Your Love Alone Is Not Enough
"Your Love Alone Is Not Enough" is a song by Welsh rock group the Manic Street Preachers. Released on 23 April 2007 as the second single from the album Send Away the Tigers, it peaked at number two in the United Kingdom, number one in Scotland, and in the top 10 in Ireland and Norway.
"Your Love Alone Is Not Enough" | ||||
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Cover image taken from Monika Monster Future First Woman on Mars by Valerie Philips | ||||
Single by Manic Street Preachers featuring Nina Persson | ||||
from the album Send Away the Tigers | ||||
Released | 23 April 2007 | |||
Genre | Blues rock[1] | |||
Length | 3:55 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Dave Eringa | |||
Manic Street Preachers singles chronology | ||||
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Nina Persson singles chronology | ||||
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Background
The song is a duet featuring lead singer James Dean Bradfield and Nina Persson of The Cardigans, with additional vocals from bass guitarist Nicky Wire. According to the band they always had a duet in mind, because the lyrics have a question/reply style.[2] "Some people think Nina Persson's in the fucking band," Wire noted. "Which is great, because they've homed in one something that's uplifting and glorious. And by the end of the year, they'll be listening to 'Archives of Pain'."[3]
According to Bradfield, the title was the last line of a suicide note left by a friend of someone close to the group.[4] According to Wire, the song is in part concerned with the disappearance of Richey Edwards: "While I was writing those words addressed to him on Your Love Alone… something touched me at my desk when I wrote, 'I could have shown you how to cry.'"[5]
As with all Send Away the Tigers-related material, the cover image is from the photography book Monika Monster Future First Woman on Mars by Valerie Phillips.[2]
The lyrics reference British rock classics:
- "You stole the sun straight from my heart" – Manic Street Preachers' similarly-titled hit from the album This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours.
- "Trade all your heroes in for ghosts" – Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here".
- "I could have seen for miles and miles" – The Who's "I Can See for Miles".
- "You're as blind as a man can be" – The Beatles' "Nowhere Man".
- "Your eyes stayed blue, baby blue" – Badfinger's "Baby Blue".
- "I could have placed us in exile" – The Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street, and the disappearance of Richey Edwards.
In allusion to the song's style, Dave de Sylvia proclaimed "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough" to be a "relatively straightforward call-and-response blues-rock number".[1]
Release
The physical release was on April 23, but the song had already charted at number 26 on the UK Singles Chart on download sales. On Tuesday, Music Week reported that the single was due to hit number one on Sunday 6 May, after its physical release. However, it charted at number two, behind the Beyoncé–Shakira collaboration "Beautiful Liar".[6] In Scotland, however, the single debuted at number one, keeping "Beautiful Liar" off the top spot for a third week.[7] The single spent a total of 7 weeks in the Top 40 in the UK Singles Chart, which makes "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough" the best-performing single by the group in the Top 40 in the UK, alongside "A Design for Life".[8]
Outside the United Kingdom, "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough" reached the top 20 in Ireland, New Zealand, and Norway; in the latter two countries, this song was the band's highest-charting single.[9][10] In Persson's native Sweden, the song peaked at number 48, becoming her only chart appearance away from the Cardigans.[11] Elsewhere, the song reached number 66 in Switzerland, number 78 in the Netherlands, and number seven on Flanders' Ultratip chart. In Switzerland, it was their only charting single.[12]
The single received a 12-inch vinyl release as part of Record Store Day 2017.
Awards
The song won "Best Track" at the Q Awards 2007.
Track listing
CD single
- "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough" – 3:57
- "Boxes & Lists" – 3:56
Maxi CD single
- "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough" – 3:57
- "Love Letter to the Future" – 3:44
- "Welcome to the Dead Zone" – 3:42
- "Little Girl Lost" – 2:14
7-inch limited edition
- "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough" – 3:55
- "Fearless Punk Ballad" – 3:59
Digital download
- "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough" – 3:55
- "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough" (James Solo Acoustic) – 3:59
- "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough" (Nina Solo Acoustic) – 3:59
Promo CD
- "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough" – 3:59
- "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough" (Instrumental) – 3:57
Charts
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
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References
- De Sylvia, Dave. "Manic Street Preachers - Send Away the Tigers". SputnikMusic. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
- Power, Martin (17 October 2010). Manic Street Preachers. Omnibus Press.
- "The 50 best albums of 2007". Q. No. 258. January 2008. p. 84.
- "richeyedwards.net".
- "engagewithyourshadow".
- "Official Singles Chart Top 100 06 May 2007 - 12 May 2007". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100 06 May 2007 - 12 May 2007". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- "Manic Street Preachers". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- "Charts.nz – Manic Street Preachers – Your Love Alone Is Not Enough". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- "Norwegiancharts.com – Manic Street Preachers – Your Love Alone Is Not Enough". VG-lista. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- "Search for: Nina Persson". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- "Swisscharts.com – Manic Street Preachers – Your Love Alone Is Not Enough". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- "Ultratop.be – Manic Street Preachers – Your Love Alone Is Not Enough" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- "Hits of the World – Eurocharts" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 119 no. 20. 19 May 2007. p. 87. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
- "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Your Love Alone Is Not Enough". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- "Dutchcharts.nl – Manic Street Preachers – Your Love Alone Is Not Enough" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- "Swedishcharts.com – Manic Street Preachers – Your Love Alone Is Not Enough". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- "End of Year Singles Chart Top 100 – 2007". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 June 2018.