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"I'm Not the Only One" is a song recorded by English singer
Sam Smith Samuel Frederick Smith (born 19 May 1992) is an English singer and songwriter. After rising to prominence in October 2012 by featuring on Disclosure's breakthrough single "Latch", which peaked at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart, they ...
from their debut studio album, ''
In the Lonely Hour ''In the Lonely Hour'' is the debut album by English singer and songwriter Sam Smith. It was released in the United Kingdom on 26 May 2014 via Capitol UK and Method Records. In the United States, it was released on 17 June 2014 through Capito ...
'' (2014). It was written by Smith with
Jimmy Napes James Napier (born 18 September 1984), known professionally as Jimmy Napes, is an English songwriter and record producer. He has won a number of awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, 3 Grammy Awards, and 2 Ivor Novello Aw ...
, who also produced the song along with Steve Fitzmaurice.
Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
released it to digital download on 31 August 2014 as the album's third single in the United Kingdom and on 24 September 2014 as the album's second single in the United States; an alternative version with American rapper
A$AP Rocky Rakim Athelaston Mayers (born October 3, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Rocky ( ; stylized as A$AP Rocky), is an American rapper, music producer and record executive. Born and raised in Harlem, he embarked on his musical career as a membe ...
was also released. A piano
soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '':wikt:soul, soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The ea ...
ballad, anchored by orchestral strings and a
gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...
structure, "I'm Not the Only One" deals with themes of
infidelity Infidelity (synonyms include cheating, straying, adultery, being unfaithful, two-timing, or having an affair) is a violation of a couple's emotional and/or sexual exclusivity that commonly results in feelings of anger, sexual jealousy, and ri ...
in a relationship and was inspired by a marriage of someone Smith and Napes knew. It received a positive response from critics, who praised their emotional vocals and its instrumentation. Commercially, the song was another success for Smith, becoming a top-three hit in the United Kingdom, a top-five hit in the United States, and a top-ten hit in over ten countries. A music video featuring actors
Dianna Agron Dianna Elise Agron ( ; born April 30, 1986) is an American actress and singer. After primarily dancing and starring in small musical theater productions in her youth, Agron made her screen debut in 2006, and in 2007, she played recurring charac ...
and Chris Messina was released on 1 August 2014 and it features content similar to the song's lyrics.


Background and release

After the success of previous singles, " Money on My Mind" and "
Stay with Me Stay with Me may refer to: Film and television * ''Stay with Me'' (2004 film), an Italian film * ''Stay with Me'' (2010 film), a Canadian drama film * ''Stay with Me'' (2018 film), a South Korean romantic drama film * ''Stay with Me'' (TV series), ...
" on the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
- with both becoming number-one singles, while the latter a worldwide hit - Smith announced that "I'm Not the Only One" was going to be the album's third single and that it would be released on 31 August 2014 to digital download in the United Kingdom. They chose the song to be released as a single since it was one of the songs that both they and their fans loved. They commented: "I just wanted to bring out a song that is classic and that had longevity to it. If you listen to the record, there's a few songs on there I actually think would be safer bets to go in terms of radio, but I wanted to make a statement. I also want people to know that I'm not just doing it to have big radio hits. I want people to buy into the album and I feel like 'I'm Not the Only One' is an album-seller." On 10 September 2014, a remix version of the song featuring American rapper
A$AP Rocky Rakim Athelaston Mayers (born October 3, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Rocky ( ; stylized as A$AP Rocky), is an American rapper, music producer and record executive. Born and raised in Harlem, he embarked on his musical career as a membe ...
was released worldwide through
online music store A digital music store is a business that sells digital audio files of music recordings over the Internet. Customers gain ownership of a license to use the files, in contrast to a music streaming service, where they listen to recordings withou ...
s. Smith recalled that
Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reid Lowe (born 7 August 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence thro ...
called them and left a voice mail on their phone telling them the song was a hip-hop track and that he needed a rapper on it, and inspired them to get a rapper and show a different side of the music. The song was released as the second single in the United States, being serviced first to adult alternative radio on 24 September 2014 and later on 1 October 2014 to
hot adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...
and
contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...
. In Brazil, the song was part of the international soundtrack to the telenovela '' Babilônia'' (2015).


Composition

"I'm Not the Only One" was written by
Sam Smith Samuel Frederick Smith (born 19 May 1992) is an English singer and songwriter. After rising to prominence in October 2012 by featuring on Disclosure's breakthrough single "Latch", which peaked at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart, they ...
with
Jimmy Napes James Napier (born 18 September 1984), known professionally as Jimmy Napes, is an English songwriter and record producer. He has won a number of awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, 3 Grammy Awards, and 2 Ivor Novello Aw ...
, who was also responsible for the song's production along with Steve Fitzmaurice. The latter also recorded and mixed the song at The Pierces Room, London, while the song's strings were arranged and conducted by
Simon Hale Simon Hale is a British composer, arranger, and keyboardist. Life Hale was born in Birmingham, England in 1964, being dually raised there and in South Manchester before moving to London, where he studied popular music at Goldsmiths College, Un ...
.
Sam Smith Samuel Frederick Smith (born 19 May 1992) is an English singer and songwriter. After rising to prominence in October 2012 by featuring on Disclosure's breakthrough single "Latch", which peaked at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart, they ...
, (2014). ''In the Lonely Hour''. lbum Liner & Credits Capitol Records/Method Recordings.
The piano-led, marching midtempo
soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '':wikt:soul, soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The ea ...
ballad has strings,
drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...
,
piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...
,
percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
,
bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...
and
guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...
as its main instrumentation with a
gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...
structure. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by
Universal Music Publishing Group Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) is a North American music publishing company and is part of the Universal Music Group. It was formerly known as MCA Music Publishing until it merged with PolyGram. Universal Music Publishing is the worl ...
, the song is composed in the key of
F major F major (or the key of F) is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative minor is D minor and its parallel minor is F minor. The F major scale is: : F major is ...
with a
tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...
of 82
beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...
. Smiths's vocals range from the note of F3 to C5. They admitted that they recorded the song when they were hungover, calling their vocals "hungover vocals". As Smith explained in a track-by-track commentary for ''
Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...
'', "Napes played the chords one day and I was obsessed with them. We wrote a completely different song on top of those chords and it wasn't very good, so we scrapped it. Then two weeks later, I just loved the chords so we returned to them, and then we wrote 'I'm Not The Only One' in like an hour." Lyrically, "I'm Not the Only One" talks about
infidelity Infidelity (synonyms include cheating, straying, adultery, being unfaithful, two-timing, or having an affair) is a violation of a couple's emotional and/or sexual exclusivity that commonly results in feelings of anger, sexual jealousy, and ri ...
and betrayal in a relationship, where someone decides to stay with a partner they know was cheating on them. In the chorus, Smith admits: "You say I'm crazy/'Cause you don't think I know what you've done/But when you call me baby/I know I'm not the only one". Smith revealed to Lewis Corner that the song was the only one on the album that is not about their life, but a marriage they observed first-hand, where they put themselves into the woman's shoes. They added:
It came really naturally! The person I wrote it with, we both knew them and we just vibed off each other. We both had really strong opinions on what the woman was doing. It's quite a complex song. When you listen to it you think it's just bashing a guy for cheating, but it's not, it actually talks more about how the woman's a mug. She knows she's not the only one, but she's never going to leave. I think that's wrong.


Critical reception

The song received positive reviews from most music critics. Harley Brown of ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' praised the track, calling it " e first turning point of the record ..where Smith goes home, dries off, and picks himself back up." Brown also added that " e violins surging behind the breakdown are so high-pitched they practically sting." Lily Moayeri of '' The A.V. Club'' calling it one of the album's driving forces, noting that it "illustrates this with sophisticated piano and escalating strings." Ryan Lathan of ''
PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, f ...
'' observed that "the charming 'I'm Not the Only One' confidently struts out from the rest of the set. An obvious candidate for future single, it’s the type of track that elicits head bobbing and finger snapping the second it begins." Jon Dolan of ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...
'' called it "gorgeously bruising", while Andy Kellman of
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...
picked it as one of the album's best tracks. Eric Davidson of CMJ thought that " e
Al Green Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), better known as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Take Me to the River", ...
vibe of 'I'm Not The Only One' has a verging-on-stern sentiment couched in a deeper groove that seems like a good direction Smith could head in." In his review for ''
Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outl ...
'', Sheldon Pearce called it "a two-stepping delight despite its somber tone." Adam Workman of '' The National'' noted that the song "really stands out among hackneyed lyrical content on love and longing; his high-pitched vocal extremes and fairly basic grasp of rhyming couplets both soon begin to rankle, too." Ben Kelly of ''Attitude'' opined that the song is "the album's bluesy moment" .."echo ngof
Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" is a song co-written by soul singer Otis Redding and guitarist Steve Cropper. It was recorded by Redding twice in 1967, including once just three days before his death in a plane crash on December 10, 1967. T ...
, with Sam's strong falsetto running free as ever." Maeve Heslin of
Hot Press ''Hot Press'' is a fortnightly music and politics magazine based in Dublin, Ireland, founded in June 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes. History ''Hot Press'' was founded in June 1977 by Niall Stokes, who co ...
labelled it "laidback, funky soul at its finest." Paul Cantor of ''
Vibe ''Vibe'' is an American music and entertainment magazine founded by producers David Salzman and Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down production ...
'' praised the song's "lush and expansive" arrangements, called it a "notably highlight" and noting that it is "brought to life by Smith's clever vocal arpeggiations and phrasings." Rachel Sonis of ''
Idolator An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry. Idolater or Idolator may also refer to: Books *''Os Idólatras'', 1968 Portuguese novel by Maria Judite de Carvalho Music * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), third album ...
'' defined it as "a jazzy, soothing, coffee shop-ready number that sticks to the album's 'quiet moments in life' theme", noting similarities to
Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a reco ...
's melancholic approach and praising the song for "show ngoff his precious pipes more than ever before."


Commercial performance

Following the success of their breakthrough single "Stay with Me", "I'm Not the Only One" found chart success in several countries. In the United Kingdom, the song entered the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
at number ninety-three, when the album was released on the week of 1 June 2014, before it re-entered at number sixty-nine on the week of 10 August 2014. It kept climbing the charts in the following weeks until it reached a peak of number three on the week of 14 September 2014. By reaching number three, the song became the album's third top-three hit for the singer, whose last two singles from the album reached number-one. In Ireland, the song reached number six, becoming their third top-ten hit. In Europe, the song also reached the top-ten in Denmark, Italy and Netherlands. In the United States, "I'm Not the Only One" shared similar success. It debuted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at number sixty-nine, during the same week where "Stay with Me" was in the top-ten and "Latch" was reaching the top-twenty. It later reappeared at number ninety-three, and within four weeks the song climbed to number twenty-five, becoming that week's biggest gain in digital sales. The following week, the song reached number twenty, marking their fastest flight to the top-twenty (seven weeks) among his four entries. Four weeks later, the song climbed to number nine, thus earning Smith their third top-ten single in the same year (2014). With three top ten singles, Smith became the only male to achieve the feat in 2014 and the third overall artist with the most top ten singles of 2014, along with
Iggy Azalea Amethyst Amelia Kelly (born 7 June 1990), known professionally as Iggy Azalea (), is an Australian rapper. At the age of 16, Azalea moved from Australia to the United States in order to pursue a career in music. Azalea earned public recognitio ...
, who also scored three, and behind
Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her four-octave vocal range has received critical acclaim, and her personal life has been the subject of widespread media attention. She has received ...
, who had four. It eventually peaked at number five, becoming their second top-five hit. In Australia, the song failed to reach the top-ten by one position, reaching its peak at number eleven, ending their streak of consecutive top-five singles, but in New Zealand the song peaked at number three, earning their second consecutive top-three single. In both countries, the song was certified 2× platinum by the
Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replac ...
and the Recorded Music NZ respectively. In Brazil, the song was their first top-forty hit, reaching its peak at number thirty-nine. The song was also successful in South Africa, where it reached the top of the charts, and South Korea, where the international song peaked at number one.


Music video

The official music video for "I'm Not the Only One" was directed by Luke Monaghan, who also worked with Smith on the video for "Leave Your Lover", and it was filmed in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
on 8 July 2014. The music video features ''
Glee Glee means delight, a form of happiness. Glee may also refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...
''s
Dianna Agron Dianna Elise Agron ( ; born April 30, 1986) is an American actress and singer. After primarily dancing and starring in small musical theater productions in her youth, Agron made her screen debut in 2006, and in 2007, she played recurring charac ...
as a scorned bride and '' The Mindy Project''s Chris Messina as the cause of and cure for her heartache. As Smith revealed: "I’m a huge fan of both of them. I thought I had my dream team around me." Agron revealed that she "tweeted Sam a long time ago and told him how important it was that I discovered his music. He tweeted me back, and we started messaging each other. Then the video happened, and we've become friends." Smith also claimed they wanted to "bring the song to life a bit more'" and "strike a nerve with a certain group of people". It was released to Smith's
YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...
/
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channel on 1 August 2014. The cycle of infidelity is the main theme of both the video and the song. It starts with a shot of the couple's house with Agron telling Messina that she made him breakfast, but he says he is in too much of a rush to eat it. She walks him out, and then he goes straight to a bar and does shots with his mistress, while Agron's character drinks alcohol and pieces together her husband's indiscretions. While Smith performs in the saloon, Agron proceeds to uncork a bottle of white wine in the middle of her neighbourhood liquor store, drink away her problems, and then eventually set fire to Messina's possessions. At the end of the video, she welcomes him back home as if nothing had happened. As of October 2019, the video has received over 1.3 billion views.


Usage in media

The song is featured in the television shows '' The Flash'' and '' Suits.''


Track listings

*;Digital download #"I'm Not the Only One"  — 3:42 *;Digital download #"I'm Not the Only One"  — 3:24 #"I'm Not the Only One"  — 6:35 #"I'm Not the Only One"  — 6:47 #"I'm Not the Only One"  — 4:06


Charts and certifications


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


Release history


See also

* List of best-selling singles in South Korea *
List of number-one singles of 2014 (South Africa) The South African Airplay Chart ranks the best-performing singles in South Africa. Its data, published by Entertainment Monitoring Africa, is based collectively on each single's weekly airplay. List of number-one singles of 2014 Number-one ar ...


References

{{authority control 2013 songs 2014 singles 2010s ballads Sam Smith (singer) songs Pop ballads Soul ballads Capitol Records singles Contemporary R&B ballads South African Airplay Chart number-one singles Songs written by Jimmy Napes Songs written by Sam Smith (singer) Songs about infidelity