Better Alone

"Better Alone" is a song by British singer-songwriter, Melanie C. It was released as the second single from her third album Beautiful Intentions. The song is a piano-backed ballad which covers themes such as independence and emancipation from a stifling relationship. In the United Kingdom, it was available to purchase from iTunes and from the online shop on Melanie C's website, which sold a limited run of two physical CDs and a DVD single. It was also released in Australia, Italy, Sweden and Netherlands. In February 2006, after the success of First Day of My Life, "Better Alone" was released in Germany, Austria and Switzerland accompanied by a new music video, selling over 200,000 copies worldwide.

For "Better Alone", song by Carolina Liar, see Coming to Terms.

"Better Alone"
Single by Melanie C
from the album Beautiful Intentions
B-side	"Warrior" "Runaway"
Released	1 August 2005 (2005-08-01)
Recorded	Summer 2004
Genre	Pop rock
Length	3:06 (Radio edit) 4:35 (Album version)
Label	Red Girl
Songwriter(s)	Peter-John Vettese Melanie Chisholm
Producer(s)	Greg Haver
Melanie C singles chronology
"Next Best Superstar" (2005) "Better Alone" (2005) "First Day of My Life" (2005)
Alternative covers
UK CD2 cover
Alternative cover
UK DVD cover
Alternative cover
German CD cover
Music video
"Better Alone" UK music video on YouTube
Music video
"Better Alone" European music video on YouTube

Background

In January 2004, after a series of disappointments and the relative failure of singles Melt and Yeh Yeh Yeh, Melanie C's contract with Virgin Records as a solo artist was terminated.[1] In the summer, after wrapping up The Barfly Mini-Tour, Melanie began recording songs for "Beautiful Intentions".

Several songs on the album, including "Better Alone", "You Will See", "Don't Need This", and "You'll Get Yours" were rumored to be written in response to Virgin Records. Prior to release of "Beautiful Intentions", Melanie C first performed the song live at the O2 Academy Islington on 14 September 2004.[2]

Music video

UK Version The first video for "Better Alone" was shot in March 2005 in Sussex, England and was directed by Mary McCartney. The video takes place in what appears to be a castle and shows Melanie wearing a green gown. This video on the enhanced CD single used the album version of the song, but the version on Melanie C's YouTube channel uses the radio edit.

European Version The second video, which was directed by Robert Broellochs, was filmed in Mannheim, Germany on 10 December 2005. The video shows Melanie singing alone by a lake (the same lake on the German CD single cover). She plays a woman who rips a photo of her and her ex-boyfriend and throws the pieces into the lake. The pieces appear sinking alongside a car where her boyfriend lies asleep and locked inside. That makes the viewers believe that Melanie was committing a passionate crime. As the video goes on, the man wakes up very scared inside the car and tries to save himself while Melanie is playing with the car keys and a dog. Finally, she decides to press the alarm button so the car doors open up, setting the man free at the bottom of the lake.

Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Better Alone".

• Dutch CD

1. "Better Alone" (Edit) - 3:06
2. "Better Alone" (Pop Mix) - 3:56
3. "Warrior" - 3:47

• German Maxi

1. "Better Alone" (Radio Version) - 3:06
2. "Better Alone" (Pop Mix Edit) - 3:26
3. "Warrior" - 3:48
4. "Better Alone" ('Amazing' Dub) - 7:46
5. "You'll Get Yours" (Acoustic Version) - 5:44
6. "Better Alone" (Music Video / Multimedia Track) - 3:06

• Swedish CD

1. "Better Alone" (Edit) - 3:06
2. "Better Alone" (Pop Mix Edit) - 3:26
3. "Warrior" - 3:47
4. "Better Alone" (Music video) - 3:06

• UK CD1/iTunes Single

1. "Better Alone" (Edit) - 3:06
2. "Warrior" - 3:47

• UK CD2

1. "Better Alone" (Edit) - 3:06
2. "Better Alone" (Original Version) - 3:59
3. "Better Alone" (Pop Mix) - 3:56
4. "Better Alone" ('Amazing' Dub) - 7:44

• Australian CD

1. "Better Alone" (Edit) - 3:06
2. "Better Alone" (Pop Mix) - 3:56
3. "Better Alone" ('Amazing' Dub) - 7:44
4. "Runaway" - 3:24

• Italian CD

1. "Better Alone" (Edit) - 3:06
2. "Better Alone" (Original Version) - 3:59
3. "Better Alone" ('Amazing' Dub) - 7:44
4. "Runaway" - 3:24

• UK DVD

1. "Better Alone" (Music video) - 3:06
2. "Next Best Superstar" (Music video) - 3:31
3. EPK Extract ("Better Alone" & Interview) - 2:00
4. Photo Gallery (& "Runaway") - 3:24

Official versions and remixes

• "Better Alone" (Album version) - 4:35
• "Better Alone" (Radio edit) - 3:06
• "Better Alone" (Original Version) - 3:59
• "Better Alone" ('Amazing Dub') - 7:44
• "Better Alone" (Special Productions Re-work) - 6:50
• "Better Alone" (Pop Mix Edit) - 3:28
• "Better Alone" (Pop Mix) - 3:56
• "Better Alone" (John Rea Demo) - 4:34[3]

Live performances

Melanie C performed the song on the following concert tours:

• Live at Carling Academy, Islington
• Beautiful Intentions Tour
• Live Hits

Release history

Region	Date
United Kingdom	1 August 2005 (2005-08-01)
Worldwide	24 February 2006 (2006-02-24)

Charts

Chart (2005)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)[4]	83
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[5]	57
Germany (Official German Charts)[6]	51
Italy (FIMI)[7]	36
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[8]	33

References

4. ARIA Report 812. 19 September 2005. ARIA. Retrieved 2013-03-14
5. "Austriancharts.at – Melanie C – Better Alone" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 2017-04-20.
6. "Offiziellecharts.de – Melanie C – Better Alone". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 2017-04-20.
7. "Italiancharts.com – Melanie C – Better Alone". Top Digital Download. Retrieved 2017-04-20.
8. "Swisscharts.com – Melanie C – Better Alone". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 2017-04-20.