I think apart from Elton’s contributions on the 1994 Lion King soundtrack with Can You Feel The Love Tonight and Circle of Life, today’s featured song – The One – stands as one of Elton John’s finest achievements in his mid to late career. Everything aligns effortlessly here: Bernie Taupin’s lyrics weave the raw vulnerability of love with the grandeur of nature, painting an almost mythic emotional landscape. Elton’s voice – calm, resolute, and utterly in its element – glides through the piece with a quiet intensity. His voice is an instrument much like his piano and he has mastered them both.
Also the lush instrumentation elevates the track, enveloping the listener in a dreamlike soundscape that evokes nature at its elemental pristine beauty. These piano riffs and solos are unforgettable and quite dazzling. It’s quite the feat by Elton, Bernie and the musicians.
John stated that he felt an intense connection to Bernie Taupin’s lyrics for the song, in light of his personal circumstances around the time of making the album, in particular the line “for each man in his time is Cain until he walks along the beach“. Speaking of ‘walks on the beach’ I have to refer here to an extract I presented from James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist which I found mesmerising.
The One reached No. 9 on the US Billboard and No. 1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. It was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 1993 Grammy Awards.
So here endeth the double feature of Elton from The One record. It’s said Gianni Versace designed the sets and costumes and of course the cover art. This was Elton’s first recording done completely sober. He has remained so ever since. Elton John remains one of my favourite music artists of the 20th century which is demonstrated by the plethora of music I have presented so far by him in the Music Library Project. He is one of the best melodists I have heard and his voice to my listening senses is almost second to none in contemporary music history. The One is a true masterpiece of songwriting. Thank you Bernie!
[Verse 1]
I saw you dancin’ out the ocean
Runnin’ fast along the sand
A spirit born of earth and water
Fire flyin’ from your hands
In the instant that you love someone
In the second that the hammer hits
Reality runs up your spine
And the pieces finally fit
[Chorus]
And all I ever needed was the one
Like freedom fields, where wild horses run
When stars collide like you and I
No shadows block the sun
You’re all I’ve ever needed
Baby, you’re the one
[Verse 2]
There are caravans we follow
Drunken nights in dark hotels
When chances breathe between the silence
Where sex and love no longer gel, oh
For each man, in his time, is Cain
Until he walks along the beach
And sees his future in the water
A long, lost heart within his reach
References:
1. The One (Elton John song) – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
As I mentioned in my comment yesterday, that’s the one (no pun intended) I knew from that album, until you introduced me to “The North.”
Can you believe in the alphabetical listing of my project that ‘the One’ follows ‘the North’? I wasn’t just trying to kill 2 birds with one stone lol