Lyrically, the song was inspired by Blondie frontwoman Deborah Harry's experience with a stalker in the early 1970s, an incident which forced her to move away from New Jersey.

The song's music was composed by bassist Nigel Harrison, who introduced the Ventures-influenced track to keyboardist Jimmy Destri.

It was not released as a single in the UK, but later charted in 2013, along with a cover by British band One Direction for Comic Relief, with the latter reaching number 1.

Although never officially released as a single in the United Kingdom,[9] the song charted there from download sales in February 2013 due to the success of One Direction's cover "One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)".

Blondie released a manipulated live version of the song (with the audience noise removed) as the theme for the 1999 US television series Snoops.

[17] Harry has since noted the song as a live favorite, recalling concerts where the crowd would point back at her and sing along.

A spokesperson for Syco Music told the Daily Mirror, "It is very disappointing that the song has been leaked and we are currently investigating the matter.

Robert Copsey of Digital Spy said "the cheeky lyrics, bouncy pop-rock melody and singalong chorus feel like an obvious but reassuringly safe option for this year's official Comic Relief single", concluding that it was "predictable but [...] undeniably fun".

However, Lamb also noted that "lyrically, 'One Way Or Another' is nearly a song about the finer points of stalking, and that can be just a bit creepy coming from young males.

[40] Writing for MTV, Jenna Rubenstein assessed: "1D's version sticks mainly to the original's vibe, mixing in sugary-sweet pop production with Blondie's punk rock sensibilities.

[43] The Belfast Telegraph was equally critical, blasting the cover as a "travesty" that had been "re-worked into a sanitised Comic Relief single", which were "scrappy shadows of the originals".

[44][45] PopMatters gave it the No.1 spot on its "Best Mainstream Pop Singles of 2013" list, calling it "the most inspired, fun track of the year".

[50] The music video for "One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)" was shot in Ghana, Tokyo, New York City, and London, including at 10 Downing Street, featuring a cameo from the then-British prime minister David Cameron.