One Way or Another :: Until The Ribbon Breaks

“And if the lights are all out,
I’ll follow your bus downtown,
see who’s hanging out.”

I stumbled onto this cover a few weeks back as I perused a Coachella playlist I found on Spotify. I had no knowledge of Until The Ribbon Breaks, but the title caught my eye as I am always up for hearing a newly discovered cover song. I love how haunting this one is, slowed down tempo, vocal effects, the pulsing background beat, the immense sensual feel to it reminiscent of how Tricky or Portishead tend to make me feel.

It feels terrifying, too, unnerving, a little bit unsettling.

The slow start of the song, the vocals slithering in, echoing, then the chorus starts, familiar, but so very different. I immediately feel chills chase up my arms and down my spine. This cover is cinematic, demanding imagery to accompany it. Close your eyes and listen, what do you see?

One Way or Another is orginally by American band Blondie from the album Parallel Lines. The song was released as the fourth single in the US and Canada as the follow-up to the # 1 hit Heart of Glass. One Way or Another reached # 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 and # 7 on the RPM 100 Singles.

Written by Debbie Harry and Nigel Harrison for the band’s third studio album, in 1978, the song was inspired by one of Harry’s ex-boyfriends who stalked her after their breakup.

The song was included on the US and Canadian versions of the band’s first hits compilation, The Best of Blondie (1981), as it was released as a single there, but not on the international releases.

Rolling Stone ranked the song # 298 on its list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Do you have a favorite Blondie cover song? What do you think of this cover of One Way or Another? Have you heard any of the other covers of One Way or Another that you enjoy?

One Way or Another (live, 1979) :: Blondie