Fortunately right now after so many years, whenever I see her, I don’t have for her the same feelings that I had in the past but the memories of what I had experienced because of her still hurts at times, especially when I listen to lyrics such as in this song' that describes so well this experience that I had

[@runtmc2jc]

Agree with you ... fabulous, thought-provoking lyrics ... good job

[@johnosullivan1480]

I’ve always thought of this song as the reaction/response or fulfillment of With or Without You…kinda universalizing the personal of the first

[@Eyeroll_Tornado]

One of the greatest songs ever. I’m not even a U2 fanboy but this is just so deep and all encompassing that you can place many romantic situations onto its framework and have it resonate.

[@davidfrancis2163]

I think a good reaction video for would be their Super Bowl show after 9-11. Emotional and powerful. The world went crazy because U2 a band from Ireland stood on stage and sang to us the way we all felt then. Mourning the losses but ending with hope.

[@ToddBrady-h7s]

My all time favorite song…❤️

[@Mike-gz4tj]

A couple of suggestions. One Tree Hill (Rattle and Hum outtakes) and Love Is Blindness (ZOO TV Sydney).

[@potooleftl]

Bono one of the biggest rock stars in one of the biggest bands (U2) in 40 years

[@ssvr3dl1n38]

My fave of theirs, thank you.

[@Badner83]

The cover version if this song together with Mary G. Blige is even better!!! Her vocals are so powerful and lift it on another level...

[@U2addicted1]

I'm sorry, I don't agree, but it is subjective of course 😉

[@lauraallen55]

@@U2addicted1 In the MJB version she takes over and is great, but I love this version as the go-to always.

[@kavalere]

His face when he says "one love" and drops his head approx 8:08 we've all been there

[@danrumble74]

My first concert. Tampa Stadium '87. I'd just turned 13. 😎🚬 They were a proper rock band back then. ..and again, early '92 in Miami, as they were making the tradition to pop.

[@zambrana95]

Una de las mejores canciones de U2,lo tiene todo simplemente sensacional.🎶🇪🇸🎶

[@Sean-Ireland]

Band's like U2 only come around once in a generation and have a huge back catalog of amazing songs which is why they have won more Emmy awards than any other band in history but their songs should be reviewed live as they are one of the greatest live acts of all time, as Noel Gallagher from the band Oasis was said U2 are so good live it makes him sick with envy.

[@lauraallen55]

He's not wrong!

[@derekw26x]

Grammys I think you mean!

[@funkysawmanwright5077]

You did a good job holding back those tears.....its ok to let it out, even on youtube!

[@TrevorFerguson-q3l]

I have always liked this song until I realised what it was really about, which is the breakdown of a family relationship and I find it so to the point I now find it therapeutic, its amazing how a song can cover so many emotions and completely hit the nail on the head, well done Bono & u2

[@Dude-etiquette]

Still play this song at least once a day for the past 20+ years

[@manicmonday-3833]

Next reaction please react to Come On by Oktaf Kanis, this is a banger, thank you Rachel 🔥

[@bluerythmrecords-2705]

Come On 👌🏻🔥

[@JoshRein9]

Nice request, 'Come On' such a wild banger song, I really like it 🔥

[@bluerythmrecords-2705]

@@JoshRein9 agree.

[@rian202003]

Glad you love this song x

[@user-ky6vw5up9m]

Numerous artists gathered to record “Do they Know it’s Christmas” for Band Aid . Each one was asked to sing one line. Bono was chosen to deliver the punch line.

[@mydogspet]

I love watching these music videos with you. You have depth in your analysis. You have these cute expressions. You're too young for me. But in a dad daughter watching videos together, way, you would be a joy to have around

[@tonyslovacek6387]

such a nice way to get a another raspy review

[@RamdaniDani-zi6du]

'Come On - Oktaf Kanis' for the next reaction :)

[@GhaleonEB]

Thanks for sharing your reaction, this is a special song. U2 made three official videos for "One". This was the mainstream version that is the most commonly played, but I prefer the version directed by Mark Pellington (literally search for One Mark Pellington Version). You mentioned how universal the lyrics are - that version of the video leans into the universal nature of the lyrics more strongly than this version.

[@kavalere]

7:36 reminds me of me when I was 30 sulking in the bar over a woman drinking Heineken.

[@AndrewKendall71]

It's one of my favorite lyric concepts "...too late to-night to drag the past out in-to the light.. we're one..." too to to to... one

[@AK-wc9rl]

When you are in a state of shock that there are people who out there who don't know who Bono is, you also realise that you are old. Bono was the biggest rock star of our generation so it's strange to see young people not knowing him.

[@rebecalinares5393]

The greatest song of all time.

[@lothilear]

Bonovox - I love this song from U2 and think it's a timeless song with real wisdom. The band itself was going through a bit of an existential crisis and almost broke up. So the hard knowledge of breakup and love lost is very much earned in this song. There's another song with wonderful lyrics from the same time period that you may like - Don Henley's "The Heart of the Matter".

[@jeffreybrianfrancis]

He was called Bono vox

[@cookypuss8603]

This is probably the best song of the 1990's!

[@guillermoperis1673]

the relationship is just fine. What they're saying is that all relationships go through this more or less. Through unavoidable difference and desire to be one. If the relationship is serious there will be disappointments. Better know how to adapt and love each other where each one is at.

[@justitia257]

Beautiful Gong, Grazie Rachel

[@JohnHF1957]

The live versions of this brilliant song are the best. They have more energy and the Edge's superb guitar playing is more prominent.

[@richardcray2919]

Don't agree..heard him play it live many times..he never plays the outtro better than the record..how could he with multiple overdubs with guitar in studio..but still prefer recorded version..guitar has a haunting quality to it

[@dougtodd24]

His real name is actually Paul Hewson. "Bono" is a nickname given very early on by guitarist The Edge (real name David Evans) that stuck. It's based on a barber shop in Dublin called Bonovox. Or something like that.

[@Insurgentlemancunian]

You should check out the other two video versions of One. The band dressed in drag in a Berlin brothel by Anton Corbin and the slow running buffalo.

[@joeb.evrythngEclectic5571]

Brings a tear to me eyes!

[@paulwhite7972]

Bono has said that the lyrics are not about one person. They relate to various people in his life, one of them being his father

[@stevenewcomer8837]

I’ve always liked this song from the time that it was released in 1991. It’s just a beautiful song, but I never really paid close attention to the lyrics. I was married with two kids and a third in 1994. Then I saw this same video on another reaction channel with the lyrics just 3 days ago. It then hit me like a ton of bricks that I “lived” this song for many years. We got divorced in 2017 after 32 years of marriage and having been together for 35. It was ALL my fault. It took me the last 7 years to figure that out and admit it. And maybe I’m being too hard on myself. But I want to take the blame. She will always be my one true love. ❤️💔

[@jimmywarren4478]

Yes, Bono is an amazing lyricist and most people think this is a Love Song. It is not. It is a Break-Up song writtne to the Band after the Joshua Tree Album and tour. They had reached the height of what they wanted and U2 was lost. That is why they went to Germany to record this album to try and find a new direction. Hence, Achtung Baby.

[@U2addicted1]

If you dive into the rabbit hole U2, than react only to live versions, because U2 is a pure live band. Live versions are even better than the studio versions. There is one exception. If you do a reaction of the fantastic song "Unforgettable fire", take the studio version 😉👍ENJOY !!!

[@conrad98gtp]

Such a great song. The lyrics and the melodies really compel the message of the song. It seems this is a song about a very complicated and unhealthy relationship.

[@dwood21851]

This is always been one of my favorite songs of all time but then they did a version of this with Mary J Blige, and the power and soul she brought to it just took this song to a whole new level. You should really check that out.

[@cliveklg7739]

The poetry in their lyrics just always hits. Joshua Tree album probably more so.

[@wisemang73]

Bono is the greatest poet and vocal combination ever

[@mattrotton]

This is my favorite u2 song. Check out Chris Cornell. He was looking for lyrics for this song and Metallica's one came first. So ...he used this music with Metallica's lyrics. Nobody but Chris Cornell could make it work.

[@martinzarathustra8604]

This song is about Bono's conflict with his Church over what his destiny is/was to be.

[@scottmgso]

Big props to the Bob Marley reference One.

[@dannford-premiersothebysin9057]

It's one of my top 5 fav bands!

[@lauraallen55]

When singers have a *natural* rasp to their voices it really adds something as opposed to when it's forced like with some. Bono's is natural. He is an incredible singer still to this day. He's adjusted his style to suit his changing abilities vocally. He sings with his heart on his sleeve, and not only the rasp but the cry in his voice is real emotion. The band were about to break up when he wrote this song. Everything expressed is real feeling and emotion as they got together when they were schoolmates. Check out Bad from Live Aid or anything else from the 80s to hear just insane level of power in his vocals. Stellar band and song. This whole album is a masterpiece: Achtung Baby. Highly recommend anything from it, or all of it. Love Is Blindness has a solo by the Edge which he rarely did. He was going through a divorce at the time and his normally delicate touch on the strings was so hard he broke a couple and kept playing anyway. U2 are and always have been in it for the love of what they do and for their audience.

[@ericshinkle417]

God is love, a higher law. This anguish the pain Bono has could be interpreted as a conflict between his love for his woman and his love for God. This song is beautiful, and well performed.

[@gerrydantone6834]

This song was written at a time when AIDs was a crisis, and this could depict a conversation between an AIDs positive gay son with his father. Magnificent.

[@Thunderer0872]

Not that it matters but the original video was of a slowmotion Buffalo running in a field, the cover of the 7 inch record had an old famous picture of stampeading Buffalo falling off a cliff, this came later as a promo video. You should check out the live version in Paris after the terror attack in the theater. the crowd sing a lot of the song and is very emotional as is the song anyway but beautful to hear them all sing.

[@michaelmacias8]

I believe this song is about his father and his relationship with his father.

[@stevenricks1703]

Bono's nickname was originally bonovox, which is Latin for good voice

[@jasonwilkerson9497]

It's the ego vs. love thing. All those biblical references are basically saying, "Stop trying to be above God, or the higher law." We get to carry each other. That's where the love is. That's the humility.

[@JohnCullati]

Another great reaction, Rachel. I'm a fan of their early work, not so much on the later stuff. Check out Sunday, Bloody Sunday and you'll see what I mean. Keep up the great work.