"Better Alone" is a song by British singer-songwriter,
Melanie C
Melanie Jayne Chisholm (12 January 1974 - 25 December 2022), better known as Melanie C or Mel C, is an English singer-songwriter and media personality. She is best known as one of the five members of the Spice Girls, during which time she was ni ...
. It was released as the second single from her third album ''
Beautiful Intentions
''Beautiful Intentions'' is the third solo album by English singer Melanie C. This is the first album release on Chisholm's self-founded label, Red Girl Records after being dropped by Virgin Records. The album was a big commercial success in Euro ...
''. The song is a piano-backed ballad which covers themes such as independence and emancipation from a stifling relationship. In the United Kingdom, it was available to purchase from
iTunes and from the online shop on Melanie C's website, which sold a limited run of two physical CDs and a DVD single. It was also released in Australia, Italy, Sweden and Netherlands. In February 2006, after the success of
First Day of My Life, "Better Alone" was released in Germany, Austria and Switzerland accompanied by a new music video, selling over 200,000 copies worldwide.
Background
In January 2004, after a series of disappointments and the relative failure of singles "
Melt
Melt may refer to:
Science and technology
* Melting, in physics, the process of heating a solid substance to a liquid
* Melt (manufacturing), the semi-liquid material used in steelmaking and glassblowing
* Melt (geology), magma
** Melt inclusions, ...
" and "
Yeh Yeh Yeh
"Yeh Yeh Yeh" is a song by British singer-songwriter Melanie C. It was the third and final single from Chisolm's second solo album, ''Reason'' (2003). The song was released as a double A-side with "Melt" in the United Kingdom. In the rest of Europe ...
", Melanie C's contract with Virgin Records as a solo artist was terminated. In the middle of the year, after wrapping up
The Barfly Mini-Tour
Melanie Jayne Chisholm (12 January 1974 - 25 December 2022), better known as Melanie C or Mel C, is an English singer-songwriter and media personality. She is best known as one of the five members of the Spice Girls, during which time she was n ...
, Melanie began recording songs for "Beautiful Intentions". She performed the song live at the
O2 Academy Islington
The O2 Academy Islington, formerly known as the Carling Academy Islington, is an indoor music venue situated in the N1 Shopping Centre accessible via Upper Street and Liverpool Road, in the London Borough of Islington. It is run by the Academy ...
on 14 September 2004.
Music video
UK version
The first video for "Better Alone" was shot in March 2005 in
Sussex, England
Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the Englis ...
and was directed by
Mary McCartney
Mary Anna McCartney (born 28 August 1969) is a British photographer, documentary filmmaker, cookbook author, and Global Ambassador for Meat Free Monday. She is also the host for the Discovery+/ Food Network vegan cooking show, ''Mary McCartney ...
. The video takes place in what appears to be a castle and shows Melanie wearing a green gown. This video on the enhanced CD single used the album version of the song, but the version on Melanie C's YouTube channel uses the radio edit.
European version
The second video, which was directed by Robert Broellochs, was filmed in
Mannheim, Germany
Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's ...
on 10 December 2005. The video shows Melanie singing alone by a lake. She plays a woman who rips a photo of her and her ex-boyfriend and throws the pieces into the lake. The pieces appear sinking alongside a car where her boyfriend lies asleep and locked inside. That makes the viewers believe that Melanie was committing a passionate crime. As the video goes on, the man wakes up very scared inside the car and tries to save himself while Melanie is playing with the car keys and a dog. Finally, she decides to press the alarm button so the car doors open up, setting the man free at the bottom of the lake.
Track listings
* Dutch CD
# "Better Alone" - 3:06
# "Better Alone" - 3:56
# "Warrior" - 3:47
* German maxi
# "Better Alone" - 3:06
# "Better Alone" - 3:26
# "Warrior" - 3:48
# "Better Alone" - 7:46
# "You'll Get Yours" - 5:44
# "Better Alone" - 3:06
* Swedish CD
# "Better Alone" - 3:06
# "Better Alone" - 3:26
# "Warrior" - 3:47
# "Better Alone" - 3:06
* UK CD1 and iTunes Single
# "Better Alone" - 3:06
# "Warrior" - 3:47
* UK CD2
# "Better Alone" - 3:06
# "Better Alone" - 3:59
# "Better Alone" - 3:56
# "Better Alone" - 7:44
* Australian CD
# "Better Alone" - 3:06
# "Better Alone" - 3:56
# "Better Alone" - 7:44
# "Runaway" - 3:24
* Italian CD
# "Better Alone" - 3:06
# "Better Alone" - 3:59
# "Better Alone" - 7:44
# "Runaway" - 3:24
* UK DVD
# "Better Alone" - 3:06
# "Next Best Superstar" - 3:31
# EPK Extract - 2:00
# Photo Gallery - 3:24
Charts
Release history
References
{{Authority control
2005 singles
2005 songs
Big Records singles
Melanie C songs
Songs written by Peter-John Vettese
Songs written by Melanie C
Warner Music Group singles