One Thing At A Time

The song "One Thing At A Time" explores the complex intersection of heartbreak and addiction. At its core, it's a narrative about a man who has been told by his ex-lover that he needs to both move on from their relationship and overcome his various vices, such as drinking and smoking. Feeling overwhelmed, he presents a clever, tongue-in-cheek ultimatum in response: he is only capable of quitting one thing at a time. This forces her to implicitly choose whether he should quit her or quit his other habits. The underlying message suggests that if he is forced to get over her, he will need to rely on his vices to cope with the emotional pain. Conversely, there's a subtle implication that if she were to take him back, he would willingly give up the drinking and smoking. The song masterfully captures the mindset of someone rationalizing their inability to face all their problems at once, framing a self-destructive choice as a logical, albeit painful, decision. It's a poignant and relatable portrayal of human weakness in the face of overwhelming emotional struggle.

The narrative unfolds from the perspective of a man grappling with the immediate aftermath of a breakup. He’s been trying to clean up his act, having gone over a week without a cigarette and generally improving day by day. However, the pain of the separation pushes him to revert to his old ways, starting with a drink. His ex-girlfriend has given him an ultimatum: he needs to get over her and also get sober. He feels the weight of these simultaneous demands, acknowledging he has many bad habits to kick. In a moment of defiant rationalization, he presents a counter-ultimatum to her. He frames his recovery as a zero-sum game, suggesting he only has the emotional capacity to tackle one major challenge at a time. The central hook of the song is his declaration that he can either give her up or give up his vices, but not both. He lays out his options in the chorus: he can either metaphorically 'burn the bar down' or delete her number from his phone; he can give her up entirely as long as he's 'half-stoned.' He explicitly asks her to choose what he should quit — her or his habits like whiskey, chewing tobacco ('Grizzly'), nicotine, and even amphetamines. He admits his own vulnerability and flaws, stating, 'I ain't no Superman,' and confesses that to move on from the relationship, he needs the crutch of a substance in his hand. The song is a clever, if tragic, justification for returning to self-destructive behavior as a coping mechanism for heartbreak, essentially blaming the need for his vices on the pain of losing her.

"One Thing At A Time" was co-written by Morgan Wallen, Ashley Gorley, Ernest Keith Smith, and Ryan Vojtesak, who is also known as the producer Charlie Handsome. The same team of four writers also penned Wallen's hit "You Proof". The track was produced by Joey Moi, who infused it with what has been described as 'shades of '80s pop' into the country production. The song was first released in late 2022 as part of a three-song sampler EP, which served as a teaser for his forthcoming album. It later became the title track for his third studio album, One Thing at a Time, which was released on March 3, 2023. The album was a massive commercial success, recorded in various locations including London's famous Abbey Road Studios. The album's cover art features a photo of Wallen standing in front of his grandmother's home in Sneedville, Tennessee, adding a personal touch to the project.

The song features an upbeat tempo and a strong, steady rhythm that contributes to its catchy, radio-friendly quality. The rhythmic foundation is built on what is described as an "organic drumbeat" and a "retro guitar groove," which gives it a more dynamic feel than many contemporary country tracks that rely on programmed beats. The rhyme scheme is straightforward and effective, primarily using couplets (AABB) within the verses, such as "cigarette/week" and "shot/drink," though the rhyme is often slant rather than perfect. This simple structure makes the lyrics memorable and easy to follow. The chorus maintains a consistent pattern that reinforces its hook-like nature. The interplay between the driving musical rhythm and the conversational flow of the lyrics creates a sense of casual defiance, masking the deeper emotional turmoil described in the song.

"One Thing At A Time" employs a blend of musical and literary techniques to achieve its effect.

• Musical Style: Produced by Joey Moi, the song is noted for its dynamic sonic palette, which fuses a country foundation with a retro '80s pop-influenced guitar groove and an organic drumbeat rather than a simple snap track. This upbeat, genre-blending sound creates an ironic contrast with the song's heavy lyrical themes of heartbreak and addiction.
• Narrative Voice: The lyrics are delivered from a first-person perspective, creating a direct and conversational tone. This makes the narrator's rationalizations and ultimatum feel personal and immediate.
• Rhetorical Questions: The song uses a key rhetorical question at the end of the pre-chorus: "You want me to stop some of that / Or you want me to stop lovin' you? / Hey, what you want me to do?". This technique directly challenges the ex-lover, placing the onus of the decision on her and enhancing the song's central conflict.
• Vocal Delivery: Wallen's vocal style has been described by some as a form of "emotionless mumbling," which is a contemporary country technique that resonates with a wide audience by conveying a sense of casual, understated authenticity.

"One Thing At A Time" served as the title track for Morgan Wallen's monumental third studio album, which had a significant cultural and commercial impact. The album debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, achieving the largest debut week for any album in 2023 at the time of its release with 501,000 equivalent units. It broke the record for the biggest streaming week ever for a country album. The album went on to spend 19 non-consecutive weeks at the top of the chart, setting a new record for a country album. The song itself was a commercial success, debuting at number two on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and reaching number 10 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100. The song's success contributed to a historic chart moment where Wallen became the first solo artist to have three songs simultaneously in the top fifteen of the Country Airplay chart. The album's dominance solidified Wallen's status as one of the biggest stars in contemporary music, reflecting a wide-ranging appeal that blends country with elements of hip-hop and rock.

The song's central metaphor is the title phrase, "only quittin' one thing at a time." This represents the narrator's feeling of being emotionally overwhelmed and serves as a defense mechanism. He symbolically equates the process of getting over his ex-girlfriend with kicking a bad habit, placing his love for her on the same level as his addictions to alcohol and nicotine. By doing this, he creates a false choice, a metaphorical ultimatum where one 'addiction' must be sacrificed for the other.

• Vices as Crutches: The recurring list of substances—cigarettes, whiskey, Grizzly, nicotine, amphetamines—symbolizes the narrator's emotional crutches. They are not just bad habits but are framed as necessary tools to 'solve' the problem of forgetting her, representing a common but destructive method of coping with pain.
• "Burn the bar down": This phrase in the chorus is a hyperbolic expression of the extreme measures he feels he might take. It symbolizes a scorched-earth approach to moving on, an act of erasing memories through destructive behavior, which he contrasts with the simpler, more direct act of deleting her phone number.

The most significant recurring element in the song is its title phrase and central hook: "I'm only quittin' one thing at a time." This line is repeated at the end of each chorus and serves as the song's thesis, encapsulating the narrator's entire dilemma and justification for his actions. Another recurring motif is the list of vices (cigarette, double shot, whiskey, Grizzly, nicotine, amphetamines). This list appears in different forms in the verses and pre-chorus, consistently reinforcing the theme of substance use as a coping mechanism. The chorus also presents a recurring structural motif of presenting two contrasting actions, such as "I can either burn the bar down / Or I can take your number out my phone," which highlights the narrator's internal conflict and the choices he feels he must make. This repetition drills the central theme into the listener's mind, making the song both memorable and thematically coherent.