This is one of my favorite pop songs of all time. It might seem a little too sentimental upon a first listen, and it is more than a little sappy for sure (check out those strings!), but that doesn’t mean that Steve Martin Caro’s vocal track isn’t one of the most gutting and disarmingly earnest performances ever pressed to vinyl. Michael Brown (keyboards) composed the music and basically masterminded the group through a tragically short career that only lasted four years, from 1965-69. In that period the group had just two major hits, including “Walk Away Renee,” which reached number five on the charts, and “Pretty Ballerina,” which is also a tremendous single that once again blended Brown’s dark melodic turns with the teenage mournfulness of Caro’s voice.
I visited Regent’s Park in west London today, and the lighting and weather being both extremely poetic, I naturally put this song on. Embarrassing, yeah? I know, but it’s really just a great song. The articulation and the circumstance of the first verse is one of the saddest things, I think, I’ve ever heard in my life.
And when I see the sign that points one way
The lot we used to pass by every day
Just walk away Renee
You won’t see me follow you back home
The empty sidewalks on my block are not the same
You’re not to blame
From deep inside the tears I’m forced to cry
From deep inside the pain I chose to hide
Just walk away Renee
You won’t see me follow you back home
Now as the rain beats down upon my weary eyes
For me it cries
Your name and mine inside a heart upon a wall
Still find a way to haunt me, though they’re so small
Just walk away Renee
You won’t see me follow you back home
The empty sidewalks on my block are not the same
You’re not to blame
Left Banke CDs are pretty much unavailable right now unless you have the bones for extortionately priced import copies (used, mind you) of compilations issued in the 80s and 90s. It’s really sad, but what can you do? People aren’t buying CDs, and lesser-known artists get shelved, never to be reissued. C’est la vie.
The Left Banke – “Walk Away Renee”
This is the most beautiful pop song ever written.
ReplyDeleteThe Left Banke collection "There's Gonna Be A Storm" is available as an MP3 album at Amazon.com
I have a bunch of rare Left Banke recordings on my site: leftbanke.nu
i've been to your site. it's fantastic. very informative.
ReplyDeletethis band is so amazing and so underrated. i wish there were more videos and footage and that they would re-release their stuff. does anyone know how to get a hold of the hot parts movie with steve martin caro's solo stuff on the soundtrack?
ReplyDeleteeveryone has to listen to "love songs in the night" from the hot parts soundtrack if you haven't already....
ReplyDelete