"One Headlight" is a song by American rock band the Wallflowers. The song was written by lead singer Jakob Dylan, and produced by T Bone Burnett. It was released to radio in January 1997 as the second single and opening track from the band's second studio album, Bringing Down the Horse (1996).
The song was the first single to reach No. 1 on all three of Billboard's rock airplay charts: the Modern Rock Tracks chart, the Mainstream Rock Songs chart, and the Triple-A chart. "One Headlight" also stayed at No. 1 in Canada for five weeks. In 2000, the song was listed at No. 58 on Rolling Stone and MTV's list of the "100 Greatest Pop Songs of All Time",[3] and Billboard ranked it as No. 1 on its 2021 list of the "Greatest Adult Alternative Songs".[4][5]
Background
The song was written by lead vocalist Jakob Dylan, and is the second to be written during the recording of Bringing Down the Horse in Los Angeles. Dylan has stated that the song is about "the death of ideas".[6] Dylan did not intend to write a hit song, but wrote it with the intention of wanting to impress and work with a producer. He was able to share the song with him, and thought the producer enjoyed the song, but Dylan did not hear back from the producer after he left.[7] He began writing this song after a recent record with Virgin Records was considered a disappointment. Feeling the band deserved a second chance, he wrote the song at a kitchen table in Los Angeles. He was inspired by Leon Russell, Dr. John, and Al Green, and felt there was a "place for that type of feeling and mood on the radio."[4] Some lyrics were inspired by that of Bruce Springsteen, with references to "Independence Day" (1981) and "One Step Up" (1988).[8]
Music video
The music video was filmed in New York City in February 1997 and features the band performing.[9] They had made a previous version of the video, which Dylan described as a "murky representation", which he did not enjoy watching as he was reviewing the footage. They had eventually filmed the video in Dumbo, Brooklyn.[4]
Chart performance
Although the song did not chart on the US Billboard Hot 100 due to the chart rules at the time, it was a significant radio hit. It spent five weeks at No. 2 on the BillboardHot 100 Airplay chart and a total of 70 weeks on the chart.[10] In March 1997, it became the first song to top all three of Billboard's rock airplay charts—the Modern Rock Tracks, Mainstream Rock Tracks, and Triple-A charts.[11] In Canada, the song reached No. 1 on the RPM 100 Hit Tracks chart, staying there for five weeks and was also the third-most-successful song of the year.[12][13] Outside North America, the song reached No. 14 in Australia and became a moderate hit in Germany and the United Kingdom.[14][15][16]
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