Works of Art Series - Volume 1

Steve Winwood - My Love's Leavin'

(Paul says:)
(Please listen with headphones, as it will be easier to appreciate my comments.) I was never a real big fan of Steve Winwood, although I do like his work with both The Spencer Davis Group and Traffic, but this song is crafted. It has a basic beat with cool percussion and two chords during the verse at the beginning. More and more instrumentation (and vocal effects) is added as we near the first chorus, culminating with the call-and-response keyboard part that fluctuates between the left and right side. When the verse resumes, there is a keyboard-generated “strings” crescendo after each line. Still more instruments and new themes are added during the second verse. All the while, this song has a poignant lyric as well, as the singer laments the departure of his beloved, but finally concludes that her departure is actually liberating (listen for the keyboard “lead” fills during this part right before the song ends; there is also a decent keyboard solo in the musical interlude after the second verse). It just struck me that such a simple song could be crafted so well and embellished so expertly that it doesn’t become busy or overloaded. It’s truly a professional effort, and I have come to like Winwood much better because of it – not only this song, but many of his others, as well, although they don’t have the same level of artistic merit for me. I hope you come to enjoy it like I do.

P