"If You're Gone" is a song written by Gene Clark that was first released on

the Byrds The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...

' 1965 album ''

Turn! Turn! Turn! "Turn! Turn! Turn!", or "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)", is a song written by Pete Seeger in the late 1950s and first recorded in 1959. The lyrics – except for the title, which is repeated throughout the song, and the fin ...

''.

Music and lyrics

"If You're Gone" is one of several songs written by Clark whose lyrics reveal his emotional insecurity and vulnerability.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

critic Matthew Greenwald describes the melody as rising and falling gracefully but music critic

Johnny Rogan John Rogan (14 February 1953 – 21 January 2021) was a British author of Irish descent best known for his books about music and popular culture. He wrote influential biographies of the Byrds, Neil Young, the Smiths, Van Morrison and Ray Davies. ...

feels it lacks the "melodic grace" of some of Clark's other compositions. It uses a

triple meter Triple metre (or Am. triple meter, also known as triple time) is a musical metre characterized by a ''primary'' division of 3 beats to the bar, usually indicated by 3 (simple) or 9 ( compound) in the upper figure of the time signature, with , , ...

, with a snare drum accent on the first beat of every other bar. An unusual feature of the song is the harmony, in which a

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek (language), Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed ma ...

-like vocal functions as a

drone Drone most commonly refers to: * Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg * Unmanned aerial vehicle * Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft * Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to: ...

, sounding like an extra instrument similar to a

bagpipe Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, ...

. Producer

Terry Melcher Terrence Paul Melcher (born Terrence Paul Jorden; February 8, 1942 – November 19, 2004) was an American record producer, singer, and songwriter who was instrumental in shaping the mid-to-late 1960s California Sound and folk rock movements. His ...

credits Byrds' lead guitarist

Roger McGuinn James Roger McGuinn (born James Joseph McGuinn III; July 13, 1942) is an American musician. He is best known for being the frontman and leader of the Byrds. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his work with the Byrds. As a ...

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." Byrds biographer Christopher Hjort describes the backing vocal as "

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

-like." Theodore Gracyk credits the song with being one of the first to use this type of effect, a few months after

the Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhyt ...

uses a similar effect on their song "

See My Friends "See My Friends" (sometimes titled "See My Friend") is a song by the English rock band the Kinks, written by the group's singer and guitarist, Ray Davies. Released in July 1965, it reached number 10 on the UK Singles Chart, ''Record Retailer'' c ...

." Melcher later adapted this drone idea for the Byrds' 1969 single " Jesus Is Just Alright."

Recording

"If You're Gone" was recorded on October 20, 1965, at Columbia Recording Studio A in

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...

. Melcher produced it and Hjort suggests that Ray Gerhardt was most likely the engineer.

Reception

Greenwald describes "If You're Gone" as a "fine example of Gene Clark's growth as a songwriter." Fellow Allmusic critic

Richie Unterberger Richie Unterberger (born January 19, 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing. Life and writing Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' ...

describes it as a "strong composition." Clark biographer John Einarson described it as "indicative of lark'sexpanding poetic vision" and one of the highlights of ''Turn! Turn! Turn!''. ''Rolling Stone Album Guide'' contributor

Rob Sheffield Robert James Sheffield (born February 2, 1966) is an American music journalist and author. He is a long time contributing editor at ''Rolling Stone'', writing about music, TV, and pop culture. Previously, he was a contributing editor at '' Ble ...

particularly praised the song particularly for its "devastated drone." ''Something Else!'' contributor Beverly Paterson described "If You're Gone" and another Clark composition on ''Turn! Turn! Turn!'', "

Set You Free This Time "Set You Free This Time" is a song by the American folk rock group the Byrds, written by band member Gene Clark. It was first released in December 1965 on the group's ''Turn! Turn! Turn!'' album, and later issued as a single in January 1966. Com ...

," as "stark ballads aching with regret." 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."

References

{{authority control The Byrds songs Songs written by Gene Clark 1965 songs Song recordings produced by Terry Melcher