One Way or Another

"One Way or Another"
Side-A label of U.S. vinyl single
Single by Blondie
from the album Parallel Lines
B-side	"Just Go Away"
Released	May 14, 1979
Format	7-inch single
Recorded	June–July 1978
Genre	Punk rock[1] new wave[2] power pop[3]
Length	3:31
Label	Chrysalis (US)
Writer(s)	Debbie Harry Nigel Harrison
Producer(s)	Mike Chapman
Blondie singles chronology
"Sunday Girl" (1979) "One Way or Another" (1979) "Dreaming" (1979)
Audio sample file info · help

"One Way or Another" is a song by American new wave band Blondie from the album Parallel Lines. The song was released as the fourth single in the US and Canada as the follow-up to the no. 1 hit "Heart of Glass". "One Way or Another" reached No. 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 7 on the RPM 100 Singles.

Song information

Written by Debbie Harry and Nigel Harrison for the band's third studio album, Parallel Lines (1978), the song was inspired by one of Harry's ex-boyfriends who stalked her after their breakup.^[4]

The song was included on the US and Canadian versions of the band's first hits compilation, The Best of Blondie (1981), as it was released as a single there, but not on the international releases. Although never officially released as a single in the United Kingdom, the song charted there from download sales in February 2013 due to the success of One Direction's cover/mashup "One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)".

Blondie released a manipulated live version of the song (with the audience noise removed) as the theme for the 1999 US television series Snoops. This version was released in the US as a bonus track on the Live live album.^[5] The original un-edited live version was later included on the European edition of Live, which was re-titled Livid, instead of the manipulated one.^[6]

Rolling Stone ranked the song #298 on its list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.^[7]

Track listing

US 7" (CHS 2336)

1. "One Way or Another" (Nigel Harrison, Debbie Harry) – 3:31
2. "Just Go Away" (Harry) – 3:21

US 12" promo (CHS 10 PDJ)

1. "One Way or Another" (Harrison, Harry) – 3:31

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1979) Peak position Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[8] 8 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[9] 7 US Billboard Hot 100[10] 24 Chart (2013) Peak position UK (Official Charts Company)[11] 98

Year-end charts Chart (1979) Peak position Canada (RPM Top 200 Singles)[12] 61

Cover versions

• Alvin and the Chipmunks covered this song in 1983 for the episode "The Incredible Shrinking Dave" from their TV series.
• Skate punk band Face to Face covered it as a B-side on their 7" "No Authority" in 1991.
• The song was covered in 1998 by the actress Melissa Joan Hart for an episode of her TV series, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. It was released later that year on the show's soundtrack album. The song was also sung by Kristen Bell on Veronica Mars.
• The song was covered in 1998 by the actress Cheryl Chase for The Rugrats Movie.
• American hip hop group The Black Eyed Peas interpolated this song on their 1999 single "Karma", from their debut album Behind the Front.
• Rapper G. Dep interpolated this song on the track "One Way" on his 2001 album, Child of the Ghetto.
• UK singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor recorded a cover version for the soundtrack of the 2002 film The Guru.^[13]
• Singer Mandy Moore recorded a cover for the 2006 film Aquamarine.^[14]
• British boy band One Direction covered "One Way or Another" as a mashup with "Teenage Kicks" called "One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)" and released it as a single in support of Comic Relief in February 2013.^[15]
• In 2013, Polish rap rock band Terra Bite made a cover which they performed on the sixth edition of the Polish talent show Must Be the Music.^[16]
• Blondie re-recorded the song for their 2014 compilation album Greatest Hits Deluxe Redux. The compilation was part of a 2-disc set called Blondie 4(0) Ever which included their 10th studio album Ghosts of Download and marked the 40th anniversary of the forming of the band.
• Also in 2014, Until the Ribbon Breaks recorded a cover version of the song which was used in the fifth episode of the TV series Stalker.^[17]

In popular culture

The song is featured in Driver: Parallel Lines.^[18] It was also lip synced by Hayden Panettiere in Lip Sync Battle.

References

1. Metzer, Greg (2008). Rock Band Name Origins: The Stories of 240 Groups and Performers. McFarland. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-7864-5531-7.
2. "Mandy Says". Spin. 19 (11): 28. November 2003. ISSN 0006-2510.
3. Cateforis, Theo (2011). Are We Not New Wave? : Modern Pop at the Turn of the 1980s. University of Michigan Press. p. 139. ISBN 0-472-03470-7.
4. Che, Cathy (1999). Deborah Harry: Platinum Blonde. Cornwall: MPG Books Ltd. p. 83.
5. "Blondie – Live (CD, Album)". Discogs. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
6. "Blondie – Live (CD, Album)". Discogs. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
7. The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (1-500) at the Wayback Machine (archived October 25, 2006). Rolling Stone.
8. "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 4408." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
9. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 4725a." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
10. "Parallel Lines – Awards". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
11. "Chart Log UK – Weekly Update Sales 2013". Zobbel.de. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
12. "Top Singles – Volume 32, No. 13, December 22, 1979". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
13. Phares, Heather. "Original Soundtrack – The Guru [Universal]". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
14. "Aquamarine (2006) – Soundtracks". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
15. "One Direction to record Red Nose Day 2013 single". Metro. December 9, 2012. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
16. "Must Be The Music 6, odc. 2: Terra Bite dali czadu! Posłuchaj!" (in Polish). Hotplota.pl. September 9, 2013. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
17. "One Way Or Another – Single by Until The Ribbon Breaks". iTunes. Apple Inc. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
18. "Driver Parallel Lines Goes 1970s". IGN. February 14, 2006. Retrieved July 13, 2014.

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics