If You Ever Leave Me

The Scaremongers – If You Ever Leave Me

Personnel:
Vocals: Armitage, Sue Roberts
Bass: Matt Brook
Keyboards: Nick Watts
The Rest: Smith
Engineer: Jason Salisbury
Mixed and Mastered: Steve Whitfield

Recorded at HD1 in Huddersfield, 17th-18th November 2007
Mixed: Chairworks, Castleford, 18th December 2007

Smith says:

I can't think of a full song that I've written since I put together the basics of If You Ever Leave Me, so as things stand this is the last song I ever wrote. As that was back in 2002, it doesn't bode well for The Scaremongers long-term welfare, not if it relies on me to instigate the songs.

It is perhaps the simplest to put write, even though I've tried to record it before on my own and failed. Armitage used the framework of my original lyric and ran with it, adding an extra chorus and a half, and writing the female vocal line. Recording was done in parallel with Less Is More at HD1 with Jason Salisbury and finished with Steve Whitfield at Chairworks. The arrangement I'd put together was a little bit too fussy, and some guitar lines needed stripping out. I need to remember to keep things simple. Matt Brook played simple, straight-forward bass, Nick Watts played simple, straight-forward organ, the vocals are simple and straight-forward, and there's nothing in the least bit complex about the drums. The only flourishes were guitar lines from the original demo I did at home, which weren't meant to stay but because we were running out of time and they did the job, we left them in rather than getting out my guitar and amp and re-recording them. Needs must, as they say.

Lyrics

If You Ever Leave Me

(She)
You're watching heaven can wait
I'm slipping out through the garden gate

(He)
If you ever leave me, you'll be sorry
In the movie in my head, you're traumatised
A door slams and it brings down all the scenery
Niagra comes cascading from your eyes

It'll be a lonely, lonely dawn that you awake to
The only, only person in a cold and stony time
With the tea leaves in the sink
you'll write a poem from the brink
But that won't break this bitter heart of mine

(She)
You're telling everyone everything's great
I'm halfway down the fire escape

(He)
If you ever leave me, you'll be sorry
You're weeping in the cafe where we met
Feeding at the trough of melancholy
Choking on the fishbones of regret

It'll be a lonely, lonely dawn that you awake to
The only, only person in a cold and stony time
With letters on the fridge
you'll write a poem from the edge
But that won't break this bitter heart of mine

It'll be a lonely, lonely dawn that you awake to
The only, only person in a cold and stony time
With anthacite and litter
write a letter from the landfill site
But that won't break this bitter heart of mine

With the airbag in your teeth
You'll give a sorry sounding speech
But that won't break this bitter heart of mine