Your Love Alone Is Not Enough

"Your Love Alone Is Not Enough" is a song by Welsh rock group Manic Street Preachers. It is a duet with Nina Persson, lead singer of Swedish band the Cardigans. 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.

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. "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'."

According to Bradfield, the title was the last line of a suicide note left by a friend of someone close to the group. 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.'"

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.

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", while ''NME'' described the song as "a sugar-coated call-and-response pop gem with a cynical heart which hints at the shadow still cast over them by Richey Edwards' disappearance."

Release

The digital release was on 23 April, and the song debuted at number 26 on the UK Singles Chart with 5,000 download sales. The following week, on 30 April, the single was released as a physical CD. On 5 May, ''Music Week'' reported that the single was due to top the chart; however, the following day, it rose to number two, behind the Beyoncé-Shakira collaboration "Beautiful Liar". In Scotland, the single debuted at number one, keeping "Beautiful Liar" off the top spot for a third week. The single spent a total of seven weeks in the UK top 40, which makes "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough" the longest-staying single by the group in the top 40 alongside "A Design for Life".

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. In Persson's native Sweden, the song peaked at number 48, becoming her only chart appearance away from the Cardigans. 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.

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 listings

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

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

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2007 singles
2007 songs
Blues rock songs
Columbia Records singles
Male–female vocal duets
Manic Street Preachers songs
Number-one singles in Scotland
Song recordings produced by Dave Eringa
Songs about suicide
Songs written by James Dean Bradfield
Songs written by Nicky Wire
Songs written by Sean Moore (musician)