The One You Love

Album: No Fun Aloud (1982)
Charted: 15
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Songfacts®:

  • This classic love song is about a guy who is close friends with a girl he has feelings for, but unfortunately she still loves her ex-boyfriend. They apparently are developing a closer relationship, but the girl's ex calls and screws it all up, hence the second verse:

    I heard you on the phone
    You took his number
    Said you weren't alone
    But you'd call him soon
    Isn't' he the guy
    The guy who left you cryin'?
    Isn't he the one who made you blue?


    The point of the song comes with the chorus:

    Are you gonna stay with the one who loves you?
    Or are you going back to the one you love?
    Someone's gonna cry when they know they've lost you
    Someone's gonna thank the stars above


    The girl must choose. >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Josh - Magnolia, AR
  • This song is part of Glenn Frey's debut solo album No Fun Aloud. When his group the Eagles split in 1980, he signed a solo deal with Asylum Records, which released "I Found Somebody" as his first single, followed by "The One You Love." His sales were respectable, but played to an older crowd. When Asylum went through a shakeup in 1983, they dropped Frey to focus on more contemporary artists. This was a blessing for Frey, who quickly landed at MCA and marketed him as the rock star he was. His hits with that label include "The Heat Is On" and "Smuggler's Blues."
  • Frey wrote this song with Jack Tempchin, one of several very talented songwriters who entered the Eagles' ambit in the late '60s. Tempchin was a San Diego-based singer-songwriter when he met Frey. They became good friends, and Frey ended up recording two of Tempchin's songs with the Eagles: "Peaceful Easy Feeling" and "Already Gone." Other artists who contributed track to the group include Jackson Browne ("Take It Easy") and J.D. Souther ("New Kid In Town").

    When it came time for Frey to launch is solo career, he started writing songs with Tempchin, who worked on all five of Frey's solo albums.

Comments: 9

  • Ken Hensley from Californiathe song's sax riff always reminded me of the riff in Wham's "Careless Whisper".
  • Ken from TxThis song is amazing. When I hear it, I can only think of the rural or small town setting. Some have said Florida, but I feel Oklahoma or Missouri. I wonder who did she choose? What she's doing today during the Pandemic if she's still alive?
  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn this day in 1982 {October 24th} Glenn Frey's "The One You Love" peaked at #2 {for 4 weeks} on Billboard's Adult Contemporary Tracks chart, the first three weeks it was at #2, the #1 record for those 3 weeks was "Heartlight" by Neil Diamond, and for it's 4th week at #2, "Truly" by Lionel Richie was in the top spot...
    It reached #15 on Billboard's Top 100 chart...
    Between 1982 and 1991 the Detroit, Michigan native, as a solo artist, had eleven records on the Adult Contemporary Tracks chart, five made the Top 10 with his three biggest hits all peaking at #2, the above "The One You Love", "You Belong To The City" for 1 week in November of 1985 and "True Love" for 2 weeks in September of 1988...
    Besides his three #2 records, his two other Top 10 records were "Soul Searchin'" {#5 in 1988} and "Part of Me, Part of You" {#7 in 1991}...
    Glenn Lewis Frey passed away at the age of 67 on January 18th, 2016...
    May he R.I.P.
  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn August 15th 1982, "The One You Love" by Glenn Frey entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart at position #87; and on October 31st, 1982 it peaked at #15 {for 2 weeks} and spent 17 weeks on the Top 100...
    It reached #2 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary Tracks chart and #12 in Canada...
    Between 1982 and 1992 the Detroit rocker had twelve Top 100 records; with two making the Top 10 and both records peaked at #2, "The Heat Is On" for 1 week on March 10th, 1985 and "You Belong to the City" for 2 weeks on November 10th, 1985...
    The week that "The Heat Is On" was at #2, the #1 record was "Can't Fight This Feeling" by REO Speedwagon; and for the two weeks that "You Belong to the City" was at #2, the #1 record for both those weeks was "We Built This City" by Starship...
    Glenn Lewis Frey will celebrate his 66th birthday in three months on November 6th, 2014.
  • Ken from Louisville, KyThe entire album was devised by Frey to be the exact opposite of the Eagles. The Eagles despised having their faces on their album covers. Frey is front and center on this one. He has his hair cut in the yuppie style of the time and is wearing a white suit, where as an Eagle, he was known for his long flowing hair, big mustache and for always wearing jeans and a t-shirt. The songs were deliberately simple, as opposed to the Eagles' often complex rock arraignments. They were either fun on love songs, compared to the "message" songs of the Eagles.
  • Jennifer Harris from Grand Blanc, Miexcellnt intro! I first heard it as a elementary schooler. The Glen Frey collection[Millenium ] is live version of this song.
  • Josh from Magnolia, ArYou know the first time I heard this song I was 15 yrs. old. The ironic thing is that it was released in 1982, the year I was born.
  • Wilfred from Melbourne, AustraliaOne of those songs with universal appeal, we're all able to relate to it at some point or another in our relationship-lives. Anyways... a very good song that showcase's Frey's ability to choose great sax players to accentuate his fine guitar and vocal work.
  • Rich from Elkins, WvExcellent song ...nice groove ...the sax was great! 'Drive' by the Cars, "Against the Wind" by Bob Segar and 'I Can't Tell You Why' by the Eagles, all have that same groove and I think Glenn Frey had a hand in 3 out of 4 of 'em..
    I wonder if he'd help me finish one of my songs...
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