The Left Banke were an American pop band during the 1960’s They released two singles between late 1966 and early 1967. The first one, “Walk Away, Renee” was a huge smash hit. The second tune, “Pretty Ballerina” while not as successful as “Renee” still reached as high as #12 on the charts and was as good if not better.
At the time of release these records, in addition to being huge hits, drew favorable comparisons to musical heavyweights The Beatles and The Beach Boys. Behind it all was the son of a New York session violinist named Michael Brown. Both songs were written by Brown, who at the time was all of 16 years old.
In addition to having the apparent musical chops to write, arrange and record such sophisticated pieces (with the help of his dad), there was a genuine story of unrequited teenage love behind it all. Brown was infatuated with the girlfriend of one of the other members of the band, Renee Fladen. These and other songs which would eventually be released on The Left Banke’s debut LP were written for her and about her.
From deep inside the tears that
I’m forced to cry
From deep inside the pain I
I chose to hide
Your name and mine inside
The heart upon a wall
Still finds a way to haunt me,
though they’re so small
Just walk away Renee,
You won’t see me follow you back home
The empty sidewalks on my
block are not the same
You’re not to blame
Here is a boy, all of 16 years old telling the object of his desires to walk away. Unwilling or unable to act upon his feelings for her. Musically beautiful but more importantly, pure in it’s sentiment.
As the story goes, Brown was recording the harpsichord part to “Walk Away, Renee” when Renee Fladen was actually in the studio. Brown experienced such anxiety over her presence he found himself unable to successfully lay down the track. He would have to leave the studio and come back later that evening after she and her boyfriend had left.
A lesser known track from that album titled “She May Call You Up Tonight” seems to indicate that things may have gotten a little more complicated.
I’ve been telling lines
I never knew
all to keep that girl
away from you
but she may call you up tonight
then what could I say
that would sound right.
Still another song, “Shadows Breaking Over My Head”, reveal a darker side to this unrequited love story
Shadows breaking over my head
Shadows breaking over my head
I wanted to see her
I want her alone, I tell you
I wanted to see her
though I knew she has left me
now through trees I don’t see
How well does she know me
how well do I see her
it’s something I told her
this way to really see me
please don’t leave me
Eyes that would be dancing through my time
would help me find a way
to seek her out in my mind
no no not this time it’s through
for her and me
Shadows breaking over my head
Shadows breaking over my head
It’s hard to say how individuals perceive and act upon love, particularly when they are so young. It’s my feeling though, that these lyrics speak more to companionship than they do to the physical side. I think back on the girls I had crushes on when I was younger and honestly the idea of lusting after them physically was not the initial lure. At the core of what we all want is companionship and to know that the person we’re with wants to be with you just as much as you want to be with them. The sex part comes shortly thereafter and dare I say, ruins the purity of it all.
The overwhelming romanticism at play here then speaks volumes towards the timelessness of the songs. The evil fact that for that one brief moment in our lives when we have the clearest idea in our heads as to what love actually is is also the time when we are most discouraged socially to make that kind of life altering choice.
So what’s left is our collective imaginations. When we’re young we drum up potential scenarios and ask ourselves how we would react to them. Some of us still do that. Michael Brown may or may have not lusted after Renee in the physical sense. But the lyrics that he wrote as a mere 16 year old speak clearest to me on what love actually is.
I had a date with a pretty ballerina
Her hair so brilliant that it hurt my eyes
I asked her for this dance
and then she obliged me
Was I surprised, yeah
Was I surprised,
no not at all
I called her yesterday,
it should have been tomorrow
I could not keep
the joy that was inside
I begged for her to tell me
if she really loved me
Somewhere a mountain is moving
Afraid it’s moving without me
And when I wake on a dreary Sunday morning
I open up my eyes to find there’s rain
And something strange within said,
“go ahead and find her
Just close your eyes, yeah
Just close your eyes and she’ll be there”