When I was young/
I never needed anyone…
Those days are gone.
Eric Carmen expresses a couple of interesting ideas in “All By Myself”. One, is that when you are young, you have a lot more friends and you sort of take them for granted. You think you’ll always be able to make friends. But it becomes harder as we get older. Also, when we are younger, many go through a rebellious faze, where they feel they don’t need anyone: that we can do everything by themselves.
Perhaps at that time in their life it is a way of seeking independence from their parents, but here, years later, Carmen finds himself with no one to answer his calls. He is all by himself and he doesn’t want to be that way anymore.
Like many great songs on this list, “All By Myself” is great because the lyrics match the emotional tone of the song. We feel Carmen’s loneliness in his voice: and we feel for him. We also think about the times in our lives that we have been alone and the friendships we have let lapse. Were all of those choices we made the right decision?
I like that the piano carries the first verse and solo until we start adding the full band and orchestration. In the last verse we add a great electric guitar solo followed by the piano solo again. It is a great sequence.
Part of the song is based on a motif of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto in C minor. Here is another song on this list that takes a riff from a classical song and turns it into a pop song.
All By Myself Lyrics
When I was young,
I never needed anyone.
And makin’ love was just for fun.
Those days are gone.
Livin’ alone-
I think of all the friends I’ve known,
But when I dial the telephone,
Nobody’s home.
All by myself,
Don’t want to be
All by myself.
Anymore.
All by myself.
Don’t want to live
All by myself.
Anymore.
Hard to be sure-
Some times I feel so insecure.
And love so distant and obscure,
Remains the cure.
All by myself.
Don’t want to be,
All by myself
Anymore.
All by myself.
Don’t want to live
All by myself.
Anymore.
When I was young,
I never needed anyone.
And makin’ love was just for fun.
Those days are gone.
All by myself,
Don’t want to be, all by myself anymore.
All by myself,
Don’t want to live, all by myself anymore.
All by myself,
Don’t want to be, all by myself anymore.
All by myself,
Don’t want to live, all by myself anymore.
All by myself,
Don’t want to be, all by myself anymore.
Songwriters: Eric Carmen / Sergei Rachmaninoff