LogFAQs > #957253098

31. Love Alone Again Or (1967)
from the album Forever Changes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPbNpIG8x_s

Key lyrics:
You know that I could be in love with almost everyone
I think that people are the greatest fun
And I will be alone again tonight my dear

Alone Again Or denies easy classification, psychedelic folk rock playing with a Spanish guitar sound before going full Mariachi with strings and horns. Each verse is punctuated by an extended acoustic solo. This is a constantly shifting soundscape, but whether it is at its sparsest or most elaborate sequence, it is connected by anxious paranoia. The chorus is a mocking take on the free love movement, an aching cry of loneliness from someone wanting commitment. Love drenched this song in emotional vulnerability.

What makes this so compelling is its central cycle. The three verses are short, closing out with the same line each time. Though the second verse ends in a quiet guitar solo like the first, it expands into a horn-led instrumental break. Additionally, the quiet guitar solo acts as a reset after the first two verses, a way of quieting things down to slowly build back up to the peak of that defining line. The way it trails off at the end instead suggests defeat. Though Alone Again Or essentially consists of three slight variations, it journeys through disappointment, passion, and despair.

Alone Again Or achieves a timeless element through its mixture of familiar yet disparate sounds. The Spanish influence shines through, setting a specific scene even as the lyrics keep it vague. Though the horn arrangement draws distinctly from Mariachi music, they play it with tension rarely captured in the popular sphere. Love might not be anywhere near the biggest acts of their own era, but Alone Again Or perfectly captures the spirit of innovation that dominated the late-60s.

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