Lonely Boy

Album

Single

Label

ABC-Paramount Records

Genre

Dance-pop

Composer(s)

Paul Anka

Entered Chart

Jun 1, 1959

Peak Date

Jul 13, 1959

Released

May 11, 1959

Recorded

August 27, 1958[1] Studio Bell Sound (New York City)

Catalog #

ABC-Paramount 45-10022

B-Side

Your Love

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In this song, Anka reveals that despite his success, he's still lonely: I've got everything you could think of But all I want is someone to love Anka was just 16 in 1957 when his song "Diana" topped the charts in both the US and UK, making him an international star. He quickly became one of the biggest stars of the late '50s, but there was something missing. "In moving around so much, I never had time to spend with the people really close to me," he said. "I wanted to experience more than just the success syndrome. I was reaching out, saying, 'Hey, I want somebody to share this with me." (Quote from the liner notes of The Very Best of Paul Anka.) Anka's mother, Camelia, was very sick when he wrote this song, which gave him the emotional impetus. She passed away on May 11, 1961 at age 37 after years suffering from diabetes. Anka had a talent for writing about the teenage experience in the '50s, as he was one (he was born in 1941). "I was a lonely boy and I'd see these lonely boys at all these hops," he said. Anka hit a dry spell in the '60s, but charted another #1 hit in 1974 with "(You're) Having My Baby." With 15 years between them, it was at the time a record for the longest span between #1 songs.

I'm just a lonely boy
Lonely and blue
I'm all alone
With nothin' to do
I've got everything
You could think of
But all I want
Is someone to love

Someone, yes, someone to love
Someone to kiss
Someone to hold
At a moment like this
I'd like to hear
Somebody say
"I'll give you my love
Each night and day"

I'm just a lonely boy
Lonely and blue
I'm all alone
With nothin' to do
I've got everything
You could think of
But all I want
Is someone to love

Somebody, somebody, somebody, please
Send her to me
I'll make her happy
Just wait and see
I've prayed so hard
To the heavens above
That I might find
Someone to love

I'm just a lonely boy
Lonely and blue
I'm all alone
With nothin' to do