It's Over (Roy Orbison song)

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"It's Over"
UK 7" vinyl single cover
Single by Roy Orbison
B-side"Indian Wedding"
PublishedApril 7, 1964 (1964-04-07) Acuff-Rose Publications, Inc.[1]
ReleasedApril 1964
RecordedMarch 10, 1964[2]
StudioFred Foster Sound Studio, Nashville, Tennessee[2]
Genre
Length2:47
LabelMonument 837
SongwritersRoy Orbison, Bill Dees[4]
ProducerWesley Rose[4]
Roy Orbison singles chronology
"Pretty Paper"
(1963) 		"It's Over"
(1964) 		"Oh, Pretty Woman"
(1964)

"It's Over" is an American song composed by Roy Orbison and Bill Dees and sung by Orbison.[4] The single was produced by Fred Foster and engineered by Bill Porter.[4]

"It's Over" typifies the operatic rock ballad. The song also appears on Orbison's 1964 album More of Roy Orbison's Greatest Hits and his 1989 posthumous album A Black & White Night Live from the 1988 HBO television special.

Billboard said of the song that "the drama-ballad king scores again with pathos and chorus and strings that build, build, build."[5] Cash Box described it as "a throbbing, martial beat-like lover's lament that once again builds to a big finish" and praised the instrumental arrangement by Bill Justis.[6]

Chart performance

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The song was released as a 45rpm single by Monument Records in 1964, The single entered the United States Cashbox chart on April 11, 1964, peaking at No.10 (on May 23, 1964), and reached No. 9 on the Billboard pop music chart.[7]

Meanwhile, after entering the United Kingdom singles chart on April 30, 1964, "It's Over" reached No. 1 on June 25, 1964 (making it Orbison's second UK No.1 single [the first was "Only the Lonely" in 1960]).[4] "It's Over" spent 2 weeks at No.1 on the UK singles chart, out of a total of 18 weeks on that chart.[8] "It's Over" and the Supremes' "Baby Love" are the only American singles that topped the UK chart between 1963 and 1965.[9]

In Australia, the song peaked at #9, spending 16 weeks in the KMR [10] Charts. It entered the chart on the 2nd May 1964.

It reached #1 on the New Zealand lever hit parade.[11]

The song also spent ten weeks in the Irish Singles Chart, three of which were at No.1. It was one of six chart-toppers for Orbison in Ireland.

Morrissey version

[edit]

In 2019, English singer Morrissey released a cover version of the song as the first single from his album California Son, featuring guest vocals from LP.[12][13] The single reached Number 1 on the UK's Official Physical Singles Chart.[14]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Library of Congress. Copyright Office. (1964). Catalog of Copyright Entries 3D Ser Vol 18 Pt 5. United States Copyright Office. U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
  2. ^ a b Weize, Richard (2001). Orbison 1955–1965 (7-CD Deluxe Box Set) (booklet). Bear Family Records. BCD16423. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  3. ^ a b Marsh, Dave (1989). The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. Plume. p. 631. ISBN 0-452-26305-0.
  4. ^ a b c d e Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 80. ISBN 0-85112-250-7.
  5. ^ "Singles Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. April 4, 1964. p. 26. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  6. ^ "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. April 4, 1964. p. 14. Retrieved 2022-01-12.[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: Eighth Edition. Record Research. p. 470.
  8. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 164. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  9. ^ Hogan, Ed. "Baby Love". Allmusic. Retrieved 2022-02-07.
  10. ^ Kent Music Report - Australian Chart Boot 1940-1969 pp132
  11. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20210208152821/http://www.flavourofnz.co.nz/index.php?qpageID=Lever%20hit%20parades&qyear=1964&qmonth=Jul&qweek=23-Jul-1964#n_view_location
  12. ^ Cook-Wilson, Winston (26 February 2019). "Morrissey Releases Cover of Roy Orbison's "It's Over"". Spin. Retrieved 4 May 2025.
  13. ^ Trendell, Andrew (26 February 2019). "Listen to Morrissey's new cover of Roy Orbison's 'It's Over' from album featuring members of Green Day, Grizzly Bear and more". NME. Retrieved 4 May 2025.
  14. ^ "Chart history of It's Over by Morrissey". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 May 2025.


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