♫ Unchained Melody ♫

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, History, music

The other night, I stumbled across this song in my archives that I played a couple of years ago.  I took a minute to listen and thought it was about time to play it again, since so many of you loved this one.  When I last played this, a number of readers suggested other versions by artists such as Ann Wilson, Roy Hamilton, The Platters, and Marc Martel, but since I didn’t want to put multiple versions here, I simply provided the links … click on whichever one you might wish to hear.  My favourite remains the Righteous Brothers, but perhaps only because that is the one I’m most familiar with.

This is a 1955 song with music by Alex North and lyrics by Hy Zaret. North wrote the music as a theme for the little-known prison film Unchained (1955), hence the song title. Todd Duncan sang the vocals for the film soundtrack. It has since become a standard and one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century, most notably by the Righteous Brothers. According to the song’s publishing administrator, over 1,500 recordings of Unchained Melody have been made by more than 670 artists, in multiple languages!  Wow, huh?

In 1955, three versions of the song (by Les Baxter, Al Hibbler, and Roy Hamilton) charted in the Billboard Top 10 in the United States, and four versions (by Al Hibbler, Les Baxter, Jimmy Young, and Liberace) appeared in the Top 20 in the United Kingdom simultaneously, an unbeaten record for any song.

Of the hundreds of recordings made, the Righteous Brothers’ version in July 1965, with a solo by Bobby Hatfield, became the jukebox standard after its release. Hatfield changed the melody in the final verse and many subsequent covers of the song are based on his version. The Righteous Brothers recording achieved a second round of great popularity when featured in the film Ghost in 1990.

I am amazed at some of the artists that have covered this song:

Barry Manilow, Cyndi Lauper, Elvis Presley, the Supremes, George Benson, U2 and many more.  Plus … Bono and The Edge also performed the song together with “One” for the charity 46664 Concert in tribute to Nelson Mandela held in Cape Town in 2003.

Unchained melody
The Righteous Brothers

Oh, my love, my darling
I’ve hungered for your touch
A long, lonely time
Time goes by so slowly
And time can do so much
Are you still mine?
I need your love
I need your love
God speed your love to me

Lonely rivers flow
To the sea, to the sea
To the open arms of the sea
Lonely rivers sigh
“Wait for me, wait for me”
I’ll be coming home, wait for me

Oh, my love, my darling
I’ve hungered, for your touch
A long, lonely time
Time goes by so slowly
And time can do so much
Are you still mine?
I need your love
I need your love
God speed your love to me

Songwriters: Alex North / Hyman Zaret
Unchained melody lyrics © Unchained Melody Pub LLC

39 thoughts on “♫ Unchained Melody ♫”

  1. Jill, this is truly a great song and requires a singer with a set of pipes, which all of the names noted have. The Righteous Brothers set the bar. I am the one who suggested Ann Wilson’s version as she tears it up, but I could see folks fancying Roy Orbison’s version. Keith

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    • Yes, I knew it was you who suggested Ann Wilson’s, and I was planning to play that as a 2nd option, but then I saw how many others had made suggestions and I knew I couldn’t play them all, so instead I just provided links to a few of the better ones. I listened to Roy Orbison’s tonight, and I really did like it, too!

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    • Well … I’m much like you in that. I cannot abide romance novels and as for this song, I love the melody and the voices, but never paid much attention to the lyrics. Since I’ve been a failure at long-lasting relationships all my life, I guess I’m not a romantic at heart, either! I gave up on romantic love years ago.

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      • If relationships are not long lasting, does that necessarily mean they are failures? Perhaps they had reached their “use by” date, after which the become stale and it’s best to discard them. Success or failure depends one’s perspective.

        There are those who consider I’ve been a failure at relationships because I have had only one. And I mean that literally. No teen romance that fizzled out after a week or two. In fact until I met the person who became my wife, I had never even been on a date. So even though we’ve been together for over 50 years, in many respects I’m still a novice floundering in my first relationship. It has been, and still is, a journey of discovery.

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        • On the contrary, I think a 50+ year relationship is quite an accomplishment! People grow, mature, and change over the course of time, and not always in the same direction, which I believe is the cause of most divorces. You and your wife both have proven you have what it takes to compromise, to sometimes bite your tongue, and to love deeply. That’s laudable!

          I think in my case perhaps I expect too much from a relationship. But, it’s all good because I am perfectly content with my daughter and granddaughter as my housemates … we get along so well that there’s only an argument about once every 5 years or so!

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  5. Dearest Jill, I accidentally sent the first part of the post before I had fininished, and before I could proofread it. This one I would like to have cleaned up, if possible, and even have the two amalgamsted into one. It would mean a lot to me. Thanks. LuL.

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    • That’s okay … I figured out what had happened! Don’t worry … everybody else will figure it out too … it’s an ‘oopsie’ we have ALL made at least a few times, hitting that ‘send’ button before we meant to!

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      • Yeah, but all the typos. I am trying to pay more attention to them. A religious blogger accused me of being uneducated cuz I never used to correct a lot of my typos. I knew they were typos, but she saw them as not knowing how to speak good English. I would have loved to play her Scrabble for a buck a point.

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        • That person who critiqued you and labeled you based on your typos is an arrogant idiot. I don’t usually even notice them unless I can’t figure out what you meant. Heh heh … remind me never to play Scrabble with you!!! I’m not much good at it to begin with!

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  6. If, and that is a BIG IF, the Righteoys Brothers had not done this, I think Roy Orbison’s version would be close to the top. The thing is, if I ever knew, knowing it is a song about a man inprison adds to its appeal, and makes it eadier to understand his motivation. My time spent in jail was not long, but the lack of female companionship was excruciating. I gave always had mire women friends than man friends, and when I was surrounded by only men every minute of every dsy, i grew to love all women even more, and appreciate what they add to life. That is why, even though I did not immediately stop breaking the law upon my release (I sold grass and acid as my day job)

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    • I haven’t listened to Orbison’s version … somehow this doesn’t seem his style, but I’ll check it out innabit. Given what your day job was, it’s a thousand wonders you didn’t end up spending a decade or two in prison! I’m glad you didn’t, though. 😉

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      • I spent 3 months in jail, 3 months analyzing how I got caught. I learned. 1. Never do your own drugs. 2. Never have product on you. 3. Check everyone’s shoes for spit and polish shine. 4. Never sell to anyone who isn’t buying for personal use. And a few others I forget now. I survived two undercover cop investigations, telling my friends who not to sell to. Most did not listen. I never got caught by surprise searches. And I told the homeless person following me for two weeks he really ought to have a better disguise. (I could see my face in the shine on his shoes, but he had no idea.) But when one of the undercover cops put a hit out on me for embarrassing him in front of his buds, I decided that was quitting time. (He tried to hire a friend of mine in the local bike gang, where he had been posing as a member.) I left town for 5 years and kept a very low profile. And I hope he doesn’t read your blog now, if he is still alive. He will revognize me in an instant from what I just revealed.

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  8. Lovely song, and this is the version I grew up with. I was only 2 when Jimmy Young had his hit with it here, so it rather passed me by! It has actually sold more copies here than over there, thanks largely to reaching #1 in 1990 with the re-release. But this is only the third best selling version here, beaten by Gareth Gates (from one of those ‘reality’ shows) and Robson & Jerome – yup, them again!

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