Everyone has songs that become earworms for them. Some of them are common and seem to cross generational boundaries, at least in my experience. Some examples come to mind: Come On, Eileen and Chechez La Femme are two of them I know are earworms for people other than myself.
Then there's Walk Away, Renée, a 1966 hit song by the pop band The Left Banke. The tune was written by Tony Sansone, Bob Calilli, and Michael Brown, though Brown was the principal writer and keyboardist for the band. This song is one of the worst earworms for me and for years, I didn't know why. Now I have an inkling.
If you're not familiar with this tune, here's an early video of them performing it music video style:
The lyrics:
Walk Away, Renée is classified as one in the "baroque pop" genre, one of many that employed the use of classical music instruments such as strings and harpsichords. Other bands, such as The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Procol Harem, The Zombies released music in this genre, but The Left Banke was an early progenitor of the style.
Michael Brown was only sixteen when he wrote the song, which after reading the lyrics, you wonder how someone so young could be so introspective about matters of the heart. Though unrequited love has long been a topic of pop songs over the entire history of pop music (even prior to the rock era), the lyrics capture the angst missing from many of them, at least to me.
Brown's muse was Renée Fladen, a singer in her own right and the girlfriend of Tom Finn, the band's bassist. According to Brown, he had a major, yet unrequited, crush on Fladen. So much did he love her that when it came time to record the harpsichord part in the studio and finding Fladen there to watch the session, his hands shook so much, he had to leave. Later, he returned to the studio to record the missing part.
In the video above, the blonde walking away during the song's bridge is Renée herself.
I think the reason the song gets in my head and won't leave right away is that I feel the young man's pain in the lyrics, and even though he wasn't the lead singer of the song (Steve Martin Caro was), it's haunting beauty is evident in every syllable. This resonates with me and probably why the song's been covered so many times.
Michael Brown died on March 19, 2015, after a battle with heart disease. Steve Martin Caro died on January 14, 2020, also from heart disease.
Here's another of Michael Brown joining the band for Walk Away, Renée just prior to his death (in 2013). As you can see, he's not physically well and his playing is a bit rusty. But nonetheless, it's a treasure it's been captured for posterity.
RIP, Michael Brown and Steve Martin Caro!
Yours in music,
Michael
Then there's Walk Away, Renée, a 1966 hit song by the pop band The Left Banke. The tune was written by Tony Sansone, Bob Calilli, and Michael Brown, though Brown was the principal writer and keyboardist for the band. This song is one of the worst earworms for me and for years, I didn't know why. Now I have an inkling.
If you're not familiar with this tune, here's an early video of them performing it music video style:
The lyrics:
Now a bit more about the song before I get into the history.And when I see the sign that points one way
The lot we used to pass by every dayJust walk away, Renée
You won't see me follow you back home
The empty sidewalks on my block are not the same
You're not to blameFrom deep inside the tears that I'm forced to cry
From deep inside the pain that I chose to hideJust walk away, Renée
You won't see me follow you back home
Now as the rain beats down upon my weary eyes
For me it criesJust walk away, Renée
You won't see me follow you back home
Now as the rain beats down upon my weary eyes
For me it criesYour name and mine inside a heart upon a wall
Still finds a way to haunt me, though they're so smallJust walk away, Renée
You won't see me follow you back home
The empty sidewalks on my block are not the same
You're not to blame
Walk Away, Renée is classified as one in the "baroque pop" genre, one of many that employed the use of classical music instruments such as strings and harpsichords. Other bands, such as The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Procol Harem, The Zombies released music in this genre, but The Left Banke was an early progenitor of the style.
Michael Brown was only sixteen when he wrote the song, which after reading the lyrics, you wonder how someone so young could be so introspective about matters of the heart. Though unrequited love has long been a topic of pop songs over the entire history of pop music (even prior to the rock era), the lyrics capture the angst missing from many of them, at least to me.
Brown's muse was Renée Fladen, a singer in her own right and the girlfriend of Tom Finn, the band's bassist. According to Brown, he had a major, yet unrequited, crush on Fladen. So much did he love her that when it came time to record the harpsichord part in the studio and finding Fladen there to watch the session, his hands shook so much, he had to leave. Later, he returned to the studio to record the missing part.
In the video above, the blonde walking away during the song's bridge is Renée herself.
I think the reason the song gets in my head and won't leave right away is that I feel the young man's pain in the lyrics, and even though he wasn't the lead singer of the song (Steve Martin Caro was), it's haunting beauty is evident in every syllable. This resonates with me and probably why the song's been covered so many times.
Michael Brown died on March 19, 2015, after a battle with heart disease. Steve Martin Caro died on January 14, 2020, also from heart disease.
Here's another of Michael Brown joining the band for Walk Away, Renée just prior to his death (in 2013). As you can see, he's not physically well and his playing is a bit rusty. But nonetheless, it's a treasure it's been captured for posterity.
RIP, Michael Brown and Steve Martin Caro!
Yours in music,
Michael
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