Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own

"Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own"
Single by U2
from the album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
B-side"Ave Maria"
Released7 February 2005 (2005-02-07)
Studio
GenreRock
Length
  • 5:06 (album version)
  • 4:51 (edited version)
  • 5:30 (alternate version)
Label
Composer(s)U2
Lyricist(s)Bono
Producer(s)
U2 singles chronology
"Vertigo"
(2004) 		"Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own"
(2005) 		"All Because of You"
(2005)
Audio sample
Music video
"Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" on YouTube

"Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the third track on their eleventh studio album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (2004), and was released as the album's second single worldwide except in North America on 7 February 2005. Originally titled "Tough", the song is lyrically about the relationship between the band's lead vocalist Bono and his father Bob Hewson, who died of cancer in 2001.

It debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart becoming the band's sixth number-one single in the United Kingdom.[1] It also topped the charts in Canada, Scotland and Spain, and reached the top 10 in Denmark, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands and Norway. The song won two Grammy Awards at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony in 2006: Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal[2] and Song of the Year.[3]

Background and writing

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Lead vocalist Bono and guitarist the Edge first began working on the song during U2's 1997–1998 PopMart Tour.[4] During the recording of U2's 2000 album All That You Can't Leave Behind, Bono was aware that his father, Bob Hewson, was in the terminal stages of a bout with cancer. At that point, the song had the working title of "Tough", as that was the impression Bono always had of his father; he called him: "A tough old boot of a guy. Irish, Dub, north side Dubliner, very cynical about the world and the people in it, but very charming and funny with it."[5] The Edge said that when the band played the song together, "it was a bit cloying". Bassist Adam Clayton said the song in its original form "had a very traditional feel", and that the group spent extensive time trying to change "the harmonic content" while still "retaining the strong melodies". The band subsequently decided not to release the song on All That You Can't Leave Behind. After Bob died in 2001, Bono sang a version of the song at his funeral.[4]

During the recording of U2's following album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, they revisited the song. The group continued to struggle with it, as the Edge felt the chord sequence was too obvious. Producer Daniel Lanois aided the band with the beginning of the song. At Bono's suggestion, the bass in the verses was dropped a tone before the relative minor, a change the band believed had been a breakthrough.[5] After what Clayton estimated to be about the third or fourth rewrite of the song,[4] producer Steve Lillywhite listened to it with Bono and the Edge. He critiqued the track, telling them that it did not have a chorus and that each verse simply was followed by the line "sometimes you can't make it on your own".[5] Lillywhite thought that the track needed "a bridge to lift it to the chorus line".[4] Bono then asked for a guitar to play and spontaneously, in falsetto, sang the lines "And it's you when I look na na na na / And it's you du du du du du du du / Sometimes you can't make it on your own".[4][5] Even though Bono had not yet written the rest of the lyrics for this new segment, Lillywhite said: "all of a sudden the song was finished. That song had been around for the best part of five years and no one had ever said to them that it didn't have a chorus."[5] Bono recorded his vocals in a single take during a visit by Interscope Records chairman Jimmy Iovine to the studio.[6]

Release

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"Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" was released in the United Kingdom on 7 February 2005 and in Australia the following week.[7][8] In the former country, the song was added to BBC Radio 1's C-list playlist on 29 December 2004. It moved to the B-list a week later and to the A-list a week after that. In the United States, the song was added to several radio formats between February and March.[9][10] In Canada, the song was released on 22 March 2005, a month after "All Because of You" was issued there.[11]

Chart performance

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The song debuted at number one in the UK, marking the first time that a U2 album has produced two UK number 1 hits (following "Vertigo" in November 2004).[1]

The single was also the third release in the United States. It reached number 15 on the Adult Top 40 chart, and number 29 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart in April 2005. It also reached number 97 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Formats and track listings

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CD (2 track)[12]
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" (Radio edit 96 BPM)BonoU24:51
2."Fast Cars" (Jacknife Lee mix)Bono, the EdgeU23:28
CD (maxi)[13]
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" (Radio edit 96 BPM)BonoU24:51
2."Ave Maria" (Jacknife Lee mix)Bono (English lyrics)Franz Schubert3:28
3."Vertigo" (Redanka Power mix)Bono, the EdgeU27:34
CD (Japan release)[14]
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" (Radio edit 96 BPM)BonoU24:51
2."Fast Cars" (Jacknife Lee mix)Bono, the EdgeU23:28
3."Vertigo" (Trent Reznor remix)Bono, the EdgeU23:38
4."Vertigo" (Redanka Power mix)Bono, the EdgeU27:34
5."Ave Maria" (Jacknife Lee mix)Bono (English lyrics)Franz Schubert3:35
DVD single[15]
No.TitleLength
1."Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" (Video – Live from HQ video, 16 November 2004)5:15
2."Vertigo" (Video)3:11
3."Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" (Album version)5:05
4."Vertigo" (Trent Reznor remix)3:38

Charts

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Release history

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Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
United Kingdom 7 February 2005
  • CD
  • DVD
 Island [7]
Australia 14 February 2005 CD [8]
United States Hot adult contemporary radio Interscope [9]
Japan 16 February 2005 CD Island [51]
United States 22 February 2005 Alternative radio Interscope [52]
7 March 2005
[53]
Canada 22 March 2005 CD Island [11]
United States 28 March 2005 Contemporary hit radio Interscope [10]
Japan 6 April 2005 DVD Island [54]

See also

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References

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Footnotes

  1. ^ a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 708. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  2. ^ "Winners: Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal". Grammy.com. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  3. ^ "Winners: Song of the Year/New Song of the Year". Grammy.com. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d e McCormick (2006), p. 323
  5. ^ a b c d e Stokes (2005), pp. 168–169
  6. ^ Pareles, Jon (14 November 2004). "The Catharsis in the Cathedral". The New York Times. pp. AR29, AR40. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  7. ^ a b "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 5 February 2005. p. 39.
  8. ^ a b "The ARIA Report: New Releases Singles – Week Commencing 14th February 2005" (PDF). ARIA. 14 February 2005. p. 28. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 February 2005. Retrieved 10 October 2005.
  9. ^ a b "Going for Adds". Radio & Records. No. 1593. 11 February 2005. p. 27.
  10. ^ a b "Going for Adds". Radio & Records. No. 1599. 25 March 2005. p. 23.
  11. ^ a b "'Sometimes You Can't Make it On Your Own' – U2". u2songs.com. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  12. ^ Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own (CD single). U2. United Kingdom: Island Records. 2005. CID886/987011-4.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  13. ^ Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own (CD single). U2. United Kingdom: Island Records. 2005. CIDX886/9870115-7.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  14. ^ Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own (CD single). U2. Japan: Island Records. 2005. UICI-5019.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  15. ^ Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own (DVD single). U2. United Kingdom: Island Records. 2005. CIDV886/987011-6.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  16. ^ "U2 – Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
  17. ^ "U2 – Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
  18. ^ "U2 – Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
  19. ^ "U2 – Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
  20. ^ a b "U2: Charts and Awards". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 21 November 2009. Retrieved 9 April 2010.
  21. ^ "R&R Canada AC Top 30" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 1605. 6 May 2005. p. 48. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  22. ^ "R&R Canada Hot AC Top 30" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 1605. 6 May 2005. p. 51. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  23. ^ "R&R Canada Rock Top 30" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 1604. 29 April 2005. p. 59. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  24. ^ "U2 – Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own". Tracklisten. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
  25. ^ "Hits of the World – Eurocharts" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 117, no. 9. 26 February 2005. p. 43. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  26. ^ "U2: Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
  27. ^ "U2 – Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
  28. ^ "U2 – Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  29. ^ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Rádiós Top 40 játszási lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  30. ^ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  31. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  32. ^ "U2 – Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own". Top Digital Download. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
  33. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 9, 2005" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  34. ^ "U2 – Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
  35. ^ "U2 – Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
  36. ^ "U2 – Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own". VG-lista. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
  37. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  38. ^ "U2 – Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" Canciones Top 50. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
  39. ^ "U2 – Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
  40. ^ "U2 – Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
  41. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
  42. ^ "U2 Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
  43. ^ "U2 Chart History (Adult Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  44. ^ "U2 Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  45. ^ "U2 Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  46. ^ "Classifiche annuali 2005 FIMI Nielsen, dominano gli artisti italiani" (in Italian). FIMI. Archived from the original on 6 May 2006. Retrieved 15 January 2021. Click on Scarica l'allegato.
  47. ^ "Top 100–Jaaroverzicht van 2005". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  48. ^ "TOP 10 SINGLES 2005" (PDF). promusicae.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2013.
  49. ^ "End of Year Singles Chart Top 100 – 2005". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  50. ^ "2005 The Year in Charts: Top Triple-A Songs". Billboard Radio Monitor. Vol. 13, no. 50. 16 December 2005. p. 57.
  51. ^ "サムタイムズ・ユー・キャント・メイク・イット・オン・ユア・オウン | U2" [Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own | U2] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  52. ^ "Going for Adds". Radio & Records. No. 1594. 18 February 2005. p. 23.
  53. ^ "Going for Adds". Radio & Records. No. 1596. 4 March 2005. p. 25.
  54. ^ "サムタイムズ・ユー・キャント・メイク・イット・オン・ユア・オウン | U2" [Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own | U2] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 30 August 2023.

Bibliography

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