Song #57: "Leaving Me Now"--Level 42 (1986)

The British band Level 42 had a short stint on the charts in America, but all three of their singles made it into the Top 500, and today, it's the second of those three.

This song, the follow-up single to their biggest radio hit, "Something About You", was perfect for the Adult Contemporary radio format I was playing 31 summers ago at WUPE-FM in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. It's the story of a guy who becomes keenly aware that his latest love interest is on her way out, and he begins to see the "same story" sing its second, or maybe third, verse.

The song also contains, to me, one of the best lyrics of someone who is facing the end of a relationship that they don't want to end, encompassing many of the emotions felt in just four lines:

I always gave my best
Your memory serves you so badly
Some people kill for less
Yet I'd still die for you gladly