Only The Lonely (Know The Way I Feel)

Album

Lonely and Blue

Label

Monument Records

Genre

Pop rock

Composer(s)

Roy Orbison;Joe Melson

Entered Chart

Jun 6, 1960

Peak Date

Jul 25, 1960

Released

May 9, 1960

Recorded

March 25, 1960[2] Studio RCA Victor Studio B, Nashville

Catalog #

Monument 45-421

B-Side

Here Comes That Song Again

"Only the Lonely (Know the Way I Feel)" is a 1960 song written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson.[3] Orbison's recording of the song, produced by Fred Foster for Monument Records, was the first major hit for the singer. It was described by The New York Times as expressing "a clenched, driven urgency".[3] Released as a 45 rpm single by Monument Records in May 1960, "Only the Lonely" went to No. 2 on the United States Billboard pop music charts on 25 July 1960 (blocked by Brenda Lee's "I'm Sorry") and No. 14 on the Billboard R&B charts.[4] "Only the Lonely" reached number one in the United Kingdom, a position it achieved on 20 October 1960, staying there for two weeks (out of a total of 24 weeks spent on the UK singles chart from 28 July 1960).[5] According to The Authorized Roy Orbison, "Only the Lonely" was the longest charting single of Orbison's career.[6] Personnel on the original recording included Orbison's drummer Larry Parks, plus Nashville A-Team regulars Floyd Cramer on piano, Bob Moore on bass, and Hank Garland and Harold Bradley on guitars, Joe Melson and the Anita Kerr Singers on backing vocals. Drummer Buddy Harman played on the rest of the songs on the session. In 1999, the 1960 recording of "Only the Lonely" by Roy Orbison on Monument Records was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Dum dum dummy doo wah
Ooh yay, yay, yay, yeah
Oh, oh oh oh oh ooh ah ah
Only the lonely, only the lonely

Only the lonely
(Dum dum dummy doo wah)
Know the way I feel tonight
(Ooh yay, yay, yay, yeah)
Only the lonely
(Dum dum dummy doo wah)
Know this feeling ain't right
(Dum dum dummy doo wah)

There goes my baby, there goes my heart
They're gone forever, so far apart
But only the lonely
Know why I cry only the lonely

Dum dum dummy doo wah
Ooh yay, yay, yay, yeah
Oh, oh oh oh oh ooh ah ah
Only the lonely, only the lonely

Only the lonely
(Dum dum dummy doo wah)
Know the heartaches I've been through
(Ooh yay, yay, yay, yeah
Only the lonely
(Dum dum dummy doo wah)
Know I cry and cry for you
(Dum dum dummy doo wah)

Maybe tomorrow a new romance
No more sorrow, but that's the chance
You've got to take
If your lonely heart breaks, only the lonely
(Dum dum dummy doo wah)