"I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone" (sometimes called "You're Right, I'm Left, She's Gone") is a song written by Bill Taylor and
Stan Kesler
Stanley Augustus Kesler (August 11, 1928October 26, 2020) was an American musician, record producer and songwriter, whose career began at the Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. He co-wrote several of Elvis Presley's early recordings including " I' ...
, and originally recorded by
Elvis Presley for
Sun Records.
Released as a
single in April 1955 (with "
Baby Let's Play House" on the opposite side),
the song made it into the top 10 of U.S. ''
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
C&W Best Sellers in Stores chart.
Composition
The song was written by Bill Taylor and Stan Kesler, members of a
Sun Records band called
Snearly Ranch Boys.
Recording
The commercial (released) version was recorded by Elvis in February–March 1955 at Sun Records' Studio in Memphis.
The recording features Elvis on acoustic guitar and his regular sidemen
Scotty Moore on electric guitar and
Bill Black on bass.
Both are credited on the record's label (as Scotty & Bill).
Session drummer Jimmie Lott was "brought in" for this recording by
Sam Phillips.
Description and critical analysis
The song's lyrics deal with a heartbreak, but in a humorous way.
The singer says to his friend that the friend was right in warning him that the girl would break his heart. But the singer still had to find out for himself
if she was "the one" for him.
According to Susan M. Doll in her book ''Understanding Elvis'', the song "features a common characteristic of country music — the passive acceptance of the singer's fate and the subsequent melancholy it brings," as the person who sings the song "passively resigns himself to the fact" that his girl is gone.
Musically, it is a rockabilly ballad. Originally Elvis Presley recorded it in a
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
arrangement, but the version that was released was "something of a novelty", which "was more in line with the commercial considerations of the day".
Mike Eder in his ''Elvis Music FAQ'' finds the recording too polished and too similar to other Elvis' songs of that time:
At about the one-minute mark, the song features Elvis' "trademark hiccup vocal break".
Track listing
Charts
Other recordings
Jerry Lee Lewis,
Hayden Thompson,
Billy Joe Royal,
Billy Fury,
Billy Swan
William Lance Swan (born May 12, 1942) is an American country singer-songwriter, best known for his 1974 single, "I Can Help".
Biography
Swan was born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, United States. As a child, he learned drums, piano and guitar ...
,
Tom Jones
Tom Jones may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer
* Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist
*''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in ...
, and
Teddy Thompson have also recorded the song.
References
External links
*
"I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone" on the Elvis Presley official website
{{Authority control
1955 songs
1955 singles
Elvis Presley songs
Songs written by Stan Kesler