"Even Though I'm Leaving" is a song recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer

Luke Combs Luke Albert Combs (; born March 2, 1990) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Born and raised in North Carolina, Combs began performing as a child, most notably performing at Carnegie Hall. After dropping out of college to pursue a ...

. It was released in September 2019 as the second single to his second studio album, ''

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''.

Content

"Even Though I'm Leaving" is described as a "soft, mandolin-infused country song" and "stone-cold tear-jerker" by the blog

Taste of Country Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wi ...

. Co-written by Combs along with

Wyatt Durrette Wyatt Beazley Durrette Jr. (born February 21, 1938) is an American attorney and former politician. He served three terms in the Virginia House of Delegates as a Republican, from 1972 to 1978, and was the party's unsuccessful nominee for governor ...

and Ray Fulcher, the song features a dramatic interaction between a father and son. In three different scenarios, the son, who is the narrator, pleads his father not to leave him. In the first verse, the narrator is a child who is afraid of monsters under his bed, while the second features the son as a young adult going off to serve in the military, and the final verse features the son becoming emotional over his father's death. The song previously appeared on Combs's 2019 EP '' The Prequel''.

Commercial performance

"Even Though I'm Leaving" reached No. 1 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

''s

Country Airplay Country Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States since January 20, 1990. This chart lists the 60 most-listened-to records played on 150 mainstream country radio stations across the country as monitored ...

chart on November 23, 2019 and stayed on top of the chart for three weeks. It then fell to No. 2 for the chart dated December 14, while

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's "

One Man Band A one-man band is a musician who plays a number of instruments simultaneously using their hands, feet, limbs, and various mechanical or electronic contraptions. One-man bands also often sing while they perform. The simplest type of "one-man ban ...

" overtook it at the top. It remained at No. 2 the following week, having been leapfrogged by

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's "

Remember You Young "Remember You Young" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music singer Thomas Rhett. It was released on July 15, 2019 as the second single from his fourth studio album ''Center Point Road''. Rhett wrote the song with Ashley Gorley ...

" at the top before returning to No. 1 for two additional weeks starting with the chart dated December 28, making for a total of five non-consecutive weeks at No. 1. With this song, Combs also extended his record of first singles being consecutive No. 1s to seven on the Country Airplay chart. It also reached a peak of number 11 on the ''Billboard''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

, becoming Combs' first top 20 entry on the chart. The song was certified 3× Platinum by the RIAA on August 25, 2023. It has sold 226,000 copies in the United States as of March 2020.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2019 songs 2019 singles Columbia Records singles Luke Combs songs Black-and-white music videos Songs written by Luke Combs Songs written by Wyatt Durrette (songwriter) Country ballads