All By Myself

All By Myself

Eric Carmen (#2 in 1976) / Sergei Rachmaninoff, Celine Dion (#4 in 1996)

When I was young
I never needed anyone
Making love was just for fun
Those days are gone

Living alone
I think of all the friends I've known
When I dial the telephone
Nobody's home

All by myself, I don't wanna be
All by myself, Anymore
All by myself, I don't wanna live
All by myself, Anymore

Hard to be sure
Sometimes I feel so insecure
And love's so distant and insecure
Remains the cure Chorus

When I was young
I never needed anyone
And making love was just for fun
Those days are gone Chorus

Sheet Music

According to Eric Carmen, he first wrote the solo section of the song, working in four-bar segments and completing the interlude after two months. He then needed to place it within a full composition. After listening to Sergei Rachmaninoff's second piano concerto, a piece widely associated with the 1945 British film Brief Encounter, he adapted the melody of its second movement to create the verse.

Rachmaninoff's work was in the public domain in the United States at that time, so Carmen believed no copyright applied. However, it remained protected in other countries when the album was released. He was later contacted by the Rachmaninoff estate and informed that the material was still under copyright outside the US. An agreement was reached in which the estate received 12 percent of the royalties from "All by Myself" and from "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again", which drew on the third movement of Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2