Born in Brooklyn, Nilsson moved to Los Angeles as a teenager to escape his family's poor financial situation. While working as a computer programmer at a bank, he grew interested in musical composition and close-harmony singing and was successful in having some of his songs recorded by various artists, such as the Monkees. In 1967, he debuted on RCA Victor with the LP Pandemonium Shadow Show, followed by a variety of releases that included a collaboration with Randy Newman (Nilsson Sings Newman, 1970) and the original children's story The Point! (1971).
He created the first remix album, Aerial Pandemonium Ballet, in 1971, and recorded the first mashup song ("You Can't Do That") in 1967. His most commercially successful album, Nilsson Schmilsson (1971), produced the international top 10 singles "Without You" and "Coconut". His other top 10 hit, "Everybody's Talkin'" (1968), was featured prominently in the 1969 film Midnight Cowboy. A version of Nilsson's "One," released by Three Dog Night in 1969, also reached the U.S. top 10.
During a 1968 press conference, The Beatles were asked what their favorite American group was and answered "Nilsson." Sometimes called "the American Beatle," he soon formed close friendships with John Lennon and Ringo Starr, joining them in the Hollywood Vampires drinking club. He and Lennon produced one collaborative album, Pussy Cats (1974). After 1977, Nilsson left RCA, and his record output diminished. In response to Lennon's 1980 murder, he took a hiatus from the music industry to campaign for gun control. For the rest of his life, he recorded only sporadically. In 1994, Nilsson died of a heart attack while in the midst of recording what became his last album, Losst and Founnd (2019).
The craft of Nilsson's songs and the defiant attitude he projected remain touchstones for later generations of indie rock musicians. Nilsson was voted No. 62 in Rolling Stone's 2015 list of the "100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time," where he was described as "a pioneer of the Los Angeles studio sound" and "a crucial bridge" between 1960s psychedelia and the 1970s singer-songwriter era. The RIAA certified Nilsson Schmilsson and Son of Schmilsson (1972) as gold records, indicating over 500,000 units sold each. He earned two Grammy Awards (for "Everybody's Talkin'" and "Without You").
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Nilsson
Discography
Spotlight on Nilsson (1966)
Pandemonium Shadow Show (1967)
Aerial Ballet (1968)
Skidoo (1968) (soundtrack)
Harry (1969)
Nilsson Sings Newman (1970)
The Point! (1970) (studio album and soundtrack)
Nilsson Schmilsson (1971)
Son of Schmilsson (1972)
A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night (1973)
Son of Dracula (1974) (soundtrack)
Pussy Cats (1974)
Duit on Mon Dei (1975)
Sandman (1976)
...That's the Way It Is (1976)
Knnillssonn (1977)
Flash Harry (1980)
Popeye (1980) (soundtrack)
Losst and Founnd (2019)
Don’t Leave Me
Harry Nilsson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And having wept
Can weep no more
But still it cries for me
It cries in sympathy
It knows that you are gone
Don't leave me baby!
When you were mine
An' not so long ago
I used to say
You'd never go away
You'd never leave me lonely
Don't leave me baby!
Think about the happy times
The groovy times
Don't tell me they are gone
I just can't carry on an'
And know that you're not here
You're not near
Anymore
Don't leave me baby
Things are gonna work out fine
Don't leave me baby
Think I'm goin' outta my mind
Don't leave me baby
Don't leave me behind!
(Beep, beep, beep, beep, yeah!
Beep, beep, beep, beep, yeah! )
(Beep, beep, beep, beep, yeah!
Beep, beep, beep, beep, yeah! )
The willow weeps
And having wept
Can weep no more
But still it cries for me
It cries in sympathy
It knows that you are gone
It cries for me,
(Beep, beep, beep, beep, yeah!
Beep, beep, beep, beep, yeah!)
The willow weeps!
The lyrics of Harry Nilsson's Don’t Leave Me express the longing and desperation of someone who has just lost their significant other. The comparison between the weeping willow tree and the singer's emotions is a powerful one, as the tree is known to be sensitive to changes and capable of expressing sorrow. The chorus is a plea for the loved one not to leave, a cry for them to remember the happy moments and find a way to work things out, so the heartbroken person can keep going.
The first stanza sets the mood of the song, with the willow tree representing the singer's pain. The tree has cried as much as it can and yet it still cries, like the singer's heart that's hurting too much to bear. In the second stanza, the singer reminisces about the good times they had together, expressing disbelief that their loved one could leave them lonely. The third stanza is a plea for the lover not to leave them behind, to find a way to work things out and keep the hope of being together alive.
The repetition of the chorus reinforces the desperation in the singer's plea, with the beeping sounds resembling a heart monitor, reinforcing the theme of intense emotion and lost love.
Line by Line Meaning
The willow weeps
The willow is crying
And having wept
And it has cried before
Can weep no more
But now it cannot cry anymore
But still it cries for me
But it still cries for me since you left
It cries in sympathy
The willow cries with me in sadness
It knows that you are gone
It's aware that you are not here anymore
Don't leave me baby!
Don't go away from me, my love!
There was a time
There was a moment in the past
When you were mine
When you belonged to me
An' not so long ago
Not too distant in the past
I used to say
I would often express
You'd never go away
That you'd never leave me
You'd never leave me lonely
You'd always be with me to avoid loneliness
Think about the happy times
I remember the moments of joy we had
The groovy times
The cool moments we spent together
Don't tell me they are gone
Don't inform me they don't exist anymore
I just can't carry on an'
I just can't move forward
And know that you're not here
And realize that you are absent
You're not near
You are not close anymore
Anymore
Not anymore
Things are gonna work out fine
Everything will turn out well
Think I'm goin' outta my mind
I think I'm losing my sanity
Don't leave me baby
Don't go away, my dear
Don't leave me behind!
Don't abandon or leave me alone
(Beep, beep, beep, beep, yeah!
(Sound effect)
Beep, beep, beep, beep, yeah!)
(Sound effect)
(Beep, beep, beep, beep, yeah!
(Sound effect)
Beep, beep, beep, beep, yeah!)
(Sound effect)
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: HARRY NILSSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Valhallen002
The opening is so incredibly beautiful.
@e.silverman4082
Still a stunner. One simply couldn't ask for more in a pop song.
@Usercantwelve
Oh Boy ! Did I wear this record out )))
@bradpertner1035
His vocal range...
@nuggets0717
Criminally underrated song
@giorgiomadde3010
Great never recognized as it should
@clarkthesharkshow9944
This is probably the best song off ballet ,...
@trackingstationneillindsay
My favorite artist since the 60's.
@helenl2343
Unbelievable
@surferpam1
Played this over and over after being dumped by my first love.