"Lost Someone" is a song recorded by James Brown in 1961. It was written by Brown and Famous Flames members Bobby Byrd and Baby Lloyd Stallworth. Like "Please, Please, Please" before it, the song's lyrics combine a lament for lost love with a plea for forgiveness. The single was a #2 R&B hit and reached #48 on the pop chart. According to Brown, "Lost Someone" is based on the chord changes of the Conway Twitty song "It's Only Make Believe".
with the James Brown Band:
A performance of "Lost Someone" is the centerpiece of Brown's 1963 album Live at the Apollo. Nearly 11 minutes long and spanning two tracks on the original LP release (the end of Side 1 and the beginning of Side 2), it is widely regarded as the album's high point and as one of the greatest performances in its idiom on record. Critic Peter Guralnick wrote of the recording:
I lost someone
A million to one
Ten thousand people
Under my fault
Someone, the one
My one, the only one
That's the someone
The someone, the only one
That someone that I lost
You're nothin' but a stranger
Come on home to me
I'm so weak on my knees
Help me, help me please, please, please
Cook outta money, I love you
I lost someone
One trillion to one
A million people
Under the big old sun, the sea
My one on the street
Lookin' like a bomb
That's my one
That's my someone, he's the one
Please help that one
He's nothin' but a stranger
Bring him home to me
He's so weak on
Both his bended knees