One Last Time (Ariana Grande song)
"One Last Time" is a song by American singer Ariana Grande. It was released digitally by Republic Records on August 22, 2014 as the second promotional single from her second studio album, My Everything (2014). The song was sent to contemporary hit radio as the fifth and final single from the album on February 10, 2015. It was written by David Guetta, Savan Kotecha, Giorgio Tuinfort, Rami Yacoub, and Carl Falk. The song was produced by the latter two, with Tuinfort serving as a co-producer and Ilya serving both as a co-producer and vocal producer. A French version of the song featuring French singer Kendji Girac, alternatively titled "Attends-moi", was released on February 16, 2015, in France, Belgium and Switzerland. It is also included on the deluxe version of Girac's debut studio album Kendji (2015). An Italian version of the song featuring Italian rapper Fedez was released on May 26, 2015, only in Italy.
"One Last Time"
"One Last Time" is a dance-pop and EDM song. Its instrumentation consists of sampled drums and a synth line. The single reached the top-twenty in twelve countries, including Australia, Canada, France, the United Kingdom and the United States, where it became Grande's sixth top-twenty single on the US Billboard Hot 100. The single's peak of number 13 on the US Billboard Hot 100 ended Grande's streak of consecutive top ten hits from 2014. It was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).
The song's accompanying music video was released on February 15, 2015, and was directed by Max Landis. The music video is visually presented as a found footage, similar to Landis' previous work. The video faced controversy due to its similarity to the music video for the Australian band SAFIA's single "You Are the One", with Grande and Landis being accused of intellectual property theft. Grande promoted the song with a live performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the 2015 NBA All-Star Game halftime show, and during her first world tour, The Honeymoon Tour (2015).
Grande re-released "One Last Time" as a charity single in June 2017, following the Manchester Arena bombing at her concert the previous month. This resulted in the song reaching a new peak of number 2 on the UK Singles Chart following the One Love Manchester concert, as well as reaching a new peak of number 15 in the Irish Singles Chart and peaked at number one in Scotland. Grande donated all proceeds from the re-release to the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund to aid the victims of the bombing and their families.[1] Overall, the song reached a top-ten peak in Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Lebanon, the Netherlands, Slovakia, the United Kingdom and the top-twenty of Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Spain and the United States.
Composition[edit]
The song was produced by Falk and Yacoub, co-produced by Tuinfort and Ilya, with vocal production being done by Ilya, Kotecha and Yacoub. "One Last Time" is a dance-pop and EDM song,[17][18] with a total length of three minutes and seventeen seconds (3:17).[5] Its instrumentations consist in "pummeling drums and a three-note synth line".[19] "One Last Time" is written in the key of A-flat major, with a moderately fast tempo of 125 beats per minute. Grande's vocals range from A♭3 to F5.[20] Lyrically, the song describes a female protagonist who asks her former lover to spend one last time with her, even though they have already moved on from her and is with someone new.[21] As noted by Jason Lipshut of Billboard, "the downbeat admission of 'I know/that you got everything/But I got nothing here without you' is the pained sound of a narrator racked with guilt, the chorus sets aside that humiliation and scoops up a sense of hope,"[19] with the singer pleading, "One last time/I need to be the one who takes you home/One more time/I promise after that, I'll let you go".[21] Rob Copsey of The Official Charts Company noted that the song " reminded him of Swedish's recording artist, Loreen's 2012 Eurovision winning song "Euphoria".[17]
Critical reception[edit]
"One Last Time" received highly positive reviews. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic picked the song as one of the album's highlights,[22] while Jason Lipshut of Billboard praised the track for "demonstrat[ing] Grande's newfound maturity and ambition".[19] Rob Copsey wrote for the Official Charts Company that 'One Last Time' "suits her better than you’d think, [with] the singer reign[ing] in her powerful pipes on this breezy and wistful club track".[17] while Anne Zaleski of The A.V. Club thought the song "channels a more powerful version of On the 6-era Jennifer Lopez," also calling it an "electronica-dusted [song]".[23] AXS's Lucas Villa praised her performance for "exud[ing] sincerity and grace" and added that "[t]his baby-come-back tune showcases a softer side to the singer that highlights her dulcet vocals."[24] FDRMX writer John Mychal Feraren gave "One Last Time" a rating of 4.2 out of 5 stars, calling it "an excellent addition to her list of hit songs" and claiming that "its astounding musical production is effortlessly matched by [the] singer's sultry voice [...] transform[ing] an empty song into a masterpiece."[21] PPcorn.com described the song as "an excellent addition to her list of hit songs", declaring: "after the lyrical ambivalence of 'Love Me Harder', here comes a song that actually means something. It's about admitting your shortcomings in a previous relationship, and trying to make up for it. However, doesn't it sound a bit pathetic when your ex-lover tells you, 'Need to be the one who takes you home / One more time / I promise after that, I'll let you go.'"[25]
Mikael Wood, while reviewing the album for Los Angeles Times, called it a "delight [with] surging dance beats,"[26] while Digital Spy's Lewis Corner named it a "restrained sibling" of "Break Free", having "speckles of electronica to save it from falling into dwindling balladry".[27] Jean-Luc Marsh of Pretty Much Amazing noted that the "otherworldly notes that Grande hits on 'One Last Time' and 'Why Try' remain standouts several listens through".[28] Similarly, The National's Adam Workman claimed Grande is "far more effective when she leaves the musical school of 'why sing one note when you can stretch it out for several bars across three different octaves?'," citing the "lower-key" song as an example.[29] Kathy Iandoli from Idolator labeled it ".. smooth yet eerily resemble when an adult contemporary artist attempts dance music..."[30] Nick Levine of Time Out concluded that the song "serves club pop with a side of melancholy".[31] In contrast, Evan Sawdey of PopMatters observed that the song "strikes all the dance-pop and EDM-lite poses it needs to without leaving any significant impression afterwards".[18] The Guardian and Rolling Stone both ranked the song number six on their lists of the greatest Ariana Grande songs.[32][33]
Copyright infringement lawsuit[edit]
In August 2016, Alex Greggs filed a lawsuit against Grande, David Guetta, Rami Yacoub, Carl Falk, Universal Music Group and Republic Records for alleged copyright infringement of the song "Takes All Night" by Skye Stevens, which Greggs wrote. The lawsuit alleged that the "harmonic background remains the same in both songs for the entire sixteen measures of the chorus. ... Although the rhythm of the two compositions may differ ... there is substantial similarity on the most important rhythmic placement of the pitches on strong melodic and harmonic beats (1 and 3)". Greggs sought $150,000 per infringement.[57] The case was later dismissed after both sides filed a Joint Stipulation for Dismissal.[58]
Live performances[edit]
Grande performed "One Last Time" for the first time live on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on February 1, 2015.[78] She sang the song once more at the NBA All-Star Game halftime show on February 15, 2015, along with her other past hit songs. During "One Last Time", she introduced the song "with some fluttering notes that eventually congealed into an impressive melisma", as noted by Billboard's Jason Lipshut.[79] "One Last Time" has also been on her setlists for The Honeymoon Tour and the Dangerous Woman Tour. During The Honeymoon Tour in Paris on May 15, 2015, Grande performed the French version of "One Last Time" with Kendji Girac for the first time.[13] On May 27, 2015, she sang the song on the third season finale of The Voice of Italy.[80]
On June 4, 2017, Grande performed "One Last Time", joined on-stage by other participating artists, as part of the finale of One Love Manchester, a benefit concert for the victims of the Manchester Arena bombing.[81]
Grande performed a shortened version of One Last Time during her BBC special aired end of 2018.
From March 18 to April 5, 2019, Grande included a shortened remix of "One Last Time" on her Sweetener World Tour setlist. The song was however later removed due to emotional reasons. An acoustic version of the song was later performed during her set at Manchester Pride on August 25, 2019.
Credits adapted from My Everything liner notes.[84]
Recording and management
Personnel