I apologize … I know I only played this just over a year ago (January 2020), but tonight … well, tonight I have less hope than at any other time in my life, less faith in people than ever before, and for the past two days, tears have been flowing and the smile I paste on for my family is as false as a clown’s mask. I needed this song tonight, so please forgive me.
An aside … last time I played this, blogging friend Jim Borden left the following comment:
“The Boz version will always be one of my favorites, just like Boz. My first date with the woman whom I have now been married to 38 years was a Boz concert… ”
So for you and your lovely wife, Jim, I have added the Boz version.
This song was written by Boz Scaggs who introduced it on his 1976 album Silk Degrees. The song was first a hit for Frankie Valli. But the version that made it to the top ten on the charts in both the UK and the US was the one released in 1977 by Rita Coolidge, and it is that one I want to play for you tonight.
The Rita Coolidge version of We’re All Alone was featured on the album Anytime…Anywhere released in March 1977. According to Coolidge …
“When I was with A&M Records, it was like a family. I would visit Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, and it was a very open, communicative group of people. One day I was in Jerry Moss’ office and he said that the Boz Scaggs album Silk Degrees was in a million homes and there was a song on it that was perfect for a woman to sing. He said, ‘It’s called “We’re All Alone” and as he’s not doing it as a single, I think you ought to record it.'”
The original lyrics of We’re All Alone include lines “Close your eyes ami” and “Throw it to the wind my love”. Coolidge sings these lines as “Close your eyes and dream” and “Owe it to the wind my love”. And, on a personal note … you guys know my poor hearing and how I always get lyrics mixed up … in the line that says “Close the window, calm the light”, I always thought it was “Close the window, come alive”. Oh well. 🙄
For some reason that I cannot identify, and don’t feel like digging too deep to find, this song always first takes my breath, then brings a tear to my eye.
We’re All Alone
Rita Coolidge
Outside the rain begins
And it may never end
So cry no more, on the shore a dream
Will take us out to sea
Forevermore, forevermore
Close your eyes and dream
And you can be with me
‘Neath the waves, through the caves of hours
Gone, forgotten now
We’re all alone, we’re all alone
Close the window, calm the light
And it will be all right
No need to bother now
Let it out, let it all begin
Learn how to pretend
Once a story’s told
It can’t help but grow old
Roses do, lovers too, so cast
Your seasons to the wind
And hold me dear, oh, hold me dear
Close the window, calm the light
And it will be all right
No need to bother now
Let it out, let it all begin
All’s forgotten now
We’re all alone, all alone
Close the window, calm the light
And it will be all right
No need to bother now
Let it out, let it all begin
Owe it to the wind, my love, hold me dear
All’s forgotten now, my love
We’re all alone
Songwriters: William R. Royce Scaggs
We’re All Alone lyrics © Spirit Music Group, BMG Rights Management