"Alone Too Long" is a ballad with music by Arthur Schwartz and lyrics by Dorothy Fields, written for the Broadway musical By the Beautiful Sea, whose book was by Herbert and Dorothy Fields. The show opened at the Majestic Theatre on 8 April 1954 and ran for 270 performances. It is set in Brooklyn and Coney Island in 1907, and in Act I the song is sung by Dennis Emery, a Shakespearean actor. According to the Arthur Schwartz article, it was introduced in the musical by Shirley Booth and Wilbur Evans.
The earliest known recording was made by Nat King Cole with Nelson Riddle's orchestra in February 1954. It was first released on the single "It Happens to Be Me" in March 1954. The song, an English-language ballad with lyrics, is associated with vocal jazz. Later versions include those by Eddie Fisher, Sylvia Syms, Mark Murphy, Susannah McCorkle, Sonny Red and Nelson Riddle.
