The One I Love (chords) Guitar Tab

Eponymous Tabs:

The One I Love »

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All of you starting out on guitar this is a great newb song, this is accually the first 
chord song I learned so I thought Id share it

Part 1:
 Em               D             EM      EM
This one goes out to the one I love

 Em               D                Em
This one goes out to the one I've left behind

G          D         Am       C
  A simple prop to occupy my time

 Em               D             Em
This one goes out to the one I love

Part 2:
Em        D       Em
Fiiirrrrrrrrrrrrrrre

Em        D       Em
Fiiirrrrrrrrrrrrrrre


Order:
P1
P2
P1
P2
P1
P2 x 2

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Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques


No Picture Joe Average	#1 by Joe Fitzpatrick at Feb 2, 1971 at 1:17 AM EST
	i think this song is about betrayal. basically what happens is a guy was in love with a girl, then ran off with someone else

No Picture steve Wanna Be	#2 by steve hoffmann at Dec 23, 1972 at 7:15 PM EST
	This and "Born in the U.S.A." by Bruce Springsteen are two of the most famously misinterpreted songs of all time. It's not so hard to understand what he's saying here. The music isn't that of a love song, and neither are the lyrics. I think he could be talking to someone he used to love and now he's dismissing his past feelings as a "simple prop to occupy my time", in denial. Or, he could be insulting his former feelings and seeing through them, and seeing what they really were (something to make him happy). In this way, it may be about seeing how he thought it was love, but it was really a search for happiness, or even a quest to quell his boredom.

No Picture Steve Wanna Be	#3 by Steve Williams at Jun 17, 1974 at 1:44 AM EST
	Well, I was 17 when this song was released and hit the Top 40. I have ALWAYS heard it was a "hate" song. In particular, Stipe was singing it to a former (male) lover. Imagine that the chorus has the unspoken lines "Ready, Aim..." before he sings "Fire!" The song is about being tormented by a duplicitous ex-lover who you wished you could see at the receiving end of a firing line. Alanis Morrisette eat your heart out.

No Picture Rhythm Player	#4 by riotsk8team001 (jason) at Dec 20, 1974 at 9:03 AM EST
	This is a classic song...and it is melancholy. Imagine hearing this being played at a college bar and all the drunk students who've been dumped are crying their eyes out when they hear it. This song is a staple to college drunk lovers what any country dump songs are to honky-tonks.

No Picture brandon Rhythm Player	#5 by brandon q at Dec 29, 1976 at 6:23 PM EST
	Not about a man and a woman. Not about love, betrayal, or any other bland accounts of romance. Thats all.

No Picture M Average	#6 by M K-O at Feb 26, 1977 at 4:06 PM EST
	This one makes fun of love songs. That's it.

No Picture Basstard Professional	#7 by Basstard at May 27, 1979 at 1:13 AM EST
	well, "At My Most Beautiful" came out much later, so it was at least the only one for quite a while, assuming the source I got that from was accurate (I probably saw it on songfacts.com)

No Picture Jason Rhythm Player	#8 by Jason ...... at Jul 18, 1984 at 5:20 AM EST
	This song reminds me of an abusive ex-boyfriend I had. He literally would go from woman to woman and use them for whatever he wanted or needed and then leave them when he got bored. It was his version of love. He liked saying he loved people but he really didn't know how to do anything other than use and abuse and then move on to his next victim.

No Picture †§ean† Average	#9 by †§ean† at Jul 23, 1984 at 6:01 PM EST
	I seem to be in minority here, but I never thought this song to be about "false love" or "hate" or anything like that. It might be because of my personal experiences. I think it's like if you were doing something (anything, even singing this) and thinking about the person you loved the most, the person you are no longer with, in this case probably because of your own fault (one _I_'ve left). Kind of "wish you were here" sentiment. Whatever you do "goes out to the one you love" in the sense that you wish this person was here with you participating in whatever you are doing (in other words "this one" doesn't have to mean the song, it could be anything). To me this song is about obsessive love. And the "prop" is not the person, it's whatever you fill your time with to try to forget about the one you love, the one you can't be with. The variation at the end just states that the prop, whatever it was, has occupied some of his time, but the feeling hasn't changed. And "Fire...!!!" to me represents the torment of being in this position of being able to do nothing but miss what you had and what is now gone. It does almost feel like burning from inside. Especially the way MS sings this song in the acoustic version. I don't think it's full of hate, more like extreme pain. I wouldn't want it on my wedding that's for sure, but on the other hand I think love is completely real in this one, even too real. It's an obsession. Just my take on this.

No Picture Erik Lead Player	#10 by Erik StJimmy at Jun 26, 1986 at 7:29 AM EST
	This song is about perspectives! not relationships. Anyone notice how most of REM's songs put emphasis on the word 'I', which sounds the same as 'eye', as in 'Rapid EYE Movement'. Surely it aint hard to see that they have got a theme going here. For eg: 'Try Not to breath': "I will try not to breath, I can hold my head still with my hands at my knees, these eyes are the eyes of the old". - How many times does he sing I/Eye in that song?

No Picture Cohen Wanna Be	#11 by Cohen B at Oct 14, 1988 at 10:00 AM EST
	Lots of people play this song at their weddings. Perhaps people should listen to all of the lyrics in a song, and not just assume that the title tells what the song is really about.

No Picture Razzle Wanna Be	#12 by Razzle jester at Jan 24, 1989 at 6:27 AM EST
	i like it! i hope more dumbasses play it at their wedding.

No Picture Secondhand Smok Wanna Be	#13 by Secondhand Smoka at Nov 14, 1989 at 6:51 AM EST
	only R.E.M. song that includes the word "love" in the lyrics? i didn't believe that at first but I have not thought of another one that does.

No Picture Håvard Average	#14 by Håvard Banne at Mar 20, 1990 at 7:11 AM EST
	Sitting Still from Murmur- there first album contains the line "Set a trap for LOVE...", released four years prior to this

No Picture brandon Rhythm Player	#15 by brandon q at Oct 7, 1997 at 6:30 PM EST
	Yes, I have come across many people that will swear on their lives that this is, in fact, a love song. Do some people refuse to listen to certain lyrics of songs? Look ... the chorus has one word ... "FIRE" .... I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound all that romantic or loving to me. A great R.E.M. song, however.

No Picture The Real Slim S Average	#16 by The Real Slim Shady at Jan 5, 2000 at 3:57 AM EST
	That's why it's bad to have feelings, cause they're ephemeral and fake.

No Picture Joshua Wanna Be	#17 by Joshua graham at Mar 24, 2001 at 5:29 AM EST
	This song is truly beautiful but it is not however the only song from R.E.M. to contain the word love, as "At My Most Beautiful" does: "At my most beautiful, i count your eyelashes secretly, with each one say i LOVE you..." or something like that! R.E.M. all the way! (not necessarily to Reno though...)

No Picture Ryan Wanna Be	#18 by Ryan Carter at Jul 7, 2001 at 11:05 PM EST
	There seems to be a little confusion here. It's actually the only REM (album) song to date with "Love" in the TITLE, not lyrics.

No Picture Brennan Wanna Be	#19 by Brennan unknown at Mar 28, 2002 at 2:53 PM EST
	I read this song as the lament of a person who DOES "love" (in his/ her own fashion) the person to whom (s/he) is singing, but is unable to avoid "keeping busy" in the object's absence. And the lyric change, from "a simple prop" to "another prop," indicates a sort of resignation with the whole situation. perhaps the speaker isn't necessarily -happy- about his/ her behaviors, but is compelled to seek these props nevertheless. Now, I agree, using the term "love" might be an overstatement... perhaps too much depth of emotion, but perhaps it is "love" as the subject understands it/ is capable of feeling. Further, I certainly wouldn't want to be the object of the speaker's "love," nor would I want to be the prop who keeps him/ her busy. And why would the speaker need/ want/ use a prop? Narcissism. Inadequacy. Fear (of self, of others). Anger. Validation. Resignation. Some psychotic thought process. Borderline personality disorder. (Perceived) self-defense. Retaliation. It could go on & on...

No Picture Kyle Rhythm Player	#20 by Kyle Wait I Aint Telling You at Mar 16, 2003 at 11:52 PM EST
	I think he's talking about one woman but your interpratation makes me think...

No Picture jake Professional	#21 by jake burns at Aug 20, 2004 at 5:42 PM EST
	Just the line 'a simple prop, to occupy me time' is superb. If you don't listen closely, you could be dcieved that this was a 'beautiful song' - as my mother beleived it to be for about 5 years!

No Picture Travis Wanna Be	#22 by Travis Alford at Oct 5, 2006 at 2:41 AM EST
	this is one of the best faux love songs ever! i love that people think it's a nice song, but i mean, read the lyrics. it's about someone that goes from relationship to relationship, saying he loves them simply to get what he wants before moving on. i know someone who had this playing once at their wedding, which i found slightly stupid. anyways, that's what i think...

No Picture Trevor Average	#23 by Trevor fun with drugs at Dec 22, 2006 at 9:59 AM EST
	i think the song is sarcastic. the girl betrayed him after a long realtionship, so he tells of all the bad things she did. its a song about hate.

No Picture Gladis Wanna Be	#24 by Gladis McHumphry at Jun 27, 2007 at 1:22 PM EST
	Hears my take. Its not a song about Love, Its about what people call love. Whata people think love is, what they try and convince themselves love is: Being 'In' love and loving somone are not the same thing. Obsession can feel like love but it pales sooner or later and the person is forgotton, the 'fire' burns out as quickly as it flared, and another takes his/her place. How many times have you seen somone get into a really intense relationship fueled by their own neurosis? to fill that black hole inside of them? Almost like a junky getting a fix? It always ends and another 'Prop' takes over where the last left off. Leaving the junky to 'come down on their own'. Is this in fact the true nature of Love? If it feels intense for even a second is it real love? If you SAY is love then does that make it true? is it possible to leave someone you truely love and treat them like a 'simple prop'? Is the song really saying that is the case and that a higher 'Pure' version of love does not exist. Or is it an outside perspecive on what is essentially a self serving involvement with another person, explained and accepted as a 'love affair'? THIS IS NOT LOVE! Also I have noticed that Stipe seems to use 'Fire' or references to fire as a byword for corruption. So its a very cynical song but at the same time kind of idealistic, trying to show us up for the fools we are.

No Picture David Average	#25 by David Tims at Aug 26, 2007 at 4:19 PM EST
	Yep, always has been a "love 'em & leave 'em" song however melodically beautiful it does sound. If anybody in REM really played women like this, I'd dump them myself 1st like a bad habit...My REM collection to start, hehehe.