If You're Gone (The Byrds song)
"If You're Gone" is a song written by Gene Clark that was first released on the Byrds' 1965 album Turn! Turn! Turn!.
| "If You're Gone" | |
|---|---|
| Song by the Byrds | |
| from the album Turn! Turn! Turn! | |
| Released | December 6, 1965 |
| Recorded | October 20, 1965, |
| Studio | Columbia Studios, Hollywood, California |
| Genre | Folk rock |
| Length | 2:45 |
| Label | Columbia |
| Songwriter(s) | Gene Clark |
| Producer(s) | Terry Melcher |
Music and lyrics
"If You're Gone" is one of several songs written by Clark whose lyrics reveal his emotional insecurity and vulnerability.[1][2] The simple melody is based on just three chords.[1] Allmusic critic Matthew Greenwald describes the melody as rising and falling gracefully but music critic Johnny Rogan feels it lacks the "melodic grace" of some of Clark's other compositions.[1][2] It uses a triple meter, with a snare drum accent on the first beat of every other bar.[3]
An unusual feature of the song is the harmony, in which a Gregorian chant-like vocal functions as a drone, sounding like an extra instrument similar to a bagpipe.[1][4] Producer Terry Melcher credits Byrds' lead guitarist Roger McGuinn for coming up with the drone concept, stating that McGuinn "had this good idea for using a fifth harmony to create a droning effect, like that of a bagpipe or drum. On the album it really does sound like another instrument."[2] Byrds biographer Christopher Hjort describes the backing vocal as "choir-like."[5] Theodore Gracyk credits the song with being one of the first to use this type of effect, a few months after the Kinks uses a similar effect on their song "See My Friends."[6] Melcher later adapted this drone idea for the Byrds' 1969 single "Jesus Is Just Alright."[2]
Recording
"If You're Gone" was recorded on October 20, 1965 at Columbia Recording Studio A in Hollywood, California.[5] Melcher produced it and Hjort suggests that Ray Gerhardt was most likely the engineer.[5]
Reception
Greenwald describes "If You're Gone" as a "fine example of Gene Clark's growth as a songwriter."[1] Fellow Allmusic critic Richie Unterberger describes it as a "strong composition."[7] Clark biographer John Einarson described it as "indicative of [Clark's] expanding poetic vision" and one of the highlights of Turn! Turn! Turn!.[4] Rolling Stone Album Guide contributor Rob Sheffield particularly praised the song particularly for its "devastated drone."[8] Something Else! contributor Beverly Paterson described "If You're Gone" and another Clark composition on Turn! Turn! Turn!, "Set You Free This Time," as a "stark ballads aching with regret."[9] The song has also been described as "a song wholly in the conditional tense, a maze of lines that lead nowhere at all, a pointlessly remarkable achievement."[10]
References
- Greenwald, Matthew. "If You're Gone". Allmusic. Retrieved 2017-02-12.
- Rogan, Johnny (1997). The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited. Rogan House. pp. 146, 301. ISBN 095295401X.
- Grier, James (2010). "Ego and Alter Ego". In Spicer, Mark S.; Covach, John R. (eds.). Sounding Out Pop: Analytical Essays in Popular Music. University of Michigan Press. pp. 50–51, 60. ISBN 9780472034000.
- Einarson, John (2005). Mr. Tambourine Man: The Life and Legacy of the Byrds' Gene Clark. Hal Leonard. pp. 80–81. ISBN 9780879307936.
- Hjort, Christopher (2008). So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star. Jawbone. p. 69. ISBN 9781906002152.
- Gracyk, Theodore (2001). Wanna be Me: Rock Music and the Politics of Identity. Temple University Press. p. 251. ISBN 9781566399036.
- Unterberger, Richie. "Turn! Turn! Turn!". Allmusic. Retrieved 2017-02-12.
- Sheffield, Rob (2004). Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Fireside. p. 126. ISBN 0743201698.
- Paterson, Beverly (November 12, 2015). "The Byrds' Turn! Turn! Turn! offered a message of hope in troubled times". Something Else!. Retrieved 2017-02-12.
- Bowker, R.R (1972). The Library Journal Book Review. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 9780835206204.