Song · St. Etienne
“Only Love Can Break Your Heart” by St. Etienne
From the album Foxbase Alpha (1991)
“Only Love Can Break Your Heart” by St. Etienne appears on 10 radio countdowns from 7 stations between 1991 and 2024. It was first released in 1991 on the album Foxbase Alpha. Its best result is #46 on the KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1992. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #89 alternative song of 1992 and #7,603 alternative song of all time.
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Saint Etienne took Neil Young's 1970 heartbreaker "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" and made it their own on Foxbase Alpha in 1991, keeping the hurt at its core while dressing it for a whole new crowd.
Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs arranged it, the group produced it themselves with Ian Catt engineering, and the voice belongs to Moira Lambert, with Harvey Williams sitting in on bass as a guest. It's a fan's cover in the best sense, one that treats the song as something to play with rather than a relic to dust.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 104 | KROQ Los Angeles, CA | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1991 | 107 |
| 1991 | 80 | Live 105 San Francisco, CA | Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1991 | 105 |
| 1992 | 46 | KROQ Los Angeles, CA | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1992 | 107 |
| 1992 | 46 | Q101 Chicago, IL | Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1992 | 101 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | 491 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1992) | 500 |
| 2019 | 577 | KEXP | KEXP Listeners' Favorite Songs of All Time | 627 |
| 2021 | 861 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s | 908 |
| 2022 | 803 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s | 900 |
| 2023 | 648 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s | 893 |
| 2024 | 224 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 850 Cover Songs | 850 |
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