Alexandra SnowCarole King hasn’t made much music lately, but she was inspired to release a newly reworked version of her 1977 song “One” ahead of the midterm elections, as a comment on the current political climate.
The song, which has premiered on RollingStone.com, is slightly shorter than the original, and it includes a different third verse, in which Carole sings, “What will we do?/We’re gonna run/reach for the sun/come together as one/show ’em how it’s done/at the end of the day, we’ll be able to say/love won.”
Carole initially re-wrote the song to play at a September political fundraiser. She tells Rolling Stone of the new lyrics, “I’m speaking to the candidates, but it could also be for people who want to stand up and vote for something. That’s why I wrote it.”
Using the same piano she used to record Tapestry, and in the same studio, Carole cut a new version of the show featuring her daughters, Louise Goffin and Sherry Kondor.
“One of the things I want to encourage with this song is that people find…what they have in common and talk to each other with respect and listen to each other,” she explains.
“I hope that this song will empower people,” she adds. “Many of us feel powerless and I want to say you do have the power of one, and when you put your power of one with other people’s, you really do have the power.”
King has been busy working on a novel, but tells Rolling Stone, “When I’m called [to make music] I go, and I was called to do this one.”
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