“You’re Only Lonely” by J. D. Souther

The addressee of this song would logically be the singer’s romantic interest.  And the message he is putting forth throughout boils down to him letting her know that he is on instant call whenever she needs him. Or more to the actual theme of the tune, when she’s “lonely” she only need ‘call out his name’, and he will be there.

Indeed the way the narrative plays out, if you put different pieces of the song together, is that this lady has seen better days, with the singer stating that she was once “a queen”. And he points out that during that time also he was by her side. So now that things have materialized in a way which is less favorable than they were in the past, he is still asserting his faithful presence. And in terms of the here and now, it seems as if the addressee may be in a situation where she often finds herself alone in some manner.

Moreover the way he phrases his commitment, as in maintaining that she should call him if she’s “only lonely”, also implies that he is ready to respond even to her most-trivial discomforts. So simply put this is a thorough love song. And the primary sentiment the narrator is expressing is his commitment to his significant other.

Facts about “You’re Only Lonely”

This is the title track from J. D. Souther’s third album. The song was released by Columbia Records on 4 September 1979.

“You’re Only Lonely” was written and produced J. D. Souther. His musical influences on this particular track were Roy Orbison (1936-1988) and Frank Sinatra (1915-1988).

This song charted in the US and Canada. Stateside it topped Billboard’s Adult Contemporary listing and scored a number 7 on the Hot 100 itself.  Meanwhile it also did extremely well on Canada’s RPM Adult Contemporary chart, peaking at number two.