"Leave Me Alone" is the first solo song by American rock musician Jerry Cantrell, the guitarist/vocalist of the band Alice in Chains. It was originally featured on the soundtrack to the 1996 film The Cable Guy and was also the film's closing track. The song was released as a single and peaked at No. 14 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.[5] A remixed version of the song was included on Jerry Cantrell's 2016 digital EP My Song.[6]
| "Leave Me Alone" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Jerry Cantrell | ||||
| from the album The Cable Guy: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | ||||
| Released | May 10, 1996[1][2] | |||
| Studio | Music Grinder Recording Studios, Hollywood, California[3] | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock[4] | |||
| Length |
| |||
| Label | Sony Music Entertainment | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Jerry Cantrell | |||
| Producer(s) | Jerry Cantrell, Toby Wright | |||
| Jerry Cantrell singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Origin
editJerry Cantrell talked about the song to Guitar School magazine in August 1996:
I met with the director, Ben Stiller, at a video shoot in Los Angeles, and he asked me if I wanted to do something. I already had some material I had worked on prior to doing the Alice in Chains record, and when Ben heard it he said, 'That's great.' After that I went back and he listened to it, I realized that the lyrics kind of fit the vibe of the movie, which I hadn't planned on when I wrote them. The whole thing was just a good opportunity for me to do something else. We're not on tour right now, so why not?[7]
Reception
editStephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote: "Jerry Cantrell's contribution [Leave Me Alone] rocks as hard as any Alice in Chains track".[8]
Music video
editA black and white music video directed by Rocky Morton was released in June 1996 to accompany the single.[9] It features Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney performing while footage from The Cable Guy is displayed on a screen behind them. Jim Carrey also appears in the video coming out of a television screen haunting Jerry Cantrell.[10]
The music video was included as a bonus feature on the 15th-anniversary edition Blu-ray of The Cable Guy in 2011.[11]
Chart positions
edit| Chart (1996) | Peak Position |
|---|---|
| US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[5] | 14 |
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Leave Me Alone (Radio Edit)" | 4:25 |
Personnel
edit- Jerry Cantrell – vocals, guitar and bass
- Sean Kinney – drums
Production
- Produced by Jerry Cantrell, Toby Wright[3]
- Engineered by Darrell Peters, David Bryant[3]
- Mixed by Toby Wright[3]
References
edit- ^ "Jerry Cantrell - Leave Me Alone". Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
- ^ "Mainstream Rock Tracks - For Week Ending May 25, 1996". Billboard. May 25, 1996. p. 91.
- ^ a b c d "Various – The Cable Guy (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)". Discogs. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
- ^ "Leave Me Alone - Jerry Cantrell". AllMusic. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
- ^ a b "Jerry Cantrell "Leave Me Alone" Chart History". Billboard. July 6, 1996. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
- ^ "Jerry Cantrell: My Song - EP". Google Play. May 6, 2016. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
- ^ Kitts, Jeff (August 1996). "The Soft Parade". Guitar School. Vol. 8, no. 4. pp. 27–30.
- ^ Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "The Cable Guy - Original Soundtrack". AllMusic. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
- ^ "Jerry Cantrell - "Leave Me Alone"". mvdbase.com. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
- ^ "Jerry Cantrell - Leave Me Alone". YouTube. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
- ^ "The Cable Guy - 15th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray)". DVD Talk. February 18, 2011. Retrieved July 25, 2018.