One On One

Album: H20 (1983)
Charted: 63 7
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Songfacts®:

  • This song uses a one-on-one basketball game as a metaphor for a romance. Because of the basketball references, this was used in NBA promos in the mid-1980s.
  • Many Hall & Oates songs were collaborations between Daryl Hall and John Oates, sometimes with input from Janna Allen and Sara Allen, but "One on One" was all Daryl Hall. In a Mix magazine interview, he said, "That song expresses a theme I've explored in lots of my songs, the idea that I've been traveling all my life but my heart longs to stay in one place; being in one place, but wanting to be somewhere else."
  • Daryl Hall listed this as one of his favorite Hall & Oates songs in the October 16, 2009, issue of Entertainment Weekly. He added, "I was on the road for so many years, living this very transient life. You're everywhere and you're nowhere, and your domestic life, your concept of home, becomes very special to an artist. This song sort of describes that."
  • Along with "Rich Girl," "Maneater" and "Private Eyes," this is one of four songs available on the Callin' Oates hotline, which you can access by dialing 719-26-OATES (719-266-2837).

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