Only Love Can Break Your Heart
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2009) |
| "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| B-side | "Birds" |
"Only Love Can Break Your Heart" is a song written by Neil Young. It has been covered by many bands, including a 1990 single by Saint Etienne.
Genesis and recording
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,[1] though Young in interviews has been somewhat tentative in admitting or remembering this.[2] 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.[3] 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.[4] The song is praised as a "seemingly simple song which display[s] considerable attention to detail in the deployment of instruments."[5]
Saint Etienne version
| "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| B-side | "The Official Saint Etienne World Cup Theme" (UK) "Filthy" (UK reissue) "Stoned to Say the Least" (USA) |
In 1990, English band Saint Etienne recorded a cover version of the song, included on their debut album Foxbase Alpha. The vocals are by Moira Lambert, as Sarah Cracknell had not yet joined the band as a permanent member.[7] The band recorded the song in producer Ian Catt's bedroom studio in Pollards Hill.[8] The recording, made in under two hours, got them a record deal, their first single, and their first hit.[9] Andrew Weatherall later remixed the song to further emphasise the 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.[10] The song remains Saint Etienne's only entry in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 97 in 1992. 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."[11]
Two videos were released for the single. The original version is mostly in black and white and depicts Lambert doing the vocals. The second features Cracknell miming to Lambert's vocals and depicts the band entering a cinema in a small French town where they see themselves in a movie.
Other cover versions
- Jackie DeShannon sang it on her Jackie album (1972).
- Bradford Cox aka Atlas Sound covered the song for his blog.[12]
- Rock musician Juliana Hatfield recorded the song for her collection Gold Stars 1992-2002: The Juliana Hatfield Collection.
- Canadian alt-country rocker Kathleen Edwards recorded the song live for her iTunes exclusive Live Session.
- British singer Elkie Brooks achieved a UK hit with the song in 1978, which was taken from her Shooting Star album.
- Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young performed the song during their Live Aid set in 1985.
- British girl group the Mint Juleps recorded the song in 1986.
- Rapper/singer Everlast covered the song for the 1999 film Big Daddy.
- Psychic TV played the song on The Bridge: A Tribute to Neil Young in 1989.
- The Corrs recorded the song for VH1 Presents: The Corrs, Live in Dublin; The New Rolling Stone Album Guide called their version "pretty but lightweight."[13]
- Damien Leith covered the song on his album Catch the Wind: Songs of a Generation, which reached number 1 on the ARIA Chart for Australian albums.
- It is a bonus track on the re-released John Baldry album Everything Stops for Tea as a duet between Baldry and Joyce Everson.
- Gwyneth Herbert recorded the song for her debut album Bittersweet and Blue. Her cover also appears in the film Leap Year.
- The New Standards recorded the song for their eponymous album released in 2005.
- Indonesian garage rock band The S.I.G.I.T. also covered the song on their album Hertz Dyslexia.
- Butch Walker released a live version on his iTunes release, Live from Lollapalooza.
- I Blame Coco has recorded covers of both the Neil Young and Saint Etienne versions of the song. A cover of Young's version was released with Fyfe Dangerfield in 2010. A cover of the Saint Etienne version appears on the album The Constant.
- Angie Hart sang it on her Eat My Shadow album.
- A sampled portion of the Saint Etienne version was used in a remix for Chez Damier's 1992 single "Can You Feel It."
- Indie singer Charley released her version in February 2013.
- Rickie Lee Jones covered it on her album "The Devil You Know" album, released in 2012.
Chart performance
| Artist | Chart (1970) | Peak position |
|---|---|---|
| Neil Young | U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 33 |
| Artist | Chart (1991) | Peak position |
| Saint Etienne | UK Singles Chart | 39 |
| Artist | Chart (1992) | Peak position |
| Saint Etienne | U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 97 |
| Saint Etienne | U.S. Hot Dance Club Play | 1 |
| Saint Etienne | U.S. Modern Rock Tracks | 11[14] |
Chart Successions
References
- ^ McDonough, Jimmy (2003). Shakey: Neil Young's Biography. Random House. pp. 339–40. ISBN 978-0-679-31193-5.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Thompson, Ben (1993-06-27). "Lives of the Great Songs: Soft, strong and not very long: Only Love Can Break Your Heart: It was written by one of Crosby Stills Nash & Young, for another, and later ruined by a third. Ben Thompson compiles the second in our series of song biographies". The Independent. Retrieved 2009-07-28.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Lonergan, David F. Hit records, 1950-1975. Scarecrow. p. 168. ISBN 978-0-8108-5129-0.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ McDonough, Jimmy (2003). Shakey: Neil Young's Biography. Random House. p. 750. ISBN 978-0-679-31193-5.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Echard, William (2005). Neil Young and the poetics of energy. Indiana University Press. p. 91. ISBN 978-0-253-21768-4.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ http://www.allmusic.com/artist/saint-etienne-mn0000831215 "In the spring of 1990, Saint Etienne released their first single, a house-tinged cover of Neil Young's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart,""
- ^ Kelly, N (2009-05-30). "Pop's never-never band return to the source". Irish Independent. Retrieved 2009-06-05.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Saint Etienne official site: Only Love Can Break Your Heart
- ^ Hodgkinson, Will (2008). Song Man: A Melodic Adventure, Or, My Single-Minded Approach to Songwriting. Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-81581-2.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Warwick, Neil (2004). The complete book of the British charts: singles & albums. Omnibus. p. 950. ISBN 978-1-84449-058-5.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ "Second Time Around". Vibe. March 2003. p. 160.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Cox, Bradford (August 13, 2007). "Atlas Sound - Only Love Can Break Your Heart (N. Young / Psychic TV Cover)". deerhunter / atlas sound / lotus plaza blog. Retrieved October 17, 2009.
- ^ Brackett, Nathan (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide: Completely Revised and Updated 4th Edition. Simon and Schuster. p. 193. ISBN 978-0-7432-0169-8.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ https://www.allmusic.com/album/r17273/charts-awards
