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)
Living Without You
Harry Nilsson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The paper hits the door
And the subway shakes my floor
And I think about you
Time to face the dawning gray
Of another lonely day
It's so hard living without you
It's so hard
It's so hard living without you
Ev'ryone's got something
They're out tryin' to get some more
They got something to get up for
But I ain't about to
Nothing's gonna happen
Nothing's gonna change
It's so hard living without you
It's so hard
It's so hard
It's so hard living without you
So hard
So hard
So hard (na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na)
The lyrics of Harry Nilsson's song Living Without You express the loneliness that comes with being apart from a loved one. The opening line, "The milk truck hauls the sun up," sets the scene of a city coming to life, with the daily routines of people going to work, getting the paper, and commuting on the subway. Despite being surrounded by activity, the singer is consumed by thoughts of his absent lover. He knows he has to face another day without her, but it's a constant struggle as he faces the "dawning gray" of each morning.
The second verse highlights the contrast between the singer's sense of isolation and the busy lives of others. He sees other people going about their daily business, pursuing goals and ambitions, but for him, everything is stagnant. Even if he tried to move on, he knows that nothing could ever take the place of his lost love. The repetition of the phrase "It's so hard living without you" underscores the crushing weight of his solitude.
Overall, the lyrics of Living Without You convey a sense of deep loss and yearning. The singer is trying to come to terms with the reality of his situation, but it's a constant struggle. The song speaks to anyone who has experienced the pain of separation from someone they love.
Line by Line Meaning
The milk truck hauls the sun up
The beginning of a new day is starting with the sound of the milk truck delivering milk and the sun starting to rise
The paper hits the door
The sound of the newspaper hitting the door is a reminder that life is moving on
And the subway shakes my floor
The sound of the subway passing by is felt through the floor, creating a jarring feeling
And I think about you
Even with all these sounds of the morning, the person singing the song can't help but think about the one they miss
Time to face the dawning gray
The gray and bleak feeling of mornings without the one they miss is starting to set in
Of another lonely day
The day ahead is going to be another lonely one
It's so hard living without you
The person singing is struggling to live without the one they miss
It's so hard
Living without the person they miss is extremely hard
It's so hard
Repeating how difficult it is without the person they miss
It's so hard living without you
Ending with a repeat of the chorus to emphasize the struggle of living without the one they miss
Ev'ryone's got something
Everyone else has something to look forward to or enjoy, but not the person singing the song
They're out tryin' to get some more
Other people are trying to gain more, but the person singing the song is stuck without the one they miss
They got something to get up for
Other people have a reason to get up in the morning, but not the person singing the song
But I ain't about to
The person singing the song doesn't have anything to look forward to
Nothing's gonna happen
Without the one they miss, nothing feels like it's going to happen for the person singing the song
Nothing's gonna change
Life feels stagnant and unchanging without the one they miss
It's so hard living without you
Ending the song with another repeat of the chorus, cementing the idea that living without the one they miss is incredibly difficult
It's so hard
Repeating how hard it is without the one they miss
It's so hard
Reiterating how difficult it is to live without the person they miss
So hard
Stressing that it's really, really difficult
So hard
Closing the song with one last repeat of how difficult it is to live without the one they miss
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Randall S Newman
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
tee cee
The goosebumps really hit at 2:16
Roberta Marcon
Just love this song. One of my favorites of Nilsson
APB
maybe the most heartbreaking song I've ever heard. I haven't been through a bad breakup in about 15 years but this takes me straight back to those first moments after they leave and everything feels absolutely awful
Rickyticky
I'll be home, puts a smile on my face and a tear in my eye.
AG2424
Effortless perfection.
Micahb2
Stunning. Humans for the win.
nick capozio
Mike Bailey well he loved Lennon and was a good friend of his so
Liam M. Hennessey
Ok human
Barney Miller
Wow. Just wow.
What's Up
Beautiful...