When thinking about timeless songs about heartache, one song stands out: Eric Carmen wrote “All By Myself,” which would be a hit release for him and another music icon decades later.
“All By Myself” was released in 1975 as part of Carmen’s self-titled debut album, but the catch was that he developed the track using an old recording by the Raspberries. The power ballad was developed shortly after Carmen left the power pop group, with him having reportedly written the solo section first over two months.
Carmen needed more to get the track fully developed and was struck with inspiration using Sergei Rachmaninoff‘s second piano concerto. There was a slight issue when he adapted the melody for his own track. The composer’s work was in the public domain, and Carmen believed there were no copyright issues in using it. He had no idea the concerto was protected in other countries and had to come to an agreement over royalties.
Alongside the concerto, a previous hit by the Raspberries, “Let’s Pretend,” was also used to develop the chorus of “All by Myself.” According to SmoothRadio, Carmen felt the Raspberries track didn’t go as far as he had hoped and thought, “I’ll go back and steal from myself for this.”
The track was praised by critics as a superb rock ballad that landed at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No.1 on Cash Box. For Carmen, the ballad focused on lost love, friendships, and loneliness, with him calling the track “miserable.”
“There’s not nearly as much fuel in being happy as there is in being miserable,” said Carmen, according to American Songwriter. “Being miserable is a great catalyst for songwriting, for me anyway.”
When it came to the song’s effect on people, the musician said it’s self-explanatory once hearing it. He explains that “you’d know what the song was about, and it’s an emotion that everyone has felt at some point in their life. Therefore, it’s a song that goes immediately to your heart. The lyrics are as simple as I could possibly make them. Sometimes my melodies are so dramatic that if the lyric is that dramatic, it’s overkill.”
“All by Myself” would become a soft rock anthem and pop culture sensation that would be covered by multiple artists. One of the most recognizable covers was done by none other than Celine Dion in 1996. Her “out-of-this-world voice” was praised by critics as one of the few capable of lifting the song’s emotional chords. Dion’s cover would land her at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No.1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
Related: 1978 Rock Ballad, Written as an Apology to a Bandmate, Remains a Classic Soft Rock Anthem
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