Gilbert O'Sullivan
Alone Again (Naturally)

LA RECENSIONE

We all carry songs in our hearts that serve as the soundtrack to our lives. As selfish as my choice may be, I've resisted for too long the temptation to write something about a song that I consider wonderful, unknown to most, but perhaps strong even because of this. I challenge anyone not to have a drawer in their memory filled with memorable songs that accompany you to the grave, evoking emotions and memories that are always the same yet always different.

We find ourselves precisely in 1972, the artist, probably unknown to most, might be familiar to the more attentive enthusiasts. Gilbert O' Sullivan, Irish by birth, author of some of the most beautiful songs that we can include in the cauldron of light music ever written. Bouffant hair, Irish flavor, and unforgettable music. A shooting star that in the early 70s topped the music charts only to disappear into anonymity. Two major hits, many beautiful songs. We are talking about ''Claire'' and obviously about ''Alone Again (Naturally).'' Without taking anything away from the fantastic melody that tells of a love for a young girl, I'm talking about Claire, I want to dedicate this review to Alone Again, which charted in England in March 1972. Many words could be spent on the author, but I don't know to what extent they would help; the rest you can search for yourself.

This is a text I would dare to define as tragic, probably autobiographical, of a man who, no matter how hard he tried, things always went against him in life. Every happiness is illusory, every missed opportunity is remorse, every glance out the window is a storm. Perhaps not easily understood, nothing that the polite easy-listening audience would have expected from a song we can also define as 'pop,' but Gilbert surprises everyone, and leaves us with a poem of almost epic connotations.

“In a little while from now
if I’m not feeling any less sour
I promise myself to treat myself
and visit a nearby tower

And climbing to the top
will throw myself off
in an effort to
make it clear to whoever
wants to know what it’s like
when you’re shattered
left standing in the lurch at a church
where people are saying, my God, that’s tough
she stood him up
no point in us remaining
we may as well go home
as I did on my own
alone again, naturally

The girlfriend leaves him at the altar, there are no consolations, only desperation that leads to a continuous search for the courage to, one day or another, throw himself from a tower to see people's reactions and explain to them how it feels to be shattered, alone again, naturally.

To think that only yesterday
I was cheerful, bright and gay
looking forward to who wouldn’t do
the role I was about to play

But as if to knock me down
reality