"Alone Again (Naturally)" | ||||
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Single by Gilbert O'Sullivan | ||||
B-side | "Save It" | |||
Released | 18 February 1972 (UK) [1] May 1972 (US) [1] | |||
Recorded | 1971 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:36 | |||
Label | MAM | |||
Songwriter(s) | Gilbert O'Sullivan | |||
Producer(s) | Gordon Mills | |||
Gilbert O'Sullivan singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Alone Again (Naturally)" at Studio 10 on YouTube |
"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's Hot 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]
"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]
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]
Between late July and early September 1972 in America the single spent six non-consecutive weeks at number one on Billboard's Hot 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]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
All-time charts
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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. [28]
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Grand Upright Music, Ltd v. Warner Bros. Records Inc., 780 F. Supp. 182, was a copyright case heard by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan sued rapper Biz Markie after Markie sampled O'Sullivan's song "Alone Again (Naturally)". The court ruled that sampling without permission constitutes copyright infringement. The judgment changed the hip hop music industry, requiring that any future music sampling be approved by the original copyright owners.
Raymond Edward "Gilbert" O'Sullivan is an Irish singer-songwriter who achieved his most significant success during the early 1970s with hits such as "Alone Again (Naturally)", "Clair" and "Get Down". His songs are often marked by his distinctive, percussive piano playing style and observational lyrics using word play.
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"Get Down" is a song by Irish singer-songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan, from his 1973 album I'm a Writer, Not a Fighter. Released as a single, it spent two weeks at the top of the UK Singles Chart in April 1973, was also a number-one hit in Ireland for three weeks and was a top-ten hit in the United States and Canada. The song was originally used by O'Sullivan as a piano warm-up tune, but was eventually extended into a full song and released as a single; O'Sullivan recorded and released the song as a change from his more melancholy pieces.
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...the popularity of "Alone Again (Naturally)." One of the year's most popular songs was a florid pop trifle...