"The One" is a song written by Karen Manno and Billy Lee, and recorded by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 country music singer Gary Allan

Gary Allan

Gary Allan Herzberg is an American country music artist, known professionally as Gary Allan.Signed to Decca Records in 1996, Allan made his debut on the United States country music scene with the release of his single "Her Man", the lead-off to his gold-certified debut album Used Heart for Sale,...

 that reached the Top 5 on the Billboard

Billboard (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...

Hot Country Singles & Tracks

Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...

 chart. It was released in January 2002 as the second single from his CD, Alright Guy

Alright Guy

-Personnel:* Chad Cromwell - drums* Jake Kelly - acoustic guitar* Joe Manuel - acoustic guitar* Steve Nathan - keyboards* Michael Rhodes - bass guitar* Brent Rowan - electric guitar* John Wesley Ryles - background vocals* Hank Singer - Mandolin, fiddle...

. This song also entered the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard 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...

, marking Allan's first Top 40 entry on that chart.

Content

The song is a ballad, in which the narrator offers to wait patiently for the woman he loves to return his affection.

Music video

The music video was directed by Morgan Lawley, and released in April 2002. It was filmed on location in a tiny village in Tuscany, Italy. It features Allan driving in a truck, and with his lover in various places, including a house, flea market, and street corner.

Reception

Rick Cohoon of Allmusic gave the song a positive review. He called it "one of [Allan's] most romantic love ballads." He also stated that "without the vocals, the words seem a bit sappy and over-dramatic."

Chart performance

"The One" debuted at number 56 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of January 19, 2002. > >

Chart (2002)	Peak position