Still the One

"Still the One" is a song written by Johanna Hall and John Hall, and recorded by the soft rock group Orleans on their album Waking and Dreaming, released in 1976, which made it to No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Not to be confused with You're Still the One.
"Still the One"
Single by Orleans
from the album Waking and Dreaming
B-side"Siam Sam"
ReleasedAugust 1976
Recorded1975
GenreSoft rock[1]
Length3:54
LabelAsylum
Songwriter(s)Johanna Hall, John Hall
Producer(s)Chuck Plotkin
Orleans singles chronology
"Dance With Me"
(1975)		 "Still the One"
(1976)		 "Reach"
(1977)
Audio
"Still the One" on YouTube

Country singer Bill Anderson recorded and released a successful cover version, peaking at No. 11 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart in 1977.

Song lyrics

The lyrics of the uptempo love song are of a man describing his feelings for a woman with whom he has a long lasting and, of course, intimate relationship ("You're still the one, I want to talk to in bed; Still the one that turns my head") and all the reasons why she is "Still the One" for whom he has feelings.

Background

Orleans bass player Lance Hoppen recalls that Johanna Hall wrote the lyrics for "Still the One" after a friend "asked her why somebody couldn't write a song about staying together, as opposed to breaking up"; Johanna Hall wrote the lyrics on an envelope which she then handed to John Hall who Hoppen says "created the music in about fifteen minutes".[2] Johanna Hall's recollection is that the realization that there was a dearth of songs about long-term relationships came to her while she was doing laundry, and that she handed John Hall a napkin on which she'd written the song's lyric.[3] John Hall would recall that "Still the One" was not an automatic choice for lead single from Waking and Dreaming saying rather that "we had several songs that were candidates. We were too close to it to see. Fortunately, our producer, Chuck Plotkin, had a strong feeling about the song."[4]

In 1977, "Still The One" was used as a jingle by the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) to promote the 1977-78 television season,[5] and again in the 1979-80 television season,[6] when the network was the highest rated in the country. The lyrics were sometimes adapted for local station promotional advertisements, sometimes awkwardly; e.g. "We're still having fun, Dayton Twenty-Two's the one."

The song was also used in adverts for the Nine Network of Australia from the late 1970s to the mid-2000s, and even though the song only charted at No. 61 in Australia in its original chart run, it is most remembered for its Nine Network ads.

In 2004, the Bush campaign played the song at campaign events until Orleans co-founder (and future Democratic congressman and Bush critic) John Hall commented publicly that the campaign had never received permission to use the song. The campaign later dropped the song from its playlist. Hall expressed similar criticisms when John McCain used the song in his 2008 presidential campaign.[7]

A remade version of the song has been used to promote Oklahoma City's Riverwind Casino throughout 2018-19.

Charts

References
  1. "VH1's 40 Most Softsational Soft-Rock Songs". Stereogum. SpinMedia. May 31, 2007. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
  2. "Orleans and Friends at Ridgefield Playhouse, folk icon Jonathan Edwards in Newtown". NewsTimes. 2011-09-15. Retrieved 2016-10-11.
  3. Rudetsky, Seth (2016-04-04). "Onstage & Backstage: How Disaster! Plans to Beat the Fundraising Competition in Honor of BC/EFA". Playbill. Retrieved 2016-10-11.
  4. "John Hall Aug 1996, Rocknet Interview". Orleansforever.com. Retrieved 2016-10-11.
  5. ABC fall 1977 (Still the One) #05
  6. ABC 1979 | We're Still the One
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-09-22. Retrieved 2011-11-04.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. Steffen Hung. "Forum - Top Singles of 1976 (Personal Charts: Your Special Occasion Charts)". Australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2016-10-11.
  9. "RPM Top Singles" (PDF). Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 9 October 1976. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  10. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1976-09-11. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
  11. Flavour of New Zealand, 5 November 1976
  12. "Top 100 1976-10-16". Cashbox Magazine. Retrieved 2015-07-30.
  13. Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 180.
  14. "RPM Top Singles". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 8 January 1977. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 2016-10-11.
  15. "Top 100 Hits of 1976/Top 100 Songs of 1976". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016-10-11.
  16. "Top 100 Year End Charts: 1976". Cashbox Magazine. Retrieved June 5, 2016.
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