One

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Written by: Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen Jr.
Produced by: Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois
Released: Nov. '91 on Island
Charts: 20 weeks
Top spot: No. 10

"Achtung Baby" was the album on which U2 traded in a decade of earnestness for irony, but the new approach resulted in their most moving single ever. "One" was spun off from another song, "Mysterious Ways" -- when the Edge came up with two alternatives for the bridge, Bono so liked one of them that he wrote a new set of lyrics. Though some hear it as a love song, the words are full of hurt and ambiguity. "I often come across people who've told me they played it at their wedding," the Edge said. "And I think, 'Have you listened to the lyrics? It's not that kind of a song.' "

Appears on: Achtung Baby (Island)

Next: No Woman, No Cry

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