"The One I Love" Soundtrack Lyrics

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"The One I Love (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)" – Album Guide to Tracks and Key Scenes

Review

How do you score a relationship that splits in two — literally? Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans answer with a chamber-sized, slightly uncanny sound: close-miked strings, soft pulses, and cues that seem to double back on themselves. The album plays like a mirror maze — minimal on the surface, quietly nerve-fraying underneath.

The music’s trick is restraint. Melodies hint and withdraw; cellos thrum like subliminal alarms; small guitar figures become breadcrumbs through the cottage’s rules. When the story accelerates, the writing tightens rather than explodes — tension as geometry. It’s an elegant, 28-minute distillation of unease that still allows tenderness to breathe.

Genres & themes, in phases: minimal thriller writing — mystery; hush-and-heartbeat textures — intimacy under scrutiny; dark waltz motions — duplicity; motoric ostinatos — pursuit; vintage needle-drops — ironic closure.

How It Was Made

Director Charlie McDowell tapped Bensi & Jurriaans for the score; Lakeshore Records released the soundtrack digitally on October 7, 2014 with a CD following November 4, 2014. The 15-cue program spotlights strings, light electronics and sparing guitar to match the film’s single-location mind game. The score was eligible in the 2014 Academy Awards original score longlist — a quiet nod to its craft.

Tracks & Scenes

“The Arrival” (Danny Bensi & Saunder Jurriaans)

Where it plays:

Opening approach to the Ojai-area retreat — sunlit road, uneasy quiet between Ethan and Sophie, then the property reveal. Non-diegetic; early minutes.

Why it matters:

Introduces the score’s language: low-string resonance and careful pulses that suggest rules you don’t yet know.

“Duplicity”

Where it plays:

The first hard suspicion that something is “off” in the guest house — doors, glances, impossible coincidences. Non-diegetic; early middle.

Why it matters:

A long cue that layers tremolo strings over heartbeat rhythm — the film’s concept snapping into focus.

“Bacon”

Where it plays:

Morning-after domesticity that shouldn’t exist — eggs and bacon from someone who hates cooking bacon. Non-diegetic, underscoring a wrong-right tableau.

Why it matters:

Turns a cozy kitchen moment into a clue — the music lifts the curtain on the copy’s charm.

“Impostor”

Where it plays:

Ethan tests boundaries; a double smiles too perfectly. Non-diegetic; mid-film.

Why it matters:

Slender lines and pizzicato twitches — the score’s vocabulary for suspicion without proof.

“The Right Ethan”

Where it plays:

Identity showdown — who is who, and can anyone be trusted? Non-diegetic; later revelations sequence.

Why it matters:

The theme fragments, then aligns — a sonic version of choosing a side.

“Had Enough” → “Discoveries”

Where it plays:

Confrontation spills into late-night truth-telling; the cottage’s logic becomes plain. Non-diegetic; late second act.

Why it matters:

From brittle emotion to low, propulsive strings — the score graduates from unease to movement.

“Escape”

Where it plays:

Final dash from the property — overlapping footsteps, car ignition, the last chase of “who goes home.” Non-diegetic; final reel.

Why it matters:

The album’s action peak — ostinatos and ticking percussion without action-movie blare.

“Dedicated to the One I Love” (The Mamas & The Papas)

Where it plays:

End credits. The vintage harmonies slide in after the last reveal — sweet on its face, sly in context. Source needle-drop; credits.

Why it matters:

Perfectly ironic curtain call: a classic devotion song following a story about imperfect duplicates and chosen loyalties.

“Bye Bye Baby Blues” (Little Hat Jones)

Where it plays:

Used in-film as period blues color — a brief, rootsy palate shift against the modern chamber score.

Why it matters:

Hints at older heartbreak rituals — love songs that outlast the lovers.

Notes & Trivia

• Lakeshore Records released the album digitally (Oct 7, 2014) and on CD (Nov 4, 2014).
• The soundtrack runs 15 tracks, ~28 minutes — deliberately compact.
• The closing-credits song is “Dedicated to the One I Love” — specifically the Mamas & Papas’ hit version.
• Bensi & Jurriaans’ score appeared on the Academy’s 2014 original-score eligibility list.
• Most of the film’s music is score; the few licensed tracks are used sparingly for contrast.

Reception & Quotes

Critics praised the music’s subtle pressure — “small” cues that quietly steer the movie’s hypotheses about love and identity.

“A sly, elegant miniature of a score — tension without tantrums.” Album/critic roundups

“The Mamas & Papas end-credit drop lands on a pitch-perfect note.” Variety (Sundance review)

Availability: Streaming (digital) and on CD via Lakeshore. Full 15-track program is on major platforms.

Interesting Facts

• Two against one: Many track titles (“Duplicity,” “Impostor,” “The Right Ethan”) telegraph the film’s identity games.
• Chamber scale: No oversized orchestra — the intimacy keeps the emotions readable.
• Irony play: A ’60s love standard after a mind-bender about “the one” you choose.
• Quiet eligibility: The score sat among over 100 contenders on the Academy’s 2014 longlist.
• Label fit: Lakeshore’s indie-leaning catalog made a natural home for this understated set.

Technical Info

• Title: The One I Love (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
• Year: 2014
• Type: Film score with select licensed songs
• Composers: Danny Bensi; Saunder Jurriaans
• Label/Release: Lakeshore Records — Digital Oct 7, 2014; CD Nov 4, 2014
• Program: 15 tracks; ~28 minutes
• Selected placements: “The Arrival” (opening drive); “Duplicity” (first cottage anomalies); “Bacon” (domestic clue); “Impostor” (tests & tells); “The Right Ethan” (identity lock); “Escape” (final dash); End credits — “Dedicated to the One I Love” (The Mamas & The Papas)
• Film context: Directed by Charlie McDowell; distributed by RADiUS-TWC; Duplass Brothers Productions

Key Contributors

Entity	Relation
Danny Bensi; Saunder Jurriaans	Composers — score & album artists
Lakeshore Records	Label — digital/CD release
Charlie McDowell	Director — integrated chamber textures with the film’s mystery
Justin Lader	Writer — story mechanics the score mirrors
Duplass Brothers Productions	Production company
RADiUS-TWC	Distributor
The Mamas & The Papas	End-credits song — “Dedicated to the One I Love”
Little Hat Jones	Licensed song — “Bye Bye Baby Blues” (brief in-film use)

Questions & Answers

Who composed the score?

Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans.

When did the soundtrack come out?

Digitally on October 7, 2014; CD on November 4, 2014 (Lakeshore Records).

What’s the song over the end credits?

“Dedicated to the One I Love” by the Mamas & the Papas.

How long is the album?

15 cues, roughly 28 minutes — a compact listen.

Where can I stream it?

On major platforms (Apple Music/Spotify) under “The One I Love (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack).”

Sources: Film Music Reporter; Kinetophone (release notes); Apple Music/Spotify album pages; Discogs listing; Variety review; Wikipedia (film & credits); soundtrack databases for licensed songs; official trailer.

When the collection of songs to any film has only five or less melodies, you may ask a question – what is wrong with it? Here we also have 5 compositions (except for one instrumental). Quite incomprehensible story about some boring couple that finds some amusement in their guesthouse. A whole crowd of critics says that this film is bright, interesting and exciting. Well, maybe it is. Everyone has their own idea about entertainment. Maybe they haven’t’ seen “The Mask” or “Home Alone”, for example? For us personally, the sample of fascinating film is “The Mad Max: Fury Road”, but critics spat it. May the devil understand these critics what they think anyway. There are songs of the country music genre nearly all the collection (Bye Bye Baby or Roses Grow Thorns and others). Most of all we liked the style of the singer Matraca Berg, which is almost unknown outside the United States. Another interesting instance, which creates the same genre of music – Miwi La Lupa. It is difficult even to imagine a full name of this artist knowing that this is a man. Song Dedicated To The One I Love is the only incompletely country music in this soundtrack, as it blended with notes of rock and roll. Listened well when you know that this song is the creation of the distant 1966. 3 years before Woodstock. Instrumental melody, the only in this volume, written by Mozart. It was used for the trailer for this film. It seems to us that the trailer is the most exciting that you can find in this motion picture. We may be wrong, but usually it doesn’t happen.

November, 28th 2025

More info: IMDb, Wikipedia

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