Walk Away Renee - Left Banke, The / Four Tops, The (cover-live by Bill Sharkey)

Walk Away Renee (Left Banke, The, 1966; Four Tops, The, 1968). Live cover performance by Bill Sharkey, Home Studio, Hawaii Kai, HI. 2022-02-25. "Keeping the Oldies Alive"

"Walk Away Renee" was the Left Banke's debut single and highest charted song rising to the #5 position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1966 (Whitburn, 2013). The Four Tops also had a hit with their version of the song in 1968 climbing to #14 on the Billboard chart. The only other artist to hit the Hot 100 was Southside Johnny & the Jukes in 1986 whose version just scratched the chart and stalled at #98 (Whitburn, 2013). In 2003, the song was ranked #222 on The Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (rollingstone.com, 2003). Michael Brown, one of the writers of the song, had a crush on one of the bandmates' girlfriend, Renee Fladen, who became the focal point of the song (rollingstone.com, 2003).

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Lyrics:

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 that I'm forced to cry
From deep inside the pain that 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

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 finds 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