Songfacts®:

• Semisonic split up in 2001 after releasing their third album, All About Chemistry. The band re-formed in 2017, and in 2020 released their first song since their breakup: "You're Not Alone," the title track to a 5-song EP. It was written and produced by lead singer Dan Wilson, who did very well for himself during the group's long hiatus, co-writing "Not Ready To Make Nice" with The Chicks and "You & I (Nobody in the World)" with John Legend. "You're Not Alone" was recorded at Wilson's studio in Los Angeles with his bandmates John Munson and Jacob Slichter; the trio founded the group in 1995.
• This was released in the summer of 2020, when America was politically divided and still reeling from the coronavirus pandemic. The song takes a comforting tone, offering solace to those who feel powerless and constantly lied to. The answer may come from within:
  
  Who you gonna believe, the TV or your beating heart?
• This song strikes a balance between fighting for what's right and looking out for our own mental and emotional health. Dan Wilson reminds us that time is precious, but knows we have to take action:
  
  Better take the fight to the voting booth
  Sharpen your senses 'cause you're gonna have to see in the dark
• The music video follows a young boy, played by Eero Salmela, across a verdant landscape until he sends a message in a bottle, which Dan Wilson receives. The message: "You're Not Alone."
  
  Directed by Phil and Otto Harder, the video was inspired by Richard Powers' 2018 novel The Overstory, and by Tomas Sanchez' paintings, one of which was used as the artwork for the single.