“I Think We’re Alone Now” by Tiffany

It seems that Britney Spears wasn’t the first female singer to have a debut hit single in her mid-teens via a song with sexual innuendos. And that’s because a solid decade before “…Baby One More Time” came out, we had “I Think We’re Alone Now” by Tiffany.

Music, of course, is an art form. And the way art is interpreted is ultimately up to the listener. But usually, as in the case of “I Think We’re Alone Now”, even such open-ended songs tend to have a generally discernible premise. And the premise in this scenario is that the vocalist and addressee, as youth, are doing things with each other in an amorous kind of way that the elders do not approve of. 

Or put more into layman’s terms, they’re fooling around behind the backs of the adults in their lives.

Now what is ultimately up to the interpretation of respective audience members is exactly what such fooling around entails. Yes, there’s hand holding and snuggling and those types of, shall we say youthful displays of affection. But there’s also some ‘tumbling to the ground’ involved here. 

And we know that a lot of things can happen when lovers get to tumbling. But the lyrics don’t actually take it there, not even mentioning the act of kissing, probably because they actually date back to the mid-20^th century.

Thesis Sentiment of “I Think We’re Alone Now”

So as far as the thesis sentiment goes, taking the title into consideration it would center on the vocalist looking forward to moments when she and her sweetheart can be alone. And why? This is because it is only then that they can do the types of things that lovers do, including even standard PDA, as their romance is forbidden due to their age. 

But that said, being that they are indeed mid-teen lovers, it would be logical to deduce that some of the acts they engage in must, in the name of standard decency, be done in private. So that’s why the vocalist being alone with her boyfriend is like the hottest time of her day.

Did Tiffany write “I Think We’re Alone Now”?

No. This tune was written by a Brooklynite named Ritchie Cordell (1943-2004). It was originally released by an outfit known as Tommy James and the Shondells, who first dropped “I Think We’re Alone Now” in 1967. 

The song proved to be a hit and was subsequently covered by numerous other artists in the decades that followed. And out of all of the notable renditions that have come out thus far, including the original, Tiffany’s cover has proven the most successful of the lot.

Tiffany

Tiffany is a singer from California who, just as an interesting side note, is multiracial, i.e. of European, Middle Eastern and Native American lineage. Hers may not be a particularly well-known brand, but she burst hard onto the scene in 1987. This was when her debut, self-titled LP topped the Billboard 200 and achieved platinum status four times over in her homeland. And at the time said album blew up, she was only 16 years of age.

Tiffany’s Cover of “I Think We’re Alone Now”

And it is from her debut album that Tiffany’s cover of “I Think We’re Alone Now” is derived, also being the second single from Tiffany. 

This track in particular was released on 1 August 1987 by MCA Records. And to note a remixed, rerecorded rendition of the tune is featured on Tiffany’s 2005 outing “Dust Off and Dance”. And there is yet another rerecording on another studio album entitled “Shadows”.

This track went on to earn the distinction of being one of the few hits in history to top both the Billboard 200 and UK Singles Chart. It also reached number one on Canada Top Singles and did so in a few other countries. And as far as certifications go, Tiffany’s cover went gold in the UK and Canada.

It is actually the producer of this track, George Tobin, who convinced Tiffany to cover it – well that and how her homeys reacted when they heard his updated version of the tune.

Tobin was also Tiffany’s manager from the start of her career. Additionally, he acted as both the director and cameraman of this track’s music video. The said video was actually filmed in various shopping malls in Utah as well as in the UK.

More Interesting Facts

According to Tiffany, she was doing the dishes when she heard her that her cover of the song had hit number 1.

Tiffany recorded a more recent video to “I Think We’re Alone Now” in 2019. Marc Trojanowski served as the director of the 2019 video.

This song has made an appearance on a couple of TV shows, including Full House (1988) and The Umbrella Academy (2019). And it appeared on both of the first two installments in the Ted movie franchise.

Tiffany and her rendition of this song made fresh headlines in late 2021 when the songstress, at the time being 50 years old, reportedly had vocal trouble with her performance and proceeded to curse members of the audience.

Tiffany later apologized for the incident. She blamed the incident on a panic attack that she suddenly suffered as a result of losing her voice during the performance.