One Headlight
Encyclopedia
"One Headlight" is a rock song performed by American recording band The Wallflowers
. The song was written by lead singer Jakob Dylan
, and produced by T-Bone Burnett
. It was released on February 24, 1997 via Interscope Records
, as the second single from the bands' 1996 album, Bringing Down the Horse
. In 2000, the song was listed at #58 on Rolling Stone
and MTV
s list of "100 Greatest Pop Songs of All Time".
Jakob Dylan
, the lead singer and songwriter of The Wallflowers, has said that the song is about "the death of ideas" and that the many metaphors and images in the lyrics were not meant to be taken literally. Dylan explains that he and the band had very little support when they were putting together the record, hence the shout-out "c'mon try a little." The last two lines of the chorus "we can drive it home / with one headlight" are a reference to how the band were able to get through with their ideas despite being hindered (i.e. with one headlight) by the lack of support.
s in 1998
in the categories Best Rock Song
and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group
. It was named "Best Video" for 1996 in a VH1
poll. The song was performed live on the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards
with Bruce Springsteen
, where the music video
was nominated four times, including for "Viewer's Choice". The song would reach number 58 in MTV
and Rolling Stone
s 2000 list "The 100 Greatest Pop Songs Since the Beatles" and was The Village Voice
Pazz & Jop
poll's 36th best song of the year.
due to the chart rules at the time, the song was a significant radio hit in the US. It spent five weeks at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay
chart and a total of 59 weeks on this ranking. It also was the first song to top these three Billboard airplay charts: Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks, Hot Modern Rock Tracks, and Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks
.
.
The Wallflowers
The Wallflowers is a rock band from Los Angeles, California, fronted by Jakob Dylan. Formed in 1989 and originally known as The Apples, the ensemble has gone through numerous personnel changes with Dylan the only constant....
. The song was written by lead singer Jakob Dylan
Jakob Dylan
Jakob Luke Dylan is the lead singer and songwriter of the rock band The Wallflowers and is a son of singer-songwriter Bob Dylan and Sara Dylan. He has also recorded two solo albums.-Personal life:...
, and produced by T-Bone Burnett
T-Bone Burnett
Joseph Henry Burnett , widely known as T-Bone Burnett, is an American musician, songwriter, and soundtrack and record producer.He was a guitarist in Bob Dylan's band on the Rolling Thunder Revue...
. It was released on February 24, 1997 via Interscope Records
Interscope Records
Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that currently operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-History:...
, as the second single from the bands' 1996 album, Bringing Down the Horse
Bringing Down the Horse
Bringing Down the Horse is the second album of The Wallflowers, which was released in 1996. It contains hits such as "One Headlight," "6th Avenue Heartache," "Three Marlenas," and "The Difference." "One Headlight" was the band's most popular single, reaching #1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock,...
. In 2000, the song was listed at #58 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
and MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
s list of "100 Greatest Pop Songs of All Time".
Composition
The lyrics tell a fragmentary story about a former friend and her death, and the singer's emotions in the aftermath. The use of strong words and images and the incomplete story have resulted in many different interpretations of the song, which include suicide, drug abuse, death of a lover, death of one's mother, having breast cancer and/or depression.Jakob Dylan
Jakob Dylan
Jakob Luke Dylan is the lead singer and songwriter of the rock band The Wallflowers and is a son of singer-songwriter Bob Dylan and Sara Dylan. He has also recorded two solo albums.-Personal life:...
, the lead singer and songwriter of The Wallflowers, has said that the song is about "the death of ideas" and that the many metaphors and images in the lyrics were not meant to be taken literally. Dylan explains that he and the band had very little support when they were putting together the record, hence the shout-out "c'mon try a little." The last two lines of the chorus "we can drive it home / with one headlight" are a reference to how the band were able to get through with their ideas despite being hindered (i.e. with one headlight) by the lack of support.
Reception
The song won Grammy AwardGrammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
s in 1998
Grammy Awards of 1998
The 40th Grammy Awards were held on February 25, 1998. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Rock icon Bob Dylan, Alison Krauss, and R...
in the categories Best Rock Song
Grammy Award for Best Rock Song
The Grammy Award for Best Rock Song is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality songs in the rock music genre...
and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group
Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
The Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal was awarded between 1980 and 2011.The award was discontinued after the 2011 award season in a major overhaul of Grammy categories...
. It was named "Best Video" for 1996 in a VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
poll. The song was performed live on the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards
1997 MTV Video Music Awards
The 1997 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 4, 1997, honoring the best music videos from June 17, 1996, to June 16, 1997. The show was hosted by Chris Rock at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.-Video of the Year:* Beck — "The New Pollution"...
with Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
, where the music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
was nominated four times, including for "Viewer's Choice". The song would reach number 58 in MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
and Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
s 2000 list "The 100 Greatest Pop Songs Since the Beatles" and was The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
Pazz & Jop
Pazz & Jop
The Pazz & Jop critics' poll is a poll of music critics run by The Village Voice newspaper. It is compiled every year from the top ten lists of hundreds of music critics...
poll's 36th best song of the year.
Awards
| Year | Association | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Grammy Award Grammy Award A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry... s |
Best Rock Song Grammy Award for Best Rock Song The Grammy Award for Best Rock Song is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality songs in the rock music genre... |
|
| Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal The Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal was awarded between 1980 and 2011.The award was discontinued after the 2011 award season in a major overhaul of Grammy categories... |
|||
Music video
A music video directed by Joe Perota was shot for the song.Track listing
- US 3-Track CD Single
- "One Headlight" (Edit) – 4:38
- "6th Avenue Heartache" (Acoustic) – 4:57
- "Angel on My Bike" (Live) – 4:46
Chart performance
Although the song did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
due to the chart rules at the time, the song was a significant radio hit in the US. It spent five weeks at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay
Hot 100 Airplay
The Hot 100 Airplay chart is a chart released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It measures radio airplay, and is one of the three component charts, along with the Hot Singles Sales and the Hot Digital Songs charts, that determine the chart positions of singles on the Billboard...
chart and a total of 59 weeks on this ranking. It also was the first song to top these three Billboard airplay charts: Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks, Hot Modern Rock Tracks, and Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks
Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks
Adult Top 40 is a variation on the United States Billboard charts...
.
Charts
All US charts published by BillboardBillboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
.
| Chart (1997) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian RPM RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,... Singles Chart Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays.... |
1 |
| US Mainstream Rock Tracks | 1 |
| US Modern Rock Tracks | 1 |
| US Adult Top 40 Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks Adult Top 40 is a variation on the United States Billboard charts... |
1 |
| US Adult Contemporary Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States... |
30 |
| US Mainstream Top 40 Mainstream Top 40 (Pop Songs) The Mainstream Top 40 is an airplay chart from Billboard magazine, and is also known as Pop Songs on billboard.com. It was often mistaken for and confused with the now discontinued Pop 100 Airplay chart... |
2 |
Succession
Cover versions
- Country singers Lisa BrokopLisa brokopLisa Brokop is a Canadian country music singer/songwriter and actress. Active since 1990 in the country music field, she has released a total of six studio albums, and has charted more than twenty singles on the country music charts in her native Canada...
and Paul JeffersonPaul JeffersonPaul Jefferson is an American country music artist. Jefferson has released one studio album on Almo Sounds; he also charted three singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart...
recorded the song on their 2011 album, The Jeffersons, released in Canada. - Relient KRelient KRelient K is an American rock band formed in 1998 in Canton, Ohio by Matt Thiessen, Brian Pittman, and Matt Hoopes during the band's junior year in high school and their time at Malone University...
covered this song for inclusion on their 2011 EP, Is for KaraokeIs for KaraokeIs For Karaoke is a 2011 cover album by American rock band Relient K. The first seven songs were released on July 28 as Is for Karaoke EP, and on October 4 the remaining songs were released as Is for Karaoke Pt...
.