Born in Brooklyn, Nilsson moved to Los Angeles as a teenager to escape his family's poor financial situation. While working as a computer programmer at a bank, he grew interested in musical composition and close-harmony singing and was successful in having some of his songs recorded by various artists, such as the Monkees. In 1967, he debuted on RCA Victor with the LP Pandemonium Shadow Show, followed by a variety of releases that included a collaboration with Randy Newman (Nilsson Sings Newman, 1970) and the original children's story The Point! (1971).
He created the first remix album, Aerial Pandemonium Ballet, in 1971, and recorded the first mashup song ("You Can't Do That") in 1967. His most commercially successful album, Nilsson Schmilsson (1971), produced the international top 10 singles "Without You" and "Coconut". His other top 10 hit, "Everybody's Talkin'" (1968), was featured prominently in the 1969 film Midnight Cowboy. A version of Nilsson's "One," released by Three Dog Night in 1969, also reached the U.S. top 10.
During a 1968 press conference, The Beatles were asked what their favorite American group was and answered "Nilsson." Sometimes called "the American Beatle," he soon formed close friendships with John Lennon and Ringo Starr, joining them in the Hollywood Vampires drinking club. He and Lennon produced one collaborative album, Pussy Cats (1974). After 1977, Nilsson left RCA, and his record output diminished. In response to Lennon's 1980 murder, he took a hiatus from the music industry to campaign for gun control. For the rest of his life, he recorded only sporadically. In 1994, Nilsson died of a heart attack while in the midst of recording what became his last album, Losst and Founnd (2019).
The craft of Nilsson's songs and the defiant attitude he projected remain touchstones for later generations of indie rock musicians. Nilsson was voted No. 62 in Rolling Stone's 2015 list of the "100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time," where he was described as "a pioneer of the Los Angeles studio sound" and "a crucial bridge" between 1960s psychedelia and the 1970s singer-songwriter era. The RIAA certified Nilsson Schmilsson and Son of Schmilsson (1972) as gold records, indicating over 500,000 units sold each. He earned two Grammy Awards (for "Everybody's Talkin'" and "Without You").
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Nilsson
Discography
Spotlight on Nilsson (1966)
Pandemonium Shadow Show (1967)
Aerial Ballet (1968)
Skidoo (1968) (soundtrack)
Harry (1969)
Nilsson Sings Newman (1970)
The Point! (1970) (studio album and soundtrack)
Nilsson Schmilsson (1971)
Son of Schmilsson (1972)
A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night (1973)
Son of Dracula (1974) (soundtrack)
Pussy Cats (1974)
Duit on Mon Dei (1975)
Sandman (1976)
...That's the Way It Is (1976)
Knnillssonn (1977)
Flash Harry (1980)
Popeye (1980) (soundtrack)
Losst and Founnd (2019)
I Never Thought I'd Get This Lonely
Harry Nilsson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I never thought I'd feel this way
Daytime, nighttime means nothing to me.
Wrong time, right time, what can it believe me
I love you
I never thought I'd feel this low-down
I never thought I'd feel this way
Who will need me, who will feed me? When I'm through with you.
Do you still love me? Please say you do
I never thought I'd feel this empty
I never thought I'd have to pay
I'm bottom hungry for you lovin', thirsty for your way
While the glow of love is growin' How can one forget so quickly?
Believe me, I'm sorry, Woe is me
I never thought I'd feel this guilty
But now it's just too late to mend
Why, I could say I'm sorry for a lifetime
But in the end it still would be the end
I never thought I'd feel this empty
I never thought I'd feel this guilty.
Harry Nilsson's song "I Never Thought I'd Get This Lonely" is a sad song that portrays the struggle of someone who never thought they would feel this lonely after separating from their lover. The first part of the lyrics sets the stage for the feeling of loneliness that the singer is experiencing. He never thought he would get to this point of isolation.
The next few verses examine the feelings of emptiness and confusion that come with the breakup. The singer is struggling with the realization that the relationship is over and is at a loss about how to move forward in life. He is left feeling low and hopeless.
The last two lines suggest that the singer is grappling with guilt and regret at the end of the relationship. He is aware that he could apologize a thousand times, but it wouldn't change the outcome. The final lines are tinged with remorse and the knowledge that the damage has already been done.
Overall, the song portrays a bittersweet feeling that many can relate to. Through its portrayal of sadness and isolation, it captures the human condition with authenticity and raw emotion.
Line by Line Meaning
I never thought I'd get this lonely
I never imagined that I would be so isolated and without companionship in my life.
I never thought I'd feel this way
I never believed that I would experience these internal emotions and be completely overtaken by them.
Daytime, nighttime means nothing to me.
The presence or absence of daylight or darkness has no bearing on my emotional state or well-being.
Wrong time, right time, what can it believe me
I am so lost and confused that I cannot determine the truth or reality of any given situation, no matter the timing or circumstances.
I love you
Despite all of the turmoil and confusion, my feelings for you have not wavered and I still love you deeply.
I never thought I'd feel this low-down
I never expected to feel so miserable and depressed as a result of our separation and distance from one another.
Since you left me, heaven help me, what am I to do?
Without you in my life, I feel lost and helpless, unsure of how to move forward or find happiness once again.
Who will need me, who will feed me? When I'm through with you.
I am afraid that I have become dependent on you for my own well-being and survival, and I worry about what will happen once you are no longer in my life.
Do you still love me? Please say you do
Despite everything that has happened between us, I still crave your love and affection and desperately hope that you feel the same way towards me.
I never thought I'd feel this empty
The void and emptiness I feel inside is a new and painful sensation that I never anticipated experiencing.
I never thought I'd have to pay
I never realized that the cost of losing you would be so high and that I would have to suffer so greatly as a result of our separation.
I'm bottom hungry for you lovin', thirsty for your way
I am starved for the love and attention you used to give me and I long for the sound of your voice and the warmth of your embrace.
While the glow of love is growin' How can one forget so quickly?
The intensity and passion of our love was so strong that I cannot understand how it has dissipated so quickly and been forgotten so easily.
Believe me, I'm sorry, Woe is me
I am truly remorseful for any pain or suffering I may have caused you and I am consumed with feelings of despair and grief over our current situation.
I never thought I'd feel this guilty
The weight of my own guilt and remorse is a new and overwhelming sensation that I never thought I would feel.
But now it's just too late to mend
Despite my desire to make things right between us, it seems that our relationship is irreparably broken and there is no way I can fix things now.
Why, I could say I'm sorry for a lifetime
No amount of apologies or expressed remorse could ever undo the damage that has been done to our relationship.
But in the end it still would be the end
Regardless of how much I might wish things were different, our relationship has come to an end and there is nothing left for us to do except move on.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: HARRY NILSSON, HARRY EDWARD NILSSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind