If You're Gone (The Byrds song)

"If You're Gone" is one of several songs written by Clark whose lyrics reveal his emotional insecurity and vulnerability.[1][2] Allmusic critic Matthew Greenwald describes the melody as rising and falling gracefully but music critic Johnny Rogan feels it lacks the "melodic grace" of some of Clark's other compositions.[1][2] It uses a triple meter, with a snare drum accent on the first beat of every other bar.[3]

An unusual feature of the song is the harmony, in which a Gregorian chant-like vocal functions as a drone, sounding like an extra instrument similar to a bagpipe.[1][4] Producer Terry Melcher credits Byrds' lead guitarist Roger McGuinn for coming up with the drone concept, stating that McGuinn "had this good idea for using a fifth harmony to create a droning effect, like that of a bagpipe or drum. On the album it really does sound like another instrument."[2] Byrds biographer Christopher Hjort describes the backing vocal as "choir-like."[5] Theodore Gracyk credits the song with being one of the first to use this type of effect, a few months after the Kinks uses a similar effect on their song "See My Friends."[6] Melcher later adapted this drone idea for the Byrds' 1969 single "Jesus Is Just Alright."[2]

"If You're Gone" was recorded on October 20, 1965, at Columbia Recording Studio A in Hollywood, California.[5] Melcher produced it and Hjort suggests that Ray Gerhardt was most likely the engineer.[5]

Greenwald describes "If You're Gone" as a "fine example of Gene Clark's growth as a songwriter."[1] Fellow Allmusic critic Richie Unterberger describes it as a "strong composition."[7] Clark biographer John Einarson described it as "indicative of [Clark's] expanding poetic vision" and one of the highlights of Turn! Turn! Turn!.[4] Rolling Stone Album Guide contributor Rob Sheffield particularly praised the song particularly for its "devastated drone."[8] Something Else! contributor Beverly Paterson described "If You're Gone" and another Clark composition on Turn! Turn! Turn!, "Set You Free This Time," as a "stark ballads aching with regret."[9] The song has also been described as "a song wholly in the conditional tense, a maze of lines that lead nowhere at all, a pointlessly remarkable achievement."[10]