One | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
| Amadd4 | D7omit3 |
| Fmaj13 | Gadd4 |
Verse 1
| Amadd4 | D7omit3 |
Is it getting better?
| Fmaj13 | Gadd4 |
Or do you feel the same?
| Amadd4 | D7omit3 |
Will it make it easier on you, now?
| Fmaj13 | Gadd4 |
You’ve got someone to blame, you’ll say:
Chorus 1
| C | Am |
One love, one life.
| Fmaj7 | C |
When it’s one need, in the night.
| C | Am |
One love, we get to share it.
| Fmaj7 | C |
Leaves you baby if you, don’t care for it.
Instrumental 1
| Amadd4 | D7omit3 |
| Fmaj13 | Gadd4 |
Verse 2
Did I disappoint you?
Or leave a bad taste in your mouth?
You act like you never had love.
And you want me to go without, well it’s:
Chorus 2
Too late, tonight.
To drag the past out into the light.
We’re one, but we’re not the same, we get to:
Carry each other, carry each other, one.
Instrumental 2
| Amadd4 | D7omit3 |
| Fmaj13 | Gadd4 |
Verse 3
Have you come here for forgiveness?
Have you come to raise the dead?
Have you come here to play Jesus?
To the lepers in your head.
Chorus 3
Did I ask too much? More than a lot.
You gave me nothin’ now it’s all I’ve got.
We’re one but we’re not the same.
Well we, hurt each other then we do it again, you say:
Middle 8
| C | Am |
Love is a temple, love a higher law.
| C | Am |
Love is a temple, love the higher law.
| C | G |
You ask me to enter but then you make me crawl.
| G | F | F |
And I can’t be holdin’ on, to what you got, when all you got is hurt.
Chorus 4
One love, one blood.
One life, you got to do what you should.
One life, with each other.
Sisters, brothers.
Chorus 5
One life but we’re not the same, We get to:
Carry each other, carry each other.
One.
One.
Instrumental 3 (as chorus)
| C | Am | Fmaj7 | C |
Outro
||: C | Am | Fmaj7 | C :||
Oh, oh, oh, oh. Oh, yeah. Baby, baby, baby.
Higher. Baby, higher. Yeah, yeah, baby.
Higher. Baby, higher.
One Chords: Learn the progressions
As one of U2‘s most loved tunes, One is a masterpiece in layering guitars.
As great as this is to listen to, it makes it very difficult to play live if you are the only guitarist.
The chords for the intro, verse, and instrumental sections can be defined using different extensions, although exactly how you play them will always be up for debate since you have to choose which of the different layers you want to highlight/combine.
A dumbed-down version of the verse chords would be just Am (VI) Dm (II) F (IV) and G (V). But without the extensions and little licks, it just doesn’t sound right, here’s how I would best describe the verse chords with extensions:
||: Amadd4 (VI) | D7omit3 (II) | Fmaj13 (IV) | Gadd4 (IV) :||
The chorus is so much simpler which feels like a relief after all those big chords as it goes:
| C (I) | Am (VI) | Fmaj7 (IV) | C (I) |
To play it right, you simply must work out how to combine the many parts and put it into TAB, then memorize it, come back to the chords, and use the extensions as a reminder.
Here’s a link to the lesson where I’ve done this fo you: One (U2) – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
And here’s a simple chord chart you can use once you know how to play similarly to what the Edge recorded.
One Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: One Chord Chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: One iReal Pro. Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key.
Achtung Baby was U2’s masterpiece!
Four years after the minimalistic triumph that is The Joshua Tree (1987), U2 released, in my opinion, their best album.
Before they went too far with the production and missed out on the songwriting on Zooropa (1993), Achtung Baby (1991) sits in between, representing the perfect balance of songwriting, playing as a band, and exciting production.
Tunes like Mysterious Ways, Even Better Than The Real Thing, Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses, and Acrobat are all proper gems.
But the best tune on Achtung Baby, the jewel in the crown, is definitely One. Even people who dislike U2 can’t deny this is a proper tune.
I clearly remember living with this album for months on end, perplexed with how they could have so much going on, but still sound so focused. To this day I still put on Achtung Baby and marvel at U2’s masterpiece.
One Chords | Related Pages
One (U2) | Guitar Lesson + TAB
In this lesson, you’ll find TAB for playing One on either the electric in a band or the acoustic on your own.
| Amadd4 | D7omit3 |
Is it getting better…
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
- Babylon chords by David Gray
- High and Dry chords by Radiohead
- Red chords by Daniel Merriweather
- Rewind chords by Paolo Nutini
- The Scientist chords by Coldplay
U2 tunes
Irish rockers U2 released their debut album in the early ’80s. A decade later they were one of the biggest bands in the world.
Tunes include Pride, One, Mysterious Ways, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, Stay, and With Or Without You.
U2 on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about One’s chords, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and how you can learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.
