Happy Anniversary: Roberta Flack, “When It’s Over”

37 years ago today, Roberta Flack released the second single from her self-titled full-length effort, and given its title, you could hardly ask for a better album closer.

Written by Joe Brooks, the man responsible for gifting the world with Debbie Boone's classic hit, “You Light Up My Life,” “When It's Over” was released as a single a full six months after Roberta Flack's first single, “If Ever I See You Again,” which inevitably meant that any buzz the album might've had upon its initial release was long gone. As such, even though “If Ever I See You Again” was a #1 Adult Contemporary hit, “When It's Over” didn't even crack the lower reaches of the AC chart, finding its only success on the R&B charts, and even at that it only hit #82.

Still, this is Roberta Flack we're talking about, a woman who never met a ballad that she couldn't turn into a proper heartbreaker, and “When It's Over” - which, as it happens, was also written by Joe Brooks - is a strong entry in her late '70s catalog, one well worth revisiting on the anniversary of its initial release as a single.