One Way or Another

"One Way or Another" is a song by American rock band Blondie from their 1978 album Parallel Lines. Lyrically, the song was inspired by Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry's experience with a stalker in the early 1970s, an incident which forced her to move away from New Jersey. Harry wrote the lyrics as if an 'ex-boyfriend' was stalking her, to give the song an element of humour. The song's music was composed by bassist Nigel Harrison, who introduced the Ventures-influenced track to keyboardist Jimmy Destri. "One Way or Another" was released as the fourth North American single from Parallel Lines, following the band's chart-topping "Heart of Glass" single. The song reached number 24 in the US and number 7 in Canada. It was not released as a single in the UK, but later charted in 2013, along with a cover by British band One Direction (in medley with The Undertones' "Teenage Kicks") for Comic Relief, with the latter reaching number 1. "One Way or Another" has since seen critical acclaim for Harry's aggressive vocals and Blondie's energetic performance. It has been ranked by many critics as one of the band's best songs and has appeared on several compilation albums.