She's the One (World Party song)

"She's the One" is a song by British rock band World Party. It was written and produced by Karl Wallinger for World Party's fourth studio album, Egyptology (1997). The song won an Ivor Novello Award in 1997. It was featured in the 1997 movie The Matchmaker and the 1998 movie The Big Hit. World Party performed the song live on British TV show, Later... with Jools Holland in 1998. Robbie Williams released a cover of the song in 1999, which reached number one in the UK Singles Chart.

Robbie Williams version

English singer Robbie Williams covered "She's the One" and released it as a single on 8 November 1999. In most countries, the song was released alone, but in the United Kingdom and New Zealand, it was released as a double A-side single with "It's Only Us". It was the fourth single from his second studio album, I've Been Expecting You (1998), and was also included on his first compilation album, The Ego Has Landed (1999). The song became Williams' second number-one single in the United Kingdom.

The song went on to win a number of awards around the world, including a 2000 Brit Awards for British Single of the Year and British Video of the Year in 2000, and it also won a Capital Radio Award for Best Single.

Wallinger's response

The song's producers, Guy Chambers and Steve Power, used the drummer and bassist of World Party's touring band (neither of whom played on the World Party version) to perform the backing track for Williams, resulting in a very similar-sounding cover. World Party's frontman and songwriter Karl Wallinger was not made aware that a cover was going to be released using his own band. When the song became a hit, and after having experienced a near-fatal brain aneurysm around the time of the song's release, Wallinger stated that he experienced "ongoing bitterness", going on to say that "the song had a much better time than me, popping off to the Brits while I was at home eating crackers dipped in water".

When introducing the song in live performances, Williams often claims that it is one of the best songs he's ever written, despite not actually having written the song. This culminated in a telephone outburst from the song's actual writer, Wallinger, to Chambers, stating "Your fucking friend Robbie Williams. Tell him from me that he's a cunt". Williams has never publicly acknowledged that "She's the One" is a cover of the World Party's track, although in a 2019 commercial for his album The Christmas Present featuring Amazon Alexa, when Williams claimed he had written the song, the device states that he did not write "She's the One", to which Williams admits "no, I didn't".

Music video

In the video Williams is a coach to an ice skating couple—portrayed by Pamela O'Connor and Jonathon O'Dougherty—but when the male skater gets injured during practice, Williams takes his place for the final and gets the highest scores. The video ends with Williams and the female skater celebrating with the male skater, who had been watching from the sidelines. Philip Woods, a 10-year-old figure skater from Chelmsford, played the young Williams in a flashback. The UK version of the video features commentary by Barry Davies.

Track listings

UK CD1

1. "It's Only Us" – 2:50
2. "She's the One" – 4:18
3. "Coke & Tears" – 4:24
4. "It's Only Us" (video)

UK CD2

1. "She's the One" – 4:18
2. "It's Only Us" – 2:50
3. "Millennium" (live at Slane Castle) – 4:40
4. "She's the One" (video)

UK cassette single

1. "She's the One" – 4:18
2. "It's Only Us" – 2:50
3. "Millennium" (live at Slane Castle) – 4:40

Credits and personnel

Credits are lifted from the I've Been Expecting You album booklet.

Studio

• Mastered at Metropolis Mastering (London, England)

Personnel

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

• World Party website