One Way or Another

"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.

For other uses, see One Way or Another (disambiguation).

"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"
Released1979
Genre
Length3:31
LabelChrysalis (US)
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Mike Chapman
Blondie singles chronology
"Sunday Girl"
(1979)		 "One Way or Another"
(1979)		 "Dreaming"
(1979)
Audio sample
  • file
  • help
Music video
"One Way or Another" (TopPop, 1978) on YouTube

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] Harry explained in an interview with Entertainment Weekly:

I was actually stalked by a nutjob so it came out of a not-so-friendly personal event. But I tried to inject a little bit of levity into it to make it more lighthearted. I think in a way that's a normal kind of survival mechanism. You know, just shake it off, say one way or another, and get on with your life. Everyone can relate to that and I think that's the beauty of it.[5]

According to Harry's former bandmate Elda Gentile from The Stilletoes the stalking had taken place in 1973.[6]

The song was recorded between June and July 1978 at New York's Record Plant studio.[7]

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,[7] 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)". Adam Boult of The Guardian considered this version of the song to be an "abomination".[8]

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.[9] 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.[10]

Billboard said that "One Way or Another" as "moves in machine gun fashion as Debbie Harry's vocal sounds almost demonic."[11] Rolling Stone ranked the song at number 298 on its list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[12]

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

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. Anderson, Kyle (September 20, 2011). "Blondie's Debbie Harry tells the stories behind hits old and new -- an EW exclusive". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  6. McLeod, Kembrew (2016). Parallel Lines. Bloomsbury. p. 88. ISBN 978-1-5013-0239-8.
  7. Lester, Paul (February 28, 2018). "The story behind the song: One Way Or Another by Blondie". Louder. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  8. Boult, Adam (February 22, 2013). "Should One Direction be allowed to cover One Way or Another?". The Guardian. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  9. "Blondie – Live (CD, Album)". Discogs. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  10. "Blondie – Live (CD, Album)". Discogs. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  11. "Billboard's Top Single Picks" (PDF). Billboard. June 2, 1979. p. 75. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
  12. "The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (1-500)". Archived from the original on October 25, 2006.. Rolling Stone.
  13. "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 4408." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
  14. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 4725a." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
  15. "Parallel Lines – Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
  16. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved December 16, 2016.
  17. "1979 Top 200 Singles". RPM. Vol. 32 no. 13. Library and Archives Canada. December 22, 1979. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
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