Breaking Up Is Hard to Do (song)

"Breaking Up Is Hard to Do"
Single by Neil Sedaka
from the album Neil Sedaka Sings His Greatest Hits
A-side	Breaking Up Is Hard to Do
B-side	As Long As I Live
Released	1962
Genre	Pop
Writer(s)	Neil Sedaka, Howard Greenfield
Neil Sedaka singles chronology
"King of Clowns" (1962) "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" (1962) "Next Door to an Angel" (1962)
Music video "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" at YouTube

"Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" is a song recorded by Neil Sedaka and described by Allmusic as "two minutes and sixteen seconds of pure pop magic".^[1] It is considered to be Sedaka's signature song. The background singers on the song are the female group the Cookies.

The single hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 11, 1962 and was a good hit all over the world, sometimes with the text translated into foreign languages. For example, the Italian version was called "Tu non lo sai" ("You don't know") and was recorded by Sedaka himself.

[edit] 1975 version

Originally an uptempo song, Sedaka re-recorded it as a ballad in 1975. The slower arrangement was originally debuted by David Cassidy in 1974 on his "Cassidy Live" album. Like The Beatles song Help, the slow version revealed a song of surprising depth and emotion. Sedaka's slow version peaked at number eight in February 1976 and went to number one on the Easy Listening chart.^[2]. It was only the second time that an artist made the Billboard Top Ten with two different versions of the same song.^{[citation needed]}