Written by:
Mark E Smith, Simon Bush
Initial release:
Cerebral Caustic, Cog Sinister/Permanent PERMLP30 LP; PERMMC30 Cassette ; CPERMCD30 CD
[Released in Japan in 1995 on Permanent distributed through Zero Corporation CD: XRCN-7001
Date:
27 February 1995
Subsequent releases:
Cerebral Caustic, Artful ARTFULCD24; 5 July 1999
A World Bewitched, Artful ARTFULCD35; 6 February 2001
Cerebral Caustic, Sanctuary CMQDD1299; 13 March 2006 [also includes pre-release rough mix of the song along with an alternate version entitled One Day (Rex Sargeant Mix)]
Group on initial release:
Mark E Smith – vocals; Brix Smith – guitar, vocals; Craig Scanlon – guitar; Steve Hanley – bass; Simon Wolstencroft – drums; Dave Bush – keyboards; Karl Burns – drums
Commentary:
The following analysis appeared in the series Gladys Winthorpe’s Emporium Of Particularly Underacknowledged Fall Compositions and was originally published in The Pseud Mag no. 13 (December 2006/January 2007)
“Smith, M E: vox
Smith, B E: guitar(?)
Scanlon, C: guitar
Hanley, S: bass
Wolstencroft, S: drums
Burns babe, K K: drums(?)
Bush, D: electronics
Tucked away on the B-side of the generally-disliked “Cerebral Caustic” is “One Day”, a real up-tempo belter of a song which, for me, is the exuberant highlight of the album. As such, it is definitely worthy of an inclusion in this column.
The first thing to say is that the song’s mix is very muddy and murky (for example, listen to the dense sound of Doc Shanley’s bass throughout), so it’s difficult to exactly identify who is playing what. The guitar that provides the main accompaniment – panned slightly right of centre – sounds Craig-esque, so it could be that Brix doesn’t feature on this song at all; I certainly can’t identify a second guitar anywhere. Ditto the drums, as I can only hear one drumkit. Again, it’s difficult to hear, but it might be that Karl doesn’t feature either (although there may be 2 tinkling ride cymbals during the later sections of the song – I can’t really tell). Dave Bush’s electronics are infamously buried deep in the mix (they’re panned to the far left) but they can be heard by increasing the volume whilst listening. It’s a real shame about this, as they definitely add to the song. Bush’s electronics bookend “One Day” – 3 snappy repeats of a brief sample (a snippet of a happy hardcore track, possibly) starts it off (immediately wrongfooting the listener as the song is of a straight four-to-the-floor tempo) and a submarine sonar noise provides the fade at the end. Simon, as sturdy as ever, keeps repeating a drum roll at the end of each of the song’s sections, giving a good common point of reference throughout (e.g. 0:31, 0:47, 1:17).
The song alternates between a verse and a chorus. The latter – unusually, on which the song starts, although MES’s vocals for this initial section are for actually a verse – is strong, preliminarily due to the main tune supplied on the guitar; note how MES’s vocal line roughly follows it. The verse is similarly effective, if subtly lower-key, again due to another forceful guitar line. A single chord middle section, appearing at 1:33, provides a sturdy (if slightly uninspired) counterpoint to the other sections as a pause for breath before we inevitably break back into a single verse at 2:03. We then get 4 repeats of the chorus section to “sign and seal” the song before the inevitable conclusion. Electronics-wise, there’s a “scratchy” sample in the chorus, ping-pong noises and screams in the verse and random radio-tuning noises in the middle section. Micro-Listening students ™ might have spotted an edit at 2:19, identified by a “jump” in the guitar.
MES’s vox – an exuberant peformance, spitting bile and venom – are subject to a large amount of distortion, sounding like he’s speaking through an old radio speaker. This adds to the general annoyed tone of his voice, somehow. Note the “plosives” at 0:27 (“corporation”), 0:29 (“Co-op”) and 1:06 (“up”) when he gets too close to the microphone. Whilst the lyrics to the chorus are scathing and straightforward (pretty much a repeat of “One day, you’ll wake up and find out you lost a good man”), the verse’s lyrics are more cryptic with a number of alleged references to supermarkets: the Co-op (a UK-based chain of retail establishments), “we never close” and “all reduced to cost price”. Do you think the line “You’re a snakepit” is influenced by Slash’s Snakepit, the ex-Guns’n’Roses guitarist’s band?
All-in-all, a great tune. Strong, energetic music and a great MES vocal performance.”