"One Way or Another" is a song by American new wave band Blondie from their 1978 album ''

Parallel Lines In geometry, parallel lines are coplanar straight lines that do not intersect at any point. Parallel planes are planes in the same three-dimensional space that never meet. ''Parallel curves'' are curves that do not touch each other or int ...

''. Lyrically, the song was inspired by Blondie frontwoman Deborah Harry's experience with a stalker in the early 1970s, an incident which forced her to move away from

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

. The song's music was composed by bassist Nigel Harrison, who introduced the Ventures-influenced track to keyboardist Jimmy Destri. "One Way or Another" was released as the fourth North American single from ''Parallel Lines'', following the band's chart-topping " Heart of Glass" single. The song reached number 24 in the US and number 7 in Canada. It was not released as a single in the UK, but later charted in 2013. "One Way or Another" has since seen critical acclaim for Harry's aggressive vocals and the band's energetic performance. It has been ranked by many critics as one of the band's best songs, has appeared on several compilation albums, and has become a live favorite for the band.

Background

Written by

Debbie Harry Deborah Ann Harry (born Angela Trimble; July 1, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie. Four of her songs with the band reached on the US charts between 1979 and 1981. Born in ...

and Nigel Harrison for the band's third studio album, ''

'' (1978), "One Way or Another" was inspired by one of Harry's ex-boyfriends who stalked her after their breakup. According to Harry, the boyfriend's constant calling and persistent stalking forced her to move out of

. The stalking had taken place in 1973, when Harry was a member of the Stilletoes; Harry's former bandmate Elda Gentile recalled, "It was freaking us all out, especially

Chris Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name *Chris Abani (born 1966), Nige ...

tein Tein may refer to: People * Amat Tein (14–15th century), minister in the Hanthawaddy Kingdom of present-day Myanmar * Min Tein, Burmese diplomat * Tanel Tein (born 1978), Estonian basketball player Other uses * Tein (company), Japanese comp ...

. Harry explained in an interview with ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular ...

'': Musically, the song was composed by bassist Nigel Harrison, who first introduced the song to keyboardist Jimmy Destri. He explained, "My original music for 'One Way or Another' was this

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science o ...

, Ventures-like futuristic surf song gone wrong. Jimmy estrireally liked this piece of music, and we would play it on the road. Then Debbie picked up on it; she came up with the 'getcha-getcha-getcha's. Harry later claimed to have worked out the song live with Harrison. The song was recorded between June and July 1978 at New York's Record Plant studio. According to Harrison, producer

Mike Chapman Michael Donald Chapman (born 13 April 1947) is an Australian-American record producer and songwriter who was a major force in the British pop music industry in the 1970s. He created a string of hit singles for artists including The Sweet, Suz ...

came up with the chaotic ending section.

Release

"One Way or Another" was released as the fourth single from ''Parallel Lines'' in the US and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, as the follow-up to the number 1 hit " Heart of Glass". "One Way or Another" reached number 24 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 7 on the ''RPM'' 100 Singles. Although never officially released as a single in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

, the song charted there from download sales in February 2013 due to the success of

One Direction One Direction, often shortened to 1D, are an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group are composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and previously Zayn Malik until his departure from the g ...

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of copy ...

One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks) "One Way or Another" is a song by American new wave band Blondie from their 1978 album '' Parallel Lines''. Lyrically, the song was inspired by Blondie frontwoman Deborah Harry's experience with a stalker in the early 1970s, an incident whic ...

". Adam Boult of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' considered this version of the song to be an "abomination". In addition to its appearance on ''Parallel Lines'', 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. It has since appeared on multiple other compilations, including a re-recorded version on 2014's '' Blondie 4(0) Ever''. 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 may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film *'' ''Live'' (Apocalyptica DVD) Music * Live (band), American alternative rock band * List of album ...

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

. 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. Harry has since noted the song as a live favorite, recalling concerts where the crowd would point back at her and sing along.

Reception

Since its release, "One Way or Another" has seen critical acclaim. ''

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 ...

'' said that "One Way or Another" as "moves in machine gun fashion as Debbie Harry's vocal sounds almost demonic." ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an onli ...

'' noted the "gritty fuzz guitar," "pummelling drum beat," "slightly quirky" beat, "engaging bass line" and said that "Harry's slinky vocals are delivered with playful aggressiveness." ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' praised the song as "exuberant new wave, far looser than the stiff, herky-jerky tracks that would go on to characterize that sound in the 80s," while ''Louder'' said of the track, "It was the song that took them from the punk clubs of New York to the arenas of the world, and cemented Debbie Harry’s status as rock's foremost badass." ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' ranked the song at number 298 on its list of

the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring survey compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 in ...

. '' Paste'' ranked the song as the second greatest Blondie song, writing that the song "stands as one of the best songs—by Blondie or anyone else—of all time." ''

'' ranked it as the band's fifth best song, while ''

Ultimate Classic Rock Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wi ...

'' named it as the band's sixth best, writing, "From the opening stabbing guitar riff to the song's wailing, chaotic finale, 'One Way or Another' is the sound of a great band earning its rep." ''

Far Out Magazine ''Far Out'' is a British online culture magazine, headquartered in London and founded in 2010. ''Far Out'' focuses on independent and alternative culture, reviewing music, films and the arts along with relative interviews and curated playlists. ...

'' named it as Blondie's seventh best song, calling it, "the band's most iconic song", while ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' named it as the band's ninth best.

Track listing

;US 7" (CHS 2336) # "One Way or Another" ( Nigel Harrison,

) – 3:31 # "Just Go Away" (Harry) – 3:21 ;US 12" promo (CHS 10 PDJ) # "One Way or Another" (Harrison, Harry) – 3:31

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

One Direction version

English-Irish

boy band A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Ma ...

covered "One Way or Another" as a charity single for

Comic Relief Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic epis ...

2013, titled "One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)", as it also interpolates lyrics from

the Undertones The Undertones are a rock band formed in Derry, Northern Ireland in 1974. From 1975 to 1983, the Undertones consisted of Feargal Sharkey (vocals), John O'Neill (rhythm guitar, vocals), Damian O'Neill (lead guitar, vocals), Michael Bradle ...

' "

Teenage Kicks "Teenage Kicks" is the debut single by Northern Irish punk rock band the Undertones. Written in the summer of 1977 by the band's principal songwriter, the song was recorded on 15 June 1978 and initially released that September on independent Be ...

" ("I wanna hold you, wanna hold you tight / Get teenage kicks right through the night"). The single was released on 17 February 2013, and was produced by Julian Bunetta and John Ryan. "One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)" debuted at number one on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, making it One Direction's third UK number one. It was nominated for Best British Single at the 2014 Brit Awards.

Background and response

Ahead of its release, an early version of the song leaked online. A spokesperson for

Syco Music Syco Music is a defunct division of Syco Entertainment founded by British entrepreneur and record executive Simon Cowell. Originally founded as S Records, the label launched while Cowell was still employed by BMG, the label oversaw music relea ...

told the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its Masthead (British publishing), masthead was simpl ...

'', "It is very disappointing that the song has been leaked and we are currently investigating the matter." The single received mixed reviews from music critics. Robert Copsey of ''

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...

'' said "the cheeky lyrics, bouncy pop-rock melody and singalong chorus feel like an obvious but reassuringly safe option for this year's official Comic Relief single", concluding that it was "predictable but ..undeniably fun". About.com critic Bill Lamb called the single a "strong performance", assessing, "The layering of the 'Na Na Na Na' bridge from 'One Way Or Another' with the chorus, "I wanna hold you wanna hold you tight, get teenage kicks right through the night" is truly inspiring." However, Lamb also noted that "lyrically, 'One Way Or Another' is nearly a song about the finer points of stalking, and that can be just a bit creepy coming from young males." Jessica Sager of '' PopCrush'' summarised it as "catchy, fun and ... sounds exactly what you'd expect when One Direction cover Blondie." Sager additionally praised

Louis Tomlinson Louis William Tomlinson (; born Louis Troy Austin; 24 December 1991) is an English singer and songwriter. He rose to fame as a member of the boy band One Direction. Tomlinson began his career appearing in television dramas before he auditioned ...

's vocals as sounding "phenomenal" in his solo. Writing for

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

, Jenna Rubenstein assessed: "1D's version sticks mainly to the original's vibe, mixing in sugary-sweet pop production with Blondie's punk rock sensibilities." Writing for ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'', Kitty Empire was scathing, describing the medley as "execrable". When the single reached number 1 in the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, whil ...

described the news as "shocking", noting the single as "just a bit ho hum". The ''

Belfast Telegraph The ''Belfast Telegraph'' is a daily newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Independent News & Media. Its editor is Eoin Brannigan. Reflecting its unionist tradition, the paper has historically been "favoured by the Protestant po ...

'' was equally critical, blasting the cover as a "travesty" that had been "re-worked into a sanitised Comic Relief single", which were "scrappy shadows of the originals". ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television ...

'' gave it the No.1 spot on its "Best Mainstream Pop Singles of 2013" list, calling it "the most inspired, fun track of the year". The song was later included in the Japanese edition of the band's third studio album '' Midnight Memories'' as the 19th track.

Commercial performance

"One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)" debuted at number one on the

dated 24 February 2013, shifting 113,000 copies in its first week—the second highest first-week UK sales for any song in 2013 at the time. It marks their third chart-topper and seventh top ten hit in the United Kingdom. As of March 2013, the song has sold 292,000 copies in the UK.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

for "One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)" was shot in

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Tog ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, including at

10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London, also known colloquially in the United Kingdom as Number 10, is the official residence and executive office of the first lord of the treasury, usually, by convention, the prime minister of the United Kingdom. Along w ...

, featuring a cameo from the then-

British prime minister The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As moder ...

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

. The clip was released on 20 February 2013.

Live performances

One Direction debuted the song live during the

2013 Brit Awards Brit Awards 2013 was held on 20 February 2013. This was the 33rd edition of the British Phonographic Industry's annual Brit Awards. The awards ceremony was held at The O2 Arena in London, and was presented for the third time in three years by J ...

on 20 February 2013. The group also performed the song live during the Comic Relief telethon on 15 March 2013.

Track listing

* Digital download # "One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)" – 2:37 # "One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)" – 3:07 # "One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)" – 2:37 * Digital download (Live version)iTunes Store
/ref> # "One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)" – 3:20

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1978 songs 1979 singles 2013 singles Blondie (band) songs One Direction songs Chrysalis Records singles American power pop songs Song recordings produced by Mike Chapman Songs written by Debbie Harry Songs written by Nigel Harrison Songs about stalking Comic Relief singles Irish Singles Chart number-one singles UK Singles Chart number-one singles Number-one singles in Denmark Number-one singles in the Netherlands Number-one singles in Poland Number-one singles in Scotland Syco Music singles