One is a rock ballad by the Irish band U2, released as the third single from their 1991 album Achtung Baby in 1992. It grew out of tense Berlin recording sessions at Hansa Studios, where Edge improvised a chord progression that sparked the song and Bono wrote lyrics inspired by fractured friendships, German reunification, and a critique of the hippie idea of oneness. The track, produced by Daniel Lanois with Brian Eno and completed in Dublin, is in 4/4 time at about 91 BPM, with verse chords Am-D5-Fmaj7-G and chorus chords C-Am-Fmaj7-C. Lyrically it explores unity through difference, featuring the line we are one, but we’re not the same, and the idea that we get to carry each other. It was released as a charity single for AIDS research, with cover art drawn from David Wojnarowicz’s Falling Buffalo photograph. The song received widespread critical acclaim, performed strongly on charts around the world, and became a live staple for U2, aided by three promotional music videos; it has been covered and reinterpreted many times, including a 2006 duet with Mary J. Blige and a 2023 re recording for Songs of Surrender.
