“Without You” by Harry Nilsson

The premise of Harry Nilsson’s “Without You” seems to be the singer deciding to break up with his romantic partner. Or as he puts it, he ‘let her go’. But in hindsight that was clearly a blunder. Indeed the implication is that he realized he was making a mistake even when she was “leaving”. So now he is basically reduced to lamenting the fact that he has actually lost her. 

In fact he does not want to face tomorrow “without” her. Or put differently, he is finding it impossible to actually enjoy life devoid of the woman he loves. So the overall insinuation is that this is the tale of a guy who has dumbed out on the romantic tip. Or let’s say he hastily let go of someone who was integral to his overall well-being, obviously not realizing at the time that she did in fact have such an influence over him.

Facts of “Without You”

This song was written by Tom Evans (1947-1983) and Pete Ham (1947-1975).  At the time they were part of a British rock band called Badfinger. And it was Badfinger that first released this song in 1970.

Therefore Harry Nilsson’s version is a cover. And his rendition, which was released on 1 November 1971 by RCA Records, was produced by Richard Perry. It served as the lead single from Nilsson’s seventh album, “Nilsson Schmilsson”.

The production of this song was not easy, as Harry Nilsson (1941-1994) and Richard Perry seem to have regularly butted heads.

When Harry Nilsson first heard “Without You” he actually thought it was recorded by the Beatles as opposed to Badfinger. But erring so may be understandable considering that Badfinger were in fact artists under Apple Records, a label which the Beatles themselves had founded.

Nilsson’s version proved to be more-successful than the original (Badfinger did not release this song as a single). In fact Badfinger themselves, who were working in the same studio as Harry when he covered their song, felt it was a better rendition also. And in fact “Without Out” went on to earn Nilsson a Grammy Award in the category of “Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male” in 1972.

Mariah Carey’s Version of “Without You”

Moreover the track topped both the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. And this is in addition to replicating the feat in Australia, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand.

Mariah Carey covered “Without You” in 1994.  Her version was based directly on Harry Nilsson’s 1971 rendition.

Mariah’s version is in fact one of the biggest songs of her career, being featured back on her third album, “Music Box”. For instance, the track reached number 1 in over 10 countries and remains her best-performing track in Europe over 25 years later.

Mariah’s rendition is also the most-successful of the three commercially, as it has achieved Platinum status in a handful of countries in addition to being certified Gold in the US and UK. It has also been recognized by ASCAP as being one of the songs played most frequently from 1994.