"Still the One" is a song written by Johanna Hall and John Hall, and recorded by the

soft rock Soft rock is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in Southern California and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, melodic songs with big, lush productions. S ...

group Orleans on their album '' Waking and Dreaming'', released in 1976, which reached No. 5 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Country singer Bill Anderson recorded and released a successful cover version, peaking at No. 11 on ''Billboards

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sa ...

chart in 1977.

Song lyrics

The lyrics of the uptempo love song are of someone (as the lyrics were written by a woman and sung by a man, it does not state the gender of the singer or of their beloved) describing their feelings for a person with whom they have a long-lasting relationship ("Now I want you to know / After all these years"); with trust ("You're still the one / I want whispering in my ears"); that they are close ("You're still the one / I want to talk to in bed"); find them attractive ("Still the one that turns my head"); and of an intimate or sexual nature ("You're still the one / Who can scratch my itch / You're still the one, that I with which") and all the reasons why their lover is "Still the One" for whom they have feelings.

Background

Orleans bass player Lance Hoppen recalls that Johanna Hall wrote the lyrics for "Still the One" after a friend "asked her why somebody couldn't write a song about staying together, as opposed to breaking up"; Johanna Hall wrote the lyrics on an envelope which she then handed to John Hall who Hoppen says "created the music in about fifteen minutes". Johanna Hall's recollection is that the realization that there was a dearth of songs about long-term relationships came to her while she was doing laundry, and that she handed John Hall a napkin on which she'd written the song's lyric. John Hall would recall that "Still the One" was not an automatic choice for lead single from ''Waking and Dreaming'' saying rather that "we had several songs that were candidates. We were too close to it to see. Fortunately, our producer,

Chuck Plotkin Charles Richard Plotkin (born September 8, 1942) is a recording engineer and producer, best known for his work with Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan. Recording engineer Plotkin has recorded, engineered, mastered and produced albums by Bruce Spri ...

, had a strong feeling about the song." ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of the three main music industry trade magazines in the United States, along with '' Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 under the name ''Music Vendor'', but in 1964 it was changed to ''Record W ...

'' said that it was a "suitable follow-up to ' Dance with Me'" and that "chiming guitars and confident harmony work are the ingredients to make it happen."

In popular culture

In 1977, "Still The One" was used as a jingle by the

American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the ABC Entertainment Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, Calif ...

(ABC) to promote the 1977-78 television season, and again in the 1979-80 television season, when the network was the highest rated in the country. The lyrics were sometimes adapted for local station promotional advertisements, sometimes awkwardly; e.g. "We're still having fun, Dayton Twenty-Two's the one." The song was also used in adverts and promotions for the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

of Australia (closely linked to ABC) from the late 1970s to the mid-2000s, and even though the song only charted at No. 61 in Australia in its original chart run, it is most remembered for its usage by the Nine Network. It was also used at

EM TV EMTV is a commercial television station in Papua New Guinea. Until the launch of the National Television Service in September 2008, it was the country's only free to air television service.Sky Television in the United Kingdom. In 2004, the Bush campaign played the song at campaign events until Orleans co-founder (and future Democratic

congressman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...

and Bush critic) John Hall commented publicly that the campaign had never received permission to use the song. The campaign later dropped the song from its playlist. Hall expressed similar criticisms when

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two te ...

used the song in his 2008 presidential campaign. A version of the song's chorus was sung at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, following the conclusion of Senator Ted Kennedy's speech. A remade version of the song has been used to promote

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and ...

's Riverwind Casino throughout 2018-19. The original version of the song appears in a

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

TV commercial A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

for

Applebee's Applebee's Restaurants LLC. is an American company that develops, franchises, and operates the Applebee's Neighborhood Grill + Bar restaurant chain. The Applebee's concept focuses on casual dining, with mainstream American dishes such as salads ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Bill Anderson version

"Still the One" was notably recorded by American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whi ...

singer-songwriter Bill Anderson. It was released as a single in 1977 via

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 w ...

and became a major hit the following year. Anderson's version was recorded on December 13, 1976 in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

. The session was produced by

Buddy Killen William Doyce “Buddy” Killen (November 13, 1932 – November 1, 2006) was an American record producer and music publisher, and a former owner of Trinity Broadcasting Network and Tree International Publishing, the largest country music ...

, who recently became Anderson's producer after many years of working with

Owen Bradley William Owen Bradley (October 21, 1915 – January 7, 1998) was an American musician and record producer who, along with Chet Atkins, Bob Ferguson, Bill Porter, and Don Law, was one of the chief architects of the 1950s and 1960s Nashville so ...

. Killen would continue producing Anderson until his departure from MCA Records. "Still the One" was the only song recorded during this particular session. "Still the One" was released as a single by MCA Records in October 1977. The song spent 12 weeks on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

before reaching number 11 in June 1977. The song was among Anderson's final major hits as a recording artist. His final top ten hit would be released in 1978, followed by his final top 20 release in 1979. In Canada, the single also reached the top 20, reaching number 13 on the ''RPM'' Country Songs chart in 1977. It was Anderson's second single that was a cover version of an original recording. His first was 1969's " But You Know I Love You", which reached the country top 10. It was first released on his 1977 studio album '' Scorpio'', which also included the major hit "

Head to Toe "Head to Toe" is a song recorded by Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam that appeared on their 1987 album ''Spanish Fly''. The song hit number one on three charts: ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on June 20, 1987, the Hot Black Singles charts on May 30 of that year, ...

". 7" vinyl single * "Still the One" – 3:20 * "This Ole Suitcase" – 4:14

Chart performance

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Still The One 1976 songs 1976 singles 1977 singles Asylum Records singles Bill Anderson (singer) songs MCA Records singles Orleans (band) songs Song recordings produced by Chuck Plotkin Songs written by John Hall (New York politician)