Céline Dion: "All By Myself" (2010)

"All by Myself" is a power ballad written and performed by Eric Carmen in 1975.

The verse borrows very heavily from the second movement (Adagio Sostenuto) of Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Opus 18, which Carmen believed was in the public domain. Having found it was not only after the record had been issued, Carmen had to come to an agreement with the Rachmaninoff estate. Early versions, therefore, only give writing credit to Carmen while later versions also credit Rachmaninoff. The chorus borrows from a song "Let's Pretend" that Carmen had written for the Raspberries in 1973. Carmen's full version has an extended piano solo and lasts over seven minutes. There is also an edited version of 4 minutes 22 seconds.

The song was the first release from Carmen's first solo LP after leaving the power pop group the Raspberries and was originally recorded by the author and released in December 1975 to great success. It reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 1 on Cash Box Top 100 Singles and number 12 in the UK. The single sold more than one million copies in the United States and was certified gold by the RIAA in April 1976. In a 2006 poll for UK's Five programme Britain's Favourite Break-up Songs Eric Carmen's version of this song was voted seventeenth.

Carmen's original version has spawned numerous cover versions by such artists as Céline Dion, Frank Sinatra, and Igudesman & Joo. It should not be confused with the jazz standard of the same name, written by Irving Berlin and performed by Ella Fitzgerald.

On his second solo LP, Boats Against the Current, Carmen had a subsequent Top 40 hit entitled "She Did It" which was the antithesis of "All by Myself." It is a happy answer to the loneliness and lovelessness described in this song and its equally melancholy follow-up "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again."


- Lyrics:

When I was young
I never needed anyone
And making love was just for fun
Those days are gone
Livin' alone
I think of all the friends I've known
When I dial the telephone
Nobody's home

All by myself
Don't wanna be
All by myself
Anymore

Hard to be sure
Sometimes I feel so insecure
And loves so distant and obscure
Remains the cure

All by myself
Don't wanna be
All by myself
Anymore
All by myself
Don't wanna live
All by myself
Anymore

When I was young
I never needed anyone
Making love was just for fun
Those days are gone

All by myself
Don't wanna be
All by myself
Anymore
All by myself
Don't wanna live
Oh
Don't wanna live
By myself, by myself
Anymore
By myself
Anymore
Oh
All by myself
Don't wanna live
I never, never, never
Needed anyone