"Alone Again (Naturally)" is a song by Irish singer-songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan. Recorded in 1971, it became a worldwide hit. The song did not originally appear on his 1972 studio album Back to Front, but has been included in reissues (often replacing "Clair").
The single spent six non-consecutive weeks at number one on Billboard'sHot 100 between late July and early September 1972 in America. It ranked number two in the year-end chart and sold over two million copies.[5]
The song was involved in a notable 1991 court case in which it set a precedent for the music industry that unauthorized sampling of music can constitute copyright infringement.[6]
Lyrics
"Alone Again (Naturally)" is a melancholy, introspective ballad. In the first verse, the singer contemplates suicide after having been left at the altar; in the second, he wonders if there is a God; finally, he laments the death of his parents. O'Sullivan has said the song is not autobiographical: for example, his mother was alive during its composition, and he was not close to his father, who was abusive to his mother and died when the singer was 11 years old.[7]
Musical Structure
Despite being essentially a pop ballad, the song has musical structure and harmony untypical to pop songs. It contains 3 verses and a bridge, with no chorus, as every verse ends with the song's title line - "Alone again, Naturally". The verses are in the key of F# major and the bridge (after the 2 verses) changes the key to A major before returning to F# major for the 3rd and final verse. The song has a relatively complex harmony using chords and progressions more common in jazz than in pop music, such as half diminished and flat ninth chords. The piano technique used on the song is typical to O'Sullivan's playing style with a percussive bass note on the left hand and the chord changes on the right.
Reception
The song received extensive radio airplay in the months after its release and was critically praised. O'Sullivan commented: “Neil Diamond covered 'Alone Again (Naturally)' and said he couldn't believe a 21-year-old wrote it, but for me it was just one song I had written.”[8]Neil Sedaka stated when he covered the song in 2020 that he wished that he himself had written the song, because its complexity was more typical of someone much older than 21.[9]
Chart performance
Between late July and early September 1972 in America the single spent six non-consecutive weeks at number one on Billboard'sHot 100 – interrupted by Looking Glass's "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)" – and ranked no. 2 in the year-end chart. It spent six weeks at number one, 11 weeks in the Top Ten, 15 weeks in the Top 40 and 18 weeks on the Hot 100. In a decade-end survey as counted down on syndicated radio show Casey Kasem's American Top 40, using Billboard statistics, "Alone Again (Naturally)" ranked five. It also spent six weeks at number one on Billboard's Easy Listening chart.[10] In April 1972 "Alone Again" peaked at no. 3 on the UK singles chart.[11]
Grand Upright Music, Ltd v. Warner Bros. Records Inc. was a copyright case heard in 1991 by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The case pitted O'Sullivan against Biz Markie, after the rapper sampled O'Sullivan's song "Alone Again (Naturally)". The court ruled that sampling without permission can be copyright infringement. The judgment changed the hip hop music industry, requiring that music sampling be preapproved by the original copyright owners to avoid a lawsuit.[29]
Shirley Bassey covered this song on her 1976 album titled, Shirley Bassey - Love, Life & Feelings. She performed this song on her 1976 TV Variety Show with Gilbert O'Sullivan's accompaniment on the piano.
Nina Simone, included as a bonus track on the 1988 digital reissue of her 1982 album Fodder on My Wings.[31] Simone's version has rewritten lyrics, and refer to her troubled relationship with her late father
UFO recording a cover of this song in their 1977 album "Lights Out".
Vulfmon, the solo moniker of Jack Stratton of Vulfpeck, included a cover of the song, featuring vocals by Monica Martin and additional instrumentation by MAE.SUN, in his 2022 debut album under the new alias, titled "Here We Go Jack."
