Ray Edward Cochran was born in Albert Lea, Minnesota; however, as his parents were from Oklahoma, he considered himself an Oklahoman, and introduced himself as such in interviews. He took music lessons in school, but eventually quit the band to play drums. Rather than take piano lessons, Cochran began learning guitar, playing the country music he heard on the radio. As time went on, Cochran moved to Los Angeles, California in 1953. Together with Hank Cochran, Eddie formed The Cochran Brothers, though the two shared no relation.
Around the same time, Cochran worked as a session musician, but aspired to be a songwriter and artist in his own right, and recorded a demo with songwriting partner and future manager, Jerry Capeheart. Cochran's first notable foray into the public eye was as one of the many performing artists featured in the musical comedy film The Girl Can't Help It starring Jayne Mansfield, eventually resulting in a recording contract with Liberty. He would follow up on this appearance by appearing in several films of the same genre. He also performed as a support act for such stars as Gene Vincent and Little Richard, who were among Cochran's co-stars in the aforementioned film.
For his recordings, Cochran often used experimental techniques that would later become part and parcel for other recording artists, notably recording numerous overdubs in order to create the rich, distinctive guitar sound for "Summertime Blues" and "C'mon Everybody". "Twenty Flight Rock", the song Cochran performed in The Girl Can't Help It, was the very first song a young Paul McCartney played for John Lennon as his audition for Lennon's group, The Quarrymen, which would later metamorphose into The Beatles.
Cochran was killed in an automobile accident in Chippenham, Wiltshire, England during a tour of Britain with Gene Vincent. Vincent and Cochran's fiancee, who were both in the car, survived the crash. Scholars have noted that, somewhat eerily, Cochran's last single release in his lifetime was "Three Steps to Heaven", although the song's lyrical context has nothing to do with death. Cochran's death occurred little over a year after the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, to whom he paid tribute in his recording of the song "Three Stars", which remained unreleased until 1966.
A majority of Cochran's recorded legacy would be released posthumously; in his lifetime, only one album, Singin' to My Baby (1957), was ever released. Perhaps owing to the brevity of his career, Cochran never attained the same star status as other rockers of the era; however, his lyrical themes of teenage desires and rebellion, being somewhat more morose and raucous than his contemporaries, had a profound influence on many of the greatest artists of the '60s and '70s, such as The Beatles, The Who, and The Rolling Stones.
One Minute To One
Eddie Cochran Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And I didn't even kiss you, while we were alone
I was sittin' there wishin', I could hold you tight
But I reckon I waited just a little too long
To... kiss you tonight
One minute to one, how did it get so late
Even though I didn't get to kiss you
It's really been a wonderful date
But your mama's gonna worry, 'cause it's gettin' so late
I just wanted to tell you, that I love you so
But I reckon I waited just a little too long
So... we'd better go
One minute to one, how did it get so late
Even though I didn't get to kiss you
It's really been a wonderful date
I want you to know now, that I think you're nice
But I reckon I'll wait till tomorrow night
And... I'll kiss you twice
The lyrics to Eddie Cochran's song "One Minute To One" are about a young man who is out on a date with his girlfriend. As the night winds down, he realizes that it's getting late and that his girlfriend needs to go home. He's upset because he never got the chance to kiss her, and he wishes that he had been a little more assertive earlier in the evening.
Throughout the song, he expresses regret for not kissing her sooner and for not telling her how much he loves her. He also acknowledges that the date was wonderful, despite the fact that he didn't get to kiss her. In the end, he decides that he will wait until their next date to make his move and kiss her twice.
The lyrics capture the nervousness and anticipation of young love, and the fear of taking risks and potentially ruining a good thing. The song is a classic example of the rock and roll ballads that defined the 1950s and 60s.
Line by Line Meaning
One minute to one, and you gotta go home
It's almost one a.m. and you have to leave.
And I didn't even kiss you, while we were alone
I didn't even kiss you when we were alone together.
I was sittin' there wishin', I could hold you tight
I was sitting there wishing I could embrace you tightly.
But I reckon I waited just a little too long
But I think I waited for too long to do that.
To... kiss you tonight
To kiss you tonight.
One minute to one, how did it get so late
It's nearly one, how did the time pass so quickly?
Even though I didn't get to kiss you
Even though I didn't get to kiss you yet.
It's really been a wonderful date
It was a really wonderful date.
But your mama's gonna worry, 'cause it's gettin' so late
But your mother is going to worry because it's getting late.
I just wanted to tell you, that I love you so
I just wanted to tell you how much I love you.
So... we'd better go
So we should probably leave.
I want you to know now, that I think you're nice
I want you to know that I think you're pleasant.
But I reckon I'll wait till tomorrow night
But I think I'll wait until tomorrow night.
And... I'll kiss you twice
And I'll kiss you twice.
Contributed by Penelope B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
My car's on fire!
Another undiscovered gem by Eddie Boy! Thanks for posting on behalf of all us Cochranmaniacs!
Donna Doering
Another great 👍 gem by beautiful Eddie Cochran. Love ❤️ all his music ❤️❤️❤️❤️🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦
HarryWebb46
Rock 'n' Roll's Greatest Ambassador!
HarryWebb46
American Legend! Rockabilly Superman!
brenda flores
this song is a real beauty!! i love eddie!! such great songs=)
Colin Purssey
Just love that guitar solo too !
Jaana Jämsen
It is so unbelievebel how much a man can do in four years...Mostly musicians and bands do their jobs about a decate, before they got a recording contract. But that was before the rock and roll-"busy times" ;)
barrygioportmorien1
Great song, Ricky Nelson does a great version also.
L0ngLiveRnR
No problems Rover, you're still doing a great job with all of your videos :) Thanks a lot cat! :)
Bianca Bagnolet
c'est magnifique c'est trop trop trop mimi j'adore 👍