Loneliness –- A lyrical masterpiece that builds so slowly that when “Loneliness” hits full swing, it’s like a gospel revival. Annie takes listeners inside her deepest emotions of loneliness, emptiness and hopelessness, and none has ever felt so damn good to experience. “Days and weeks and months and years,” she sings, “filling in the time my dear/ tryin’ to find the place where I belong.” We’ve been there, peeps. We’ve all been there.

Our number #13 is a stunning piece of artistic magic…from the pointed, almost twangy intro to the loud and emotionally charged apex, “Loneliness,” from 2003’s ‘Bare,’ becomes not just a feeling, but a thing, a piece of ourself, almost like the devil and the angel we all carry on each of our shoulders. And with this persona, called ‘Loneliness,’ we are given the space to reflect on ourselves. Sometimes, this reflection becomes an almost absurd thing in and of itself. As we must face our choices concerning our relationships, (especially during and after a break up), to recognize at the end, we each had such different meanings and feeelings on what that relationship meant. A feeling of loneliness because they are so vastly different.

Many will say Annie’s line from ‘Cold’ … ‘dying is easy, its living that scares me to death,’ is the best and deepest lyric in her vast catalogue. And while, yeah, it is a genius lyric, I would argue it is a verse from “Loneliness,” that takes that title, of deepest, most masterful lyric and sums up this ever so special a song:

“But you keep me here
Like a cancelled flight
An empty train
Running through the night
An orphaned child
A broken shoe
And I’m still down here
Lookin’ out for you”

Enough said. Loneliness.

– Dan Mueller

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Eurythmics and DAVE STEWART AND ANNIE LENNOX