“The Only One I Know” by The Charlatans

The Charlatans’ “The Only One I Know” is very-metaphorical and perhaps is best understandable within the context of the music scene which dominated Manchester, England during the early part of the 1990s. That’s another way of saying it is not abundantly clear what the chaps are talking about. But what is generally conclusive is that the object of the song (as in who they are singing about) is a romantic interest. And the primary sentiment expressed throughout seems to be something along the lines of the singer being a victim of unrequited love and/or an unemotional partner. 

And he acknowledges that such romantic discomfort is common in the setting he finds himself in. We say this because the narrator himself states stuff like: “everyone has burned before”, and “everyone knows the pain”.  And clearly, this is not a situation with a simple resolution. Indeed as the title suggests, this lady is ‘the only one he knows’. That would perhaps imply that she’s the only one he’s familiar with on an intimate level, and logically he would have a dependency on her in that regard. 

But more to the point, she is the apple of his eye, and in fact the lyrics very much read as if he is in love. However, that being said, despite his adoration for this woman, the singer is in what can be described as an unfulfilling relationship, particularly from an emotional perspective.

Facts about “The Only One I Know”

Some of the lyrics of this song were derived from a track The Byrds released in 1967. That song is entitled “Everybody’s Been Burned”.

And the instrumental was also heavily influenced by (as in the guitar riff being copied from) a track called “Hush” which British band Deep Purple covered in 1968. However, The Charlatans seem to insinuate that they came up with it themselves.

In The Charlatans’ homeland of England, this track peaked at number 9.

It also appeared on music charts in Australia, Ireland, the Netherlands and the United States. Most notably it reached number 5 on Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks.

“The Only One I Know” was released on 14 May 1990. The Charlatans released it as the lead single from their debut album, “Some Friendly”. 

Writing Credits

“The Only One I Now” was penned by members of The Charlatans. Therefore we have the following names as the official writers of this classic:

• Martin Blunt
• Jon Brookes
• Tim Burgess
• Mark Collins

And the production of “The Only One I Know” was handled by Chris Nagle.