Song Lyric Sunday: Alone Again Or

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This week Jim has given us ‘user choice’ as the prompt for Song Lyric Sunday. I checked last week with him to make sure that it was the obvious meaning, and it was. Of course it was – what else could it be? Read all about it here in his post, U Do U. Now the potential difficulty of doing this crept in: so many songs, so little time. But I decided to make it easy on myself and give you my favourite song of all time. Ever. Since I first heard it all those years ago. Here it is:

And here are the lyrics:

Yeah, said it’s all right
I won’t forget
All the times I’ve waited patiently for you
And you’ll do just what you choose to do
And I will be alone again tonight my dear

Yeah, I heard a funny thing
Somebody said to me
You know that I could be in love with almost everyone
I think that people are
The greatest fun
And I will be alone again tonight my dear

Yeah, I heard a funny thing
Somebody said to me
You know that I could be in love with almost everyone
I think that people are
The greatest fun
And I will be alone again tonight my dear

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Bryan A. MacLean

Alone Again Or lyrics © Embassy Music Corp., Breadcrust Music, Three Wise Boys Music Llc.

No matter how many times I hear this song that blend of beautiful acoustic guitar, the haunting strings and the glorious mariachi trumpet gets me every time. I don’t like this song: I LOVE it! There have been a number of cover versions but for me none of them comes remotely close to the original. Calexico didn’t do a bad job with it, and at least the trumpet part was in keeping with their usual style. But The Damned? They should be: in Hell for eternity. You can try and copy the music but if you have a ‘singer’ with the flattest of voices you really shouldn’t take on great, iconic songs!

Alone Again Or was the opening track of what has since become a classic album, Forever Changes. This wasn’t particularly successful when it was first released in November 1967: it peaked at #154 in the US but did better in the UK, where it reached #24. Since then, however, it has become recognised as an influential example of Sixties psychedelia and has been named among the greatest albums of all time by a wide range of publications. This was the first of three tracks taken as a single from it, in January 1968, but it only made #123 in the US and didn’t chart in the UK as far as I can tell. It had originally been written by Bryan MacLean in 1965, but was reworked for the release of Forever Changes, with a little assistance from fellow band member Arthur Lee, who suggested the addition of the Or to the song’s original title of Alone Again. MacLean wrote it about his frustration in waiting for a girlfriend who was late for a date, and the additional word was felt to add a little mystique to it. Lee’s influence didn’t end there: his vocals were thought to be stronger than MacLean’s so the version put down on the record featured them as co-singers.

As this wasn’t a huge seller my favourite record shop in downtown Dover didn’t stock it, so I had to make a special order for it, having heard it played on the radio. Even at that early age – I was 14 – I was a regular customer in the shop and on first name terms with the staff there. When I went to collect this Julie, the assistant on that day, looked at it and said she hadn’t even heard of it, so would I mind if she played it in the shop? They had a fantastic sound system and when it had finished we just looked at each other: her reaction was along the lines of “wow, that was good” and the next time I was in there she told me that she had ordered a copy for herself. I may therefore have been responsible for a significant percentage of the record’s UK sales!

I hope you like this song as much as I do. Sharing it today has given me a perfect excuse to play it several times while I put the piece together – as if I needed one. It has also given me an idea for my next Tuesday Tunes post: come back then if you’d like to see what it is. Enjoy the rest of your day 😊🎶🤘

30 thoughts on “Song Lyric Sunday: Alone Again Or”

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  4. At a first glance of the title, I thought this would be “Alone Again, Naturally” by Gilbert O’Sullivan … and I was surprised you would voluntarily play that one, for it doesn’t seem your style! Okay, listening and reading your post has clarified that for me … it ain’t the same song! Since this is your all-time fave, I’ll just leave it at … it didn’t offend my ears.

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  7. Favorite song of all time—that’s a big statement. I’m not sure I could choose one. I usually say “my top five bands” or “my top ten songs.”

    It is an outstanding piece of music, and I can certainly understand why you like it. I remember the song well. It has a bit of a Moody Blues feel to it.

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    • Maybe, but I loved it the first time I heard it and despite countless plays over the years I still do. I think it’s a masterpiece. Not sure that the Moodies ever used mariachi trumpets though 🤣

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    • I’m pleased you like it. Probably not widely known but very much a cult following for the band these days. I’ve loved this since the first time I heard it. Where did those 54 years go!

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  10. Record shops were great…the saving up to be able to purchase something was painful though until I got a Saturday job!
    My almost fifty year old eldest son is now in to vinyl and is buying loads!
    Great song thank you for the reminder ❤️

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