"It's Sad to Belong" was a song written by Randy Goodrum

Randy Goodrum

Randy Goodrum is an American songwriter. Goodrum has written numerous popular songs, including Anne Murray's #1 hit "You Needed Me" and "Broken Hearted Me" , Michael Johnson's "Bluer Than Blue" , England Dan & John Ford Coley's "It's Sad to Belong" , Steve Perry's "Oh Sherrie" , DeBarge's "Who's...

 and performed by England Dan & John Ford Coley

England Dan & John Ford Coley

England Dan & John Ford Coley was an American pop rock duo composed of Danny Wayland "England Dan" Seals and John Edward "John Ford" Coley. Native Texans, the duo released eleven albums and nine singles in their career and are best known for their 1976 single, "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight"....

 on their 1977 album, Dowdy Ferry Road

Dowdy Ferry Road

Dowdy Ferry Road is the fifth album by the pop rock duo England Dan & John Ford Coley. The album's single "It's Sad to Belong" was a moderate pop hit and a #1 smash on the Adult Contemporary chart. Being from Dallas, Texas area, England Dan and John Ford Coley named Dowdy Ferry Road after a street...

. Called a "timeless classic", it peaked at #21 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 chart and #1 on the easy listening chart. It was one of the earlier pop hits in Goodrum's career.

Chart performance

"It's Sad to Belong" was released in May 1977 through Big Tree Records

Big Tree Records

Big Tree Records was a record label founded by current Sony Music Entertainment chairman Doug Morris in 1970. They were best known for releases by Lobo, England Dan & John Ford Coley, Brownsville Station and British R&B group Hot Chocolate....

, with the b-side "The Time Has Come". It became one of "a string of hit singles" that England Dan & John Ford Coley had in the mid-1970s.

On May 21, 1977, the song stood at #64 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #15 on the adult contemporary (then called "easy listening") chart. It rose up to #54 and #8 on the charts in the following week, and it eventually topped the adult contemporary chart for five consecutive weeks from June 25 to July 23.

The song also appeared on the top 40 "rack singles" list on June 7. On December 24, it ranked #3 on Billboards end-of-the-year easy listening chart.

Background

"It's Sad to Belong" is the second track on Dowdy Ferry Road. It is one of only two songs on the album not written by either singer.

The song has been called "bittersweet". Dale Van Atta

Dale Van Atta

Dale Van Atta is a speaker, novelist, and journalist. He was a personal friend of and co-author with fellow journalist Jack Anderson and borrowed money to help him when he was in financial trouble...

 of the Deseret News observed that it is "the universal divorce anthem - about the alleged monotomy of monogamy" and that the duo "[reduces] it to a simple, peaceful chorus" (referring to the line, Yes, it's sad to belong to someone else when the right one comes along).

The song was covered by B. J. Thomas

B. J. Thomas

Billy Joe "B. J." Thomas is an American popular singer known for his chart-topping hits in the 1960s and 1970s—appearing on the pop, adult contemporary, country and Hot 100 charts.-Career:...

. It is still performed in concerts by the surviving member of the duo, John Ford Coley.