The song was the fourth of seven singles to be released from Michael's debut solo albumFaith. A ballad at almost six minutes in length, the song lyrically explores a young man's hesitancy to enter/revisit a new relationship because he had been emotionally hurt so many times previously. The song concludes with temptation taking over, and Michael ends by singing the title for the only time. "One More Try" remained a live favourite at Michael's concerts in the years which followed, although its radio airplay tends to be restricted to specific "Love Songs"–esque features because of both the tempo and the length.
Track listing
"One More Try"
"One More Try" – 5:50
"Look at Your Hands" – 4:36
Music video
Filmmaker Tony Scott directed the simple music video for the song, which features George singing alone in an empty apartment. The first shot of the video alone lasts a little over two minutes, ending at the beginning of the second verse. Throughout, a grey-blue light can be seen shining into his window, a metaphor for loneliness. In another scene, he attempts to draw a heart on his bathroom cabinet's glass door, but cannot finish the heart, as at this point, sadness and grief have taken over. His furniture can also be seen with drapes over each piece, as well as the curtains drawn, another lonely metaphor.
Official remixes and versions
Album version – 5:50
Live gospel version – 5:21
Chart performance
It reached number 8 on the UK Singles Chart and became his sixth number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. Four of the six singles issued from Faith went to number one in America, while by comparison, none managed to do so in the UK. "One More Try" was the third consecutive number one single from the Faith album. "One More Try" debuted at an impressive number 40 the week of 16 April 1988, and matching the speed of "Father Figure", reached number one by its seventh week, 28 May 1988, this time staying there for three consecutive weeks. "One More Try" was the second-longest running number one of 1988, tied with "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" by Poison, and behind the four-week run of Steve Winwood's "Roll with It". In total, "One More Try" spent seven weeks in the top 10 and 14 weeks in the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. It was a triple-chart number one, also topping the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and the Adult Contemporary charts and becoming the last number-one single on the former by a white male artist until Robin Thicke's "Lost Without U".
British singer and songwriter Beverley Knight covered "One More Try" and released it as the third single release from her seventh studio album, Soul UK, a tribute to UK soul artists. It was released in the UK on 23 October 2011. The B-sides are remixes of Freeez's single "Southern Freeez", the original of which also appears on Soul UK.
Background
In regards to her version of "One More Try", Knight said "Everyone knew who George Michael was, but this song is when he became the real thing in my mind. He channelled a gospel sound, black America, ate it up, Britain followed and then the whole world. I took that sound, and going back to my own church roots, I ran with it." George Michael endorsed Knight's version of "One More Try" stating, "I'm always flattered by cover versions of my songs – especially when they are sung as beautifully as this. Thank You Beverley".
