Only Love Can Break Your Heart

"Only Love Can Break Your Heart" is a song written by Canadian-American singer-songwriter, musician, and activist Neil Young. It has been covered by many bands.

Genesis and recording

The song is the third track on Neil Young's album ''After the Gold Rush''. The song was supposedly written for Graham Nash after Nash's split from Joni Mitchell, though Young in interviews has been somewhat tentative in admitting or remembering this. Released as a single in October 1970, it became Young's first top 40 hit as a solo artist, peaking at number 33 in the U.S. The single was issued with a Crazy Horse version of "Birds" (rather than the solo piano version of the album) on the B-side, apparently accidentally. The song is praised as a "seemingly simple song which display considerable attention to detail in the deployment of instruments."

Saint Etienne version

In 1990, English band Saint Etienne recorded a cover version of "Only Love Can Break Your Heart", which was included on their debut album, ''Foxbase Alpha''. The vocals are by Moira Lambert ( Sarah Cracknell had not yet joined the band as a permanent member). The band recorded the song in producer Ian Catt's bedroom studio in Pollards Hill. The recording, made in under two hours, got them a record deal, their first single, and their first hit. Andrew Weatherall later remixed the song, further emphasising its dub bassline: this remix, subtitled "A Mix of Two Halves" (duration 8:49), was featured on both releases of the single and on the compilation '' Casino Classics''. The U.S. and European releases contained a different extended mix by Flowered Up (duration 6:19), issued in the UK only on a flexidisc, though it was mistakenly listed as the "Mix of Two Halves". Weatherall had no involvement with this mix.

The song was re-released in the UK as a double A-side with the track "Filthy", peaking at number 39 in the UK Singles Chart. "Filthy", was later covered as "Jungle Pulse" by Etienne Daho. The song remains Saint Etienne's only entry in the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at number 97 in 1992. It did, however, top the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart. The U.S. b-side to the single was the ''Foxbase Alpha'' album track "Stoned to Say the Least." In 2003, ''Vibe'' listed Masters at Work's remix of the song as one of the "Top 25 remixes ever created."

Critical reception

In contemporary reviews, Larry Flick from '' Billboard'' wrote that the band "reinterprets Neil Young tune into a glowing swing/ hip-hop jam." David Giles from ''Music Week'' stated that the song is "sung in beautifully husky tones, and set to a snails-pace dance rhythm, that is already proving immensely popular at club level." A reviewer from '' Smash Hits'' called it a "brilliant dance version".

In retrospective reviews, Justin Chadwick from Albumism described the cover version as "stirring", stating that it "manages to stay faithful to the original's melancholy weight while transforming Young's minimalist composition into a fresh and thrilling dancefloor-friendly affair." He added, "Propelled by multi-layered dub basslines, house rhythms, piano loops, and pounding drum breaks, the group's interpolation sounds little like Young's 1970 single, save for the equally plaintive power of Lambert's ruminations." Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic said it is "not only cleverly ironic, but also works".

Music video

Two music videos were released for the single. The original version is mostly in black and white and depicts Lucy Gillie from early 90s pop trio Golden miming the vocals (Lambert refused to appear in the video). The second features Cracknell miming to Lambert's vocals and depicts the band entering a cinema in a small French town (that inspired the group's name) where they see themselves in a movie. The act includes this song in their live shows with Cracknell performing the song.

Charts

Other cover versions

* Jackie DeShannon - '' Jackie'' (1972)
* Anne Kirkpatrick - ''Let the Songs Keep Flowing Strong & Naturally'' (1976)
* Elkie Brooks - '' Shooting Star'' also single (#43 UK) (1978): "hisnoncaring dance-beat version of Neil Young's heartrending 'Only Love Can Break Your Heart' cheapens the singer more than the song" - Toby Goldstein in '' High Fidelity''
* Stephen Stills - '' Right by You'' (1984: features additional lyrics by Stills)
* Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young performed the song during their Live Aid set in 1985.
* The Mint Juleps - single (1986: #62 UK)
* Psychic TV played the song on '' The Bridge: A Tribute to Neil Young'' in 1989.
* A sampled portion of the Saint Etienne version was used in a remix for Chez Damier's 1992 single "Can You Feel It."
* Everlast covered the song for the 1999 film '' Big Daddy''.
* The Corrs - '' VH1 Presents: The Corrs, Live in Dublin'' (2002): The New Rolling Stone Album Guide called their version "pretty but lightweight."
* Juliana Hatfield - '' Gold Stars 1992-2002'' (2002)
* Gwyneth Herbert - '' Bittersweet and Blue'' (2004: featured in the 2010 film release ''Leap Year'')
* The New Standards - ''The New Standards'' (2005)
* Bradford Cox aka Atlas Sound covered the song for his blog in 2007.
* Damien Leith covered the song on his album '' Catch the Wind: Songs of a Generation'' in 2008, which reached number 1 on the ARIA Chart for Australian albums.
* Long John Baldry - duet with Joyce Everson from 1972 sessions for ''Everything Stops for Tea'' featured as bonus track on that album's re-release (2007)
* Nils Lofgren - ''The Loner – Nils Sings Neil'' (2008)
* Kathleen Edwards