Go to main content

Lonely Man

Rating:
4.4 / 5

Words & Music: Bennie Benjamin Sol Marcus

It's a lonely man
Who wanders all around
It's a lonely man
Who roams from town to town
Searchin', always searchin'
For something he can't find
Hopin', always hopin'
That some day fate will be kind

It's a lonely man
Who travels all alone
When he has no one
That he can call his own

Always so unhappy
Taking shelter where he can
Here I am
Come meet a lonely, lonely man

Always so unhappy
Taking shelter where he can
Here I am
Come meet a lonely, lonely man

Here I am
Come meet a lonely, lonely man

Recordingdate: 1960/11/07, first released on: single (album)

Musicians

Musicians who contributed to the first recording of Lonely Man:

(guitar)
(guitar)
(guitar)
(bass)
(drums)
(piano)
(accordion)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)

Availability

Find available albums with Lonely Man.

bastiaanvinke wrote on February 04, 2010
I'm going for the solo version.
Deano1 wrote on March 03, 2010
Another slow country ballad recorded for, but not included in the movie "Wild In The Country". A little more interesting than the other three ballads considered or used in the movie ("In My Way", "Forget Me Never" and the title song), but not one of Elvis' very best either. Still it is quite good and it did have a short run up to #32 on the Billboard Hot 100 as the flipside of "Surrender". 3 1/2 star track.
dgirl wrote on January 31, 2011
Wild In The Country didnt have great songs, but this is a good one, probably the best one recorded for the movie although not featured.
Steve V wrote on October 05, 2011
I like all versions of this. Great melody and perfectly sung.
Cruiser621 wrote on September 11, 2012
The flip side of "Surrender" when it came out on 45RPM record back in 1961. I wasn't thrilled about it, but it was a perfect B-Side back then. I much prefer the solo versions which one can hear on the FTD issued CD.
NONE000000 wrote on September 11, 2012
I am a huge fan of the solo acoustic version of this track! As well as "Forget Me Never" and "In My Way"---and to a slightly lesser extent, the song "Wild In The Country" too. All of these songs really illustrate how much Elvis' voice had improved since "Love Me Tender"! The sound of only Elvis' voice with a simple acoustic guitar and NOTHING else is basically perfection to me. Pure, simple, perfect.
derekd wrote on September 12, 2012
A very good recording, offen wonder if the movie, Wild in the Country, should have been call 'Lonely Man'. It could have headed an ep of the the other songs from the movie and a differant song used on the 'b' side of Surrender.
Gorse wrote on December 10, 2012
Great ballad, haunting tune, brilliantly sung, with an accordion accompaniment which I really enjoy. This is a top notch song in a period of many strong songs and has enough class to hold its own.
sugartummy wrote on April 01, 2013
I give the solo version 4 stars and the master 3. Less=more. Not always, but many times.
rai wrote on February 27, 2015
Nice country song sung with emotion. The guitar beat was beautiful and makes this one of my favourite 60's song.
ElvisSacramento wrote on February 27, 2015
This is such a tremendous song and it should definitely be much better known than it actually is. Elvis' renditions of it are all brilliant. It's such a shame that this song wasn't featured in the fabulous Elvis movie "Wild in the Country" since it was originally recorded for that movie. 5 Stars.
Jim Davidson wrote on July 24, 2015
For Christmas 1977, I received three Elvis LPs including "Golden Records Volume 4". That LP was one of the main reasons that I went on to buy the entire catalogue several times over. "Lonely Man" captured my teenage angst. The song's exclusion from the movie "Wild in the Country" does not bother me. While the movie captures a depressive mood, there is no relief; when Glenn goes off to college, there is no elation. Perhaps Glenn continues to wander around searchin' for something he can't find.
atomic powered poste wrote on May 12, 2018
A nice little ballad. The composition is nothing special, the whole thing is a but generic. The song never had hit potential, but overall this makes a pleasant listen. 4 stars.
Milky White Way wrote on January 26, 2022
Used to be one of my teenage anthems. Loved it then and love it more now. So haunting and beautifully sung. I agree with the engineers comment on an earlier take “God dam that’s pretty.” 5 stars main version, 3 stars solo version.
DerekH wrote on August 26, 2022
A gem in 1960, prefect B side recording.
Back to List