"Left Outside Alone" is a song by American recording artist

Anastacia Anastacia Lyn Newkirk ( ; born September 17, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter. Her first two studio albums, '' Not That Kind'' (2000) and '' Freak of Nature'' (2001), achieved chart success with the singles " I'm Outta Love", " Not That Ki ...

from her third studio album, ''

''. Written by Anastacia,

Dallas Austin Dallas L. Austin (born December 29, 1970) is an American songwriter, record producer, and film producer from Columbus, Georgia. Biography Early life During a 2019 interview with DJ Vlad, Dallas Austin detailed previously unknown or unconfir ...

, and

Glen Ballard Basil Glen Ballard Jr. (born May 1, 1953) is an American songwriter, lyricist, and record producer. He is best known for co-writing and producing on Wilson Phillips' debut and sophomore albums, '' Wilson Phillips'' and '' Shadows and Light'', ...

, the song details the singer's strained relationship with her estranged father. It was released as the album's lead single on March 15, 2004. The track received universal acclaim, with praise coming from Anastacia's new musical sound as well as her new singing sound found in the opening of the song being compared to

Evanescence Evanescence is an American Rock music, rock band founded in 1994 by singer and keyboardist Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody in Little Rock, Arkansas. After releasing independent extended play, EPs and a Origin (Evanescence demo album), demo ...

Amy Lee Amy Lynn Lee (born December 13, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She is the co-founder, lead vocalist, lead songwriter, and keyboardist of the rock band Evanescence. A classically trained pianist, Lee began writing music at ...

. "Left Outside Alone" topped the charts of several countries, including Australia, Austria, the Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland. It entered the top 10 in an additional 13 countries, becoming the sixth-biggest-selling European single of 2004. In the United Kingdom, it peaked at number three to give Anastacia her highest-charting hit there. In the United States, the

Jason Nevins Jason Nevins (born December 15, 1972) is an American songwriter, record producer and remixer, who is most widely known for his pop and dance productions, including his multi-platinum, multi-million selling production of " It's Like That" by Ameri ...

remix of "Left Outside Alone" was successful on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' dance charts, reaching number one on the

Dance Singles Sales The Dance Singles Sales was a record chart released weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine listing each week's best-selling dance singles in the United States. Its previous names include Hot Dance/Disco 12-inch Singles Sales (1985–1987), Hot Dance Mu ...

chart and number five on the

Dance Club Play The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

chart.

Critical reception

"Left Outside Alone" received universal acclaim from critics.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

editor Matthew Chisling wrote "Stronger tracks on the album include "Left Outside Alone,"..., on which

berates the listener with cries of frustration in pop/rock at its finest." Caroline Sullivan of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' wrote "Apparent references pop up: "It's not OK, I don't feel safe," runs the chorus to Left Outside Alone." ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' editor Andy Gill said that this song is "the source of the vulnerability." Dom Passantino of ''

Stylus Magazine ''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog. Addi ...

'' wrote "Left Outside Alone" starts off as if we're being sang to by the Holy Ghost (assuming Kate Bush is the Father and Tori Amos is the Son), over, yes, exactly the same chords that oversaw "Daredevil"... Then Anastacia switches style back to her normal voice… calling it normal seems a fallacy." He later praised the song with these words "genuinely interesting, genuinely experimental, and genuinely good single."

Yahoo! Music Yahoo Music was a brand under which Yahoo provided music services including Internet radio, a digital music store, music streaming service, media player software, and original programming. Yahoo Music was sold to Rhapsody in early 2008. Pro ...

editor Dann Ginoe praised the song: "With a high-pitched gothic quiver floating atop ambient brooding, "Left Outside Alone"'s opening strains could easily have her mistaken for Evanescence's Amy Lee. The familiar air-raid siren wail does kick in eventually, but it's bellowing to an uncharacteristically snarly, guitar-churning chorus. Yup, that's right, Anastacia's gone rock."

Music videos

Shot in

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank had a Census-estimated population of 102,755 as of 2023. The city was ...

in February 2004, the regular

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for "Left Outside Alone" directed by

Bryan Barber Bryan Barber (born December 20, 1970) is a music video and motion picture filmmaker. He has directed many music videos for popular artists, including Outkast's "The Way You Move" and " The Whole World". Barber is known for sprinkling scenes from ...

. There are actually three music videos for the song. The regular (and first) version was released to the worldwide market, excluding North America. The regular version begins with Anastacia on a bridge. Later she is walking along a street with a red poster on an advertising pillar. The street is of European style with European cars (a

Fiat 500 The Fiat 500 (, ) is an Economy car, economy / city car that was manufactured and marketed by Fiat Automobiles from 1957 until 1975. It was sold as a two-door semi-convertible or saloon car and as a three-door panel van or estate car. Launched ...

with a

vehicle registration plates of France Vehicle registration plates are mandatory number plates used to display the ''registration mark'' of a vehicle registered in France. They have existed in the country since 1901. It is compulsory for most motor vehicles used on public roads to ...

, a

Smart Roadster The Smart Roadster (W452) is a two-door, two-seater sports car classified in the S-segment in Europe. It was first introduced in 2002 by Smart GmbH. The Roadster and its variant, the Roadster Coupe, Coupé, enjoyed mostly successful sales during ...

, and a

Citroën DS The Citroën DS () is a Front-mid-engine, front-wheel-drive layout, front mid-engined, front-wheel drive executive car manufactured and marketed by Citroën from 1955 to 1975, in fastback/sedan, wagon/estate, and convertible body configurations ...

). Then she gets in a car, and whilst driving, she looks into a car next to her and sees "herself" canoodling passionately with a man. When she gets out of the car she notices people dancing to her song on the street. The alternate version of this video, known as the "blue-poster version", was made for the

Global Club Edit of the song, contains different edits, including the usage of a blue poster instead of the red one, and it also has a different ending. In 2005, a completely new video was released for American audiences. Shot on May 19–20, 2005, this version was directed by David Lippman and Charles Mehling, and was shot in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California. Although this version was recorded specially for the American market, "Left Outside Alone" was never officially released there. In this version, Anastacia is in a castle lying alone in a bed surrounded by candles.

Part 2

A different version of the track (entitled "Left Outside Alone, Part 2") appears on the deluxe edition of Anastacia's sixth studio album ''

Resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions involving the same person or deity returning to another body. The disappearance of a body is anothe ...

''. This version features an alternative melody for the same lyrics heard in the original song. She was quoted as saying: "Ten years later, I'm putting out an album and I wanted to revisit that song. I gave myself an opportunity to do that. I loved it and it's a completely different perspective on the song."

Track listings

US 12-inch single :A1. "Left Outside Alone" (Jason Nevins Global Club) – 8:05 :A2. "Left Outside Alone" (radio edit) – 3:55 :B1. "Left Outside Alone" (Jason Nevins Global Club Edit) – 4:16 :B2. "Left Outside Alone" (album version) – 4:17 US maxi-CD single # "Left Outside Alone" (radio edit) – 3:55 # "Get Ready" – 3:30 # "Left Outside Alone" (Jason Nevins Global Club Edit) – 4:16 # "Left Outside Alone" (Jason Nevins Global Club) – 8:05 # "Left Outside Alone" (Jason Nevins Mix Show) – 5:35 UK and European CD single # "Left Outside Alone" (radio edit) – 3:40 # "Get Ready" – 3:30 European maxi-CD single # "Left Outside Alone" (radio edit) – 3:40 # "Get Ready" – 3:30 # "Left Outside Alone" (Jason Nevins Global Club Edit) – 8:05 # "Left Outside Alone" (Jason Nevins Mix Show Edit) – 3:14 # "Left Outside Alone" (M*A*S*H Rock Mix) – 4:04 German mini-CD single # "Left Outside Alone" – 3:40 # "Left Outside Alone" (Jason Nevins Global Club Edit) – 4:16 Australian CD single # "Left Outside Alone" (radio edit) – 3:40 # "Get Ready" – 3:30 # "Left Outside Alone" (

Global Club Edit) – 4:16

Credits and personnel

Credits are taken from the ''

'' album booklet. Studios * Recorded at O'Henry Studios (Burbank, California),

Record One Record One is a recording studio complex in the Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, Sherman Oaks neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Originally founded in 1979, the studio has been the site of numerous commercially successful and award-winning record ...

(Los Angeles), and

Record Plant The Record Plant was a recording studio established in New York City in 1968 and last operating in Los Angeles, California. Known for innovations in the recording artists' workspace, it produced highly influential albums, including the New York ...

(Hollywood, California) * Mixed at South Beach Studios (Miami Beach, Florida) * Mastered at

Sterling Sound George Marino (April 15, 1947June 4, 2012) was an American mastering engineer known for working on albums by rock bands starting in the late 1960s. Biography Marino was born on April 15, 1947, in the New York City borough The Bronx. He attended ...

(New York City) Personnel * Anastacia – writing, vocals, background vocals *

– writing, keyboards, production *

– writing, guitars, keyboards,

MIDI drum Electronic drums are a modern electronic musical instrument, primarily designed to serve as an alternative to an acoustic drum kit. Electronic drums consist of an electronic sound module which produces the synthesized or sampled percussion sound ...

s, production *

Siedah Garrett Deborah Christine "Siedah" Garrett (born June 24, 1960) is an American singer and songwriter who has written songs and performed backing vocals for many recording artists in the music industry, such as Michael Jackson, the Pointer Sisters, Brand ...

– background vocals * Lisa Vaughn – background vocals * Audrey Wheeler – background vocals *

Tim Pierce Tim Pierce (born 1958 in Albuquerque) is an American session guitarist. He has worked for artists such as Joe Cocker, Crowded House, Goo Goo Dolls, Michael Jackson, Beth Hart, Roger Waters, Alice Cooper, Johnny Hallyday, Phil Collins, and th ...

– guitars * Tony Reyes – guitars * Colin Wolfe – bass * Sean Hurley – bass *

Josh Freese Joshua Ryan Freese (born December 25, 1972) is an American drummer. A member of punk rock band the Vandals since 1989, Freese has also been a member of new wave band Devo since 1996. He was previously a member of hard rock band Guns N' Roses ...

– drums *

Ric Wake Ric Wake is an Anglo-American record producer who has won two Grammy Awards. During his tenure as staff producer with Sony Music Entertainment, he has worked with vocalists such as Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Lucero, CoCo Lee, Taylor D ...

– lead vocal production * William Malina – recording * Rick Sheppard – recording,

MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface (; MIDI) is an American-Japanese technical standard that describes a communication protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, ...

and sound design * Thomas R. Yezzi – recording (vocals) *

Tom Lord-Alge Tom Lord-Alge (born January 17, 1962) is an American music engineer and mixer. He began his career at Unique Recording in New York. Subsequently, he was the resident mixer at what used to be known as "South Beach Studios", located on the ground ...

– mixing * Femio Hernandez – second mix engineer * Cesar Guevara – assistant engineering *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' '' Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Early life ...

– mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Cover versions

In 2020, Finnish

nu metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, with a metal umlaut) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop music, hip hop, funk, industrial music, industrial, and grunge. Nu ...

band

Blind Channel Blind Channel is a Finnish nu metal band from Oulu. They represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with the song " Dark Side", finishing in sixth place. The band define their musical style as "violent pop". Career In February ...

recorded a cover version of the song. Blind Channel released a short clip of Anastacia and the band singing "Left Outside Alone" on

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

in June 2023. British metal band Malevolence recorded a cover as part of The Aggression Sessions split EP released on April 7, 2023.

References

{{Authority control 2004 singles 2004 songs Anastacia songs Daylight Records singles Epic Records singles Music videos directed by Bryan Barber Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in Austria Number-one singles in the Czech Republic Number-one singles in Italy Number-one singles in Scotland Number-one singles in Spain Number-one singles in Switzerland Song recordings produced by Dallas Austin Song recordings produced by Glen Ballard Songs about loneliness Songs written by Anastacia Songs written by Dallas Austin Songs written by Glen Ballard