“Alone” by Heart

Alone’s lyrics focus on a single woman (Ann Wilson) whose heart is bursting with the strong feelings she has for the addressee. She and this person (whom we presume is a male) have apparently known each other for a while. From the looks of things, it is possible that they are even close friends.

However, she has fallen for him and is burning with the strong desire to tell him exactly how she feels.

Prior to falling in love with him, she was what we would term as a bonafide single woman who had zero interest in being in a romantic relationship. She loved her singleness and never thought for a second that she’d fall so deeply in love with someone let alone the addressee, her friend. It is for this reason that in the first and second lines of the chorus, she talks about always getting by on her own and never really caring about romantic love. This was until the addressee came into her life.

But things have changed now. She has fallen head over heels for the addressee. And as if that isn’t enough, she lacks the courage to tell him how she truly feels about him.

It should be noted that the narrator has been struggling with this for a long time now. How does she tell him that she loves him? How would he react to hearing that? Would he also have similar feelings for her? Would her telling him about her feelings destroy their platonic relationship? So many questions on rushing through the mind of our narrator.  

“How do I get you alone”?

But in the present, she’s ready to disclose her feelings to him. She has decided that now is the time to take that bold step. But how she’s going to summon the courage to do that is something she has absolutely no idea. Hence the question: “How do I get you alone”?

On the surface, getting the addressee alone seems as though the narrator is yearning for a moment when she and the addressee are alone so she can make her love for him known. But it could also mean something totally different. For example, it could also mean finally having him all to herself via a satisfactory or meaningful romantic union.

Multiple Versions

There are several officially released versions of this classic. But of all these versions, Heart’s version is the most famous. That being said, it should be clearly stated out that “Alone” wasn’t originally recorded by Heart. Simply put, their version is a cover.  

The original recording of this piece was done by a music duo known as i-Ten and released in 1983. A year later, i-Ten’s original version was covered by the American actor who goes by the name John Stamos. He recorded it alongside an actress named Valerie Stevenson. Their version was made specifically for the 1980s American sitcom titled “Dreams”.

In 2007, Canadian singing legend Celine Dion also came out with a pretty powerful rendition of this piece. Dion’s version was successful. However, it was nowhere as successful as that of Heart’s.  

Heart’s Version of “Alone”

Heart released their noted version in May of 1987. It was the first official single they put out from their Grammy-nominated “Bad Animals” album. The cover was so brilliant that it quickly became one of the biggest hits of the band’s career. Actually some even consider it to be their signature song.

Chart-wise, this cover made it to the top spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 and third on U.K.’s official singles chart. Up until now, “Alone” remains Heart’s most commercially successful song in Britain.

In addition to being a success in the aforementioned regions, “Alone” also gave Heart a top-10 hit in the countries mentioned below:

• Australia – #6
• Belgium – #8
• Canada -#1
• Ireland – #3
• Netherlands – #6
• Norway – #5
• Switzerland – #4

Who wrote “Alone”?

As was stated above, this masterpiece wasn’t composed by Heart. Two American musicians and songwriters hold the writing credits for it. They are:

• Billy Steinberg
• Tom Kelly

The pair not only wrote this song but were also the first to record and release it. They released it under the aforementioned moniker i-Ten.