After diving into The Beatles’ “Revolution 9” last Friday, our New Orleans Saints Song of the Week series continues with the ’60s classic, “One.”
Originally penned by singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson in 1967, the tune became a bonafide hit two years later when it was covered by rockers Three Dog Night. It’s memorable opening line, “One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do” is a perfect summation of last Sunday’s 35-34 season-opening loss to the Oakland Raiders.
Losing by one point is particularly disappointing in football because of how inconsequential the number often is. It’s an impossible amount of points to score (independent of a touchdown), and it’s a painful reminder of just how close you came to winning. In many ways, it’s worse than losing by two points, a feeling that is perfectly illustrated by the line, “One is the loneliest number, whoa-oh, worse than two.”
Imagine how much better things would be if one thing had happened differently. What if we made that one field goal? What if we stopped the one two-point conversion? What if the refs hadn’t thrown that one utterly horseshit pass interference flag? (I may still be bitter about that one).
In any event, let’s hope one, or two, or even three more things go our way when we go up against the Giants on their home turf this Sunday. After all, that would leave us with a more respectable record of 1-1.
Until then, here’s Three Dog Night: