The One I Love chords by R.E.M.


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The One I Love | Chords + Lyrics


Intro

||: Em (G A) | Dsus2 (E G F#) | Em (Em7) | Em (Em7) :||

Verse 1

| Em | Dsus2 | Em (Em7) | Em (Em7) |
This one goes out to the one I love.
| Em | Dsus2 | Em | Em (Em7) |
This one goes out to the one I’ve left behind.
| G G/F G/E | Dsus2 | C/G (A B) | C |
A simple prop, to occupy my time.
| Em | Dsus2 | Em (Em7) | Em (Em7) |
This one goes out to the one I love.

Chorus 1

||: Em (G A) | Dsus2 (E G F#) | Em (Em7) | Em (Em7) :||
Fire. Fire.

Verse 2

This one goes out to the one I love.
This one goes out to the one I’ve left behind.
A simple prop to occupy my time.
This one goes out to the one I love.

Chorus 2

Fire (she’s comin’ down on her own, now).
Fire (she’s comin’ down on her own).

Instrumental

| G G/F G/E | Dsus2 | C/G (A B) | C |
| Em | Dsus2 | Em
(Em7) | Em (Em7) |

Verse 3

This one goes out to the one I love.
This one goes out to the one I’ve left behind.
Another prop, has occupied my time.
This one goes out to the one I love.

Chorus 3

Fire (she’s comin’ down on her own, now).
Fire (she’s comin’ down on her own).
Fire (she’s comin’ down on her own, now).
Fire (she’s comin’ down on her own).

End

| Em (G A) | Dsus2 Eb5 | Em |



The One I Love Chords: Learn the progressions


Perhaps the most interesting part of The One I Love‘s chords is how it blends the minor modes.

During the intro/chorus, we play an Em chord with an F# as a bass line, this means it must be E Aeolian or Dorian, and the F# is the 9th, like this:

||: Em (VI or II) (G A) | Dsus2 (V or I) (E G F#) | Em (Em7) | Em (Em7) :||

During the verse, we play G G/F G/E, meaning Em now must be Phrygian, as F is a b9. Moving between modes like this creates tension, essential in this style of music (indie-rock).

| Em | Dsus2 | Em (Em7) | Em (Em7) |
| Em | Dsus2 | Em | Em (Em7) |
| G (V) G/F G/E | Dsus2 (II) | C/G (I/5) (A B) | C (I) |
| Em | Dsus2 | Em (Em7) | Em (Em7) |

I’ve designed some TAB that craft The One I Love’s chords into an acoustic guitar part by combining what the bass and electric guitar do on the original recording, here’s a link: The One I Love – Guitar Lesson with TAB.

This is mainly apparent in the intro/chorus which sounds great on just one acoustic guitar. Once you have that down, don’t stop, keep the same attention to detail when playing the verse.

To maintain the focus on small details, once added up, do make a big difference.

After studying my TAB, a simple chord chart is all you need to bring to the gig. Here’s one I made for you.


The One I Love chord chart.


The One I Love Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro


Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDFThe One I Love Chord Chart PDF.

This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: The One I Love iReal Pro.

Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key, although if you change The One I Lov’es chords, that bass line won’t integrate as perfectly.



Did R.E.M. steal from Neil Young?

The One I Love is an excellent example of a simple song that is also a great lesson for all budding songwriters.

As discussed above, the chords usually need to have some kind of twist, variation, or modulation that breaks the norm, but also, a great tune needs to have lyrics with meaning.

As Michael Stipe simply sings the same verse three times, what he says by doing so is that he means it. The message to budding songwriters is also clear – keep it simple!

Another tip for aspiring writers would be to compare The One I Love with Neil Young‘s My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue). There’s a fine line between being inspired and stealing!

If you want to be a songwriter, you need to study songs, even rewrite songs, and eventually, new ones will come to you.

Perhaps Michael’s famous quote sums it up the best: The secret to R.E.M.’s success is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration!



The One I Love Chords | Related Pages


The One I Love | Guitar Lesson + TAB

The One I Love TAB lesson.

With this guitar lesson, you can learn to play The One I Love by R.E.M. using TAB and chord analysis.

Em | Dsus2 | Em (Em7) | Em (Em7) |
This one goes out to the one I love…


Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics

When you can play The One I Love's chords, try these five tunes from the songbook.


R.E.M. tunes

R.E.M. wrote The One I Love.

Formed in 1980, R.E.M. spent a decade on the road honing their craft before they took over the world with the album Out Of Time.

Their best tunes include The One I Love, Shiny Happy People, Losing My Religion, Drive, Man On The Moon, and Everybody Hurts.


R.E.M on the web

Listen to R.E.M. on Spotify.


About me | Dan Lundholm

Dan Lundholm wrote this guitar lesson about The One I Love chords.

This was a guitar lesson about The One I Love’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 by practising scales or studying theory in isolation.


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