Only love can break your heart by neil young

When you were young
and on your own
How did it feel
to be alone?
I was always thinking
of games that I was playing.
Trying to make
the best of my time.

But only love
can break your heart
Try to be sure
right from the start
Yes only love
can break your heart
What if your world
should fall apart?

I have a friend
I've never seen
He hides his head
inside a dream
Someone should call him
and see if he can come out.
Try to lose
the down that he's found.

But only love
can break your heart
Try to be sure
right from the start
Yes only love
can break your heart
What if your world
should fall apart?

I have a friend
I've never seen
He hides his head
inside a dream
Yes, only love
can break your heart
Yes, only love
can break your heart

Writer(s): בלאכר שמואל, Young,neil

album: "After The Goldrush" (1970)

"Only Love Can Break a Heart" is a popular song from 1962, performed by the American singer-songwriter Gene Pitney. The song was written by Hal David (words) and Burt Bacharach (music) and appears on Pitney's second album Only Love Can Break a Heart.

Gene Pitney version[edit]

Pitney had enjoyed some success as a songwriter prior to breaking through as a performer in his own right. He wrote the songs "Hello Mary Lou", "Rubber Ball", and "He's a Rebel", the last a number-one Billboard Hot 100 hit for The Crystals in 1962.[1] Ironically, Pitney's success as a singer was beginning at that time, and, on November 3, 1962, "He's a Rebel" kept "Only Love Can Break a Heart", Pitney's highest charting hit, at No. 2 for one week, from topping the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[2][3] The song also spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart in October and November 1962,[4] while reaching No. 2 on New Zealand's "Lever Hit Parade".[5] Pitney did his own whistling on the song.

Chart performance[edit]

Country music versions[edit]

Country music singers Sonny James and Kenny Dale also recorded cover versions of "Only Love Can Break a Heart". Both versions reached the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart during the 1970s.[4] James' version peaked at No. 2 in March 1972, held out of the top by Freddie Hart's "My Hang-Up Is You." As a result, "Only Love ..." just missed continuing James' record-breaking streak of consecutive number-one singles, which had reached 16.[7] Dale's version of the song reached number seven on the Hot Country Singles chart in 1979 and it was his biggest hit on the country charts.

Other versions[edit]

Margaret Whiting charted with the song in 1967. Whiting's version reached No. 96 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 4 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart.[8][9]

Bobby Vinton released the song in 1977, and it reached No. 99 on the Billboard Hot 100,[10] while reaching No. 44 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart,[11] and No. 50 on the RPM "Adult Oriented Playlist" in Canada.[12] Vinton's version appears on his album The Name Is Love.

Dionne Warwick released her version of the song as a single in 1977, but it only reached No. 9 on the "Bubbling Under" portion of the Billboard Hot 100,[4] as well as No. 46 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary Charts.

"Only Love Can Break Your Heart" is a song written by Canadian-American singer-songwriter, musician, and activist Neil Young. It has been covered by many bands.

Genesis and recording[edit]

The song is the third track on Neil Young's album After the Gold Rush. The song was supposedly written for Graham Nash after Nash's split from Joni Mitchell,[2] though Young in interviews has been somewhat tentative in admitting or remembering this.[3] Released as a single in October 1970, it became Young's first top 40 hit as a solo artist, peaking at number 33 in the U.S.[4] The single was issued with a Crazy Horse version of "Birds" (rather than the solo piano version of the album) on the B-side, apparently accidentally.[5] The song is praised as a "seemingly simple song which display[s] considerable attention to detail in the deployment of instruments."[6]

Saint Etienne version[edit]

• "The Official Saint Etienne World Cup Theme" (UK)
• "Filthy" (UK reissue)
• "Stoned to Say the Least" (United States)

In 1990, English band Saint Etienne recorded a cover version of "Only Love Can Break Your Heart", which was included on their debut album, Foxbase Alpha. The vocals are by Moira Lambert (Sarah Cracknell had not yet joined the band as a permanent member).[9] The band recorded the song in producer Ian Catt's bedroom studio in Pollards Hill.[10] The recording, made in under two hours, got them a record deal, their first single, and their first hit.[11] Andrew Weatherall later remixed the song, further emphasising its dub bassline: this remix, subtitled "A Mix of Two Halves" (duration 8:49), was featured on both releases of the single and on the compilation Casino Classics. The U.S. and European releases contained a different extended mix by Flowered Up (duration 6:19), issued in the UK only on a flexidisc, though it was mistakenly listed as the "Mix of Two Halves". Weatherall had no involvement with this mix.

The song was re-released in the UK as a double A-side with the track "Filthy", peaking at number 39 in the UK Singles Chart. "Filthy", was later covered as "Jungle Pulse" by Etienne Daho.[12] The song remains Saint Etienne's only entry in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 97 in 1992.[13] It did, however, top the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart. The U.S. b-side to the single was the Foxbase Alpha album track "Stoned to Say the Least." In 2003, Vibe listed Masters at Work's remix of the song as one of the "Top 25 remixes ever created."[14]

Critical reception[edit]

In contemporary reviews, Larry Flick from Billboard wrote that the band "reinterprets Neil Young tune into a glowing swing/hip-hop jam."[15] David Giles from Music Week stated that the song is "sung in beautifully husky tones, and set to a snails-pace dance rhythm, that is already proving immensely popular at club level."[16] A reviewer from Smash Hits called it a "brilliant dance version".[17]

In retrospective reviews, Justin Chadwick from Albumism described the cover version as "stirring", stating that it "manages to stay faithful to the original's melancholy weight while transforming Young's minimalist composition into a fresh and thrilling dancefloor-friendly affair." He added, "Propelled by multi-layered dub basslines, house rhythms, piano loops, and pounding drum breaks, the group's interpolation sounds little like Young's 1970 single, save for the equally plaintive power of Lambert's ruminations."[18] Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic said it is "not only cleverly ironic, but also works".[19]

Music video[edit]

Two music videos were released for the single. The original version is mostly in black and white and depicts Lucy Gillie from early 90s pop trio Golden miming the vocals (Lambert refused to appear in the video).[20] The second features Cracknell miming to Lambert's vocals and depicts the band entering a cinema in a small French town (that inspired the group's name) where they see themselves in a movie. The act includes this song in their live shows with Cracknell performing the song.

Did Neil Young write Only Love Can Break Your Heart?

Who wrote Only Love Can Break Your Heart Neil Young?

When was Only Love Can Break Your Heart written?

What song is Neil Young known for?