Leave Right Now

This article is about the song by Will Young. For the EP by Will Young, see Leave Right Now (album). For the song by Riverside Girls, see Leave Right Now (Riverside Girls song).
"Leave Right Now"
Single by Will Young
from the album Friday's Child
Released 24 November 2003 (UK)
27 May 2010 (United States)
Format CD
Recorded 2003
Genre Pop, soft rock
Length 3:31
Label BMG
Writer(s) Eg White
Producer(s) Stephen Lipson
Will Young singles chronology
"Don't Let Me Down" / "You and I"
(2002)		 "Leave Right Now"
(2003)		 "Your Game"
(2004)
Alternative covers
UK CD 2

"Leave Right Now" is a popular song written by Eg White and performed by Will Young. It appears on Young's second album, Friday's Child, and was released as the first single from the album, and Young's fifth overall. The song also appears on the international version of Young's third album, Keep On.

The song is reportedly about unrequited love. White was awarded the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically for "Leave Right Now" in 2004. "Leave Right Now" was the exit song for the ninth season of American Idol.[1] Young performed it on the penultimate episode (25 May 2010) to accompany a video montage recapping the season.

Music video

The video, which has no transitions, features Young at a party where a fight starts and he gets caught up in it. The video also features actress Kelly Wenham as one of the party guests.

Critical reception

Stylus Magazine, who were mostly mixed to negative for Young's previous number ones, rated "Leave Right Now" with 9/10, saying "Better. Much, much better. By this time Will was comfortable as a popstar, prepared to add a little WTF to his videos (here he has a fight with the viewer in an art gallery), and had his style down pat: jacket and jeans rocked to a level not seen since Lovejoy and Tinker were bossing things in the late 80s. He had songs to match as well: “Leave Right Now” is just one of the most English songs ever, which is understandable: what could be more English than a privately educated homosexual? The guy's a moderate genius—Dido with testicles and a heart."[2]

In 2007, Freaky Trigger ranked the song at number 54 in their list of the "Top 100 Songs of All Time," with critic Pete Baran calling it "one of the ballsiest songs of the noughties."[3]

Commercial performance

The single went to number one in the UK Singles Chart for two weeks,[4] selling 117,700 in its first week of release, and making it Young's fourth number one single overall. The song has sold 540,000 copies in the UK according to the Official UK Charts Company.[5] In Ireland, it was the Christmas number one single; however, it peaked too soon in the UK to contend for the Christmas number-one there.

The song has sold 50,000 copies in the US according to Billboard, with 32,000 of those occurring the week he performed on American Idol.[6]

Single track listing

CD1
  1. "Leave Right Now" (Eg White)
  2. "Ticket to Love" (live from Exeter) (Cathy Dennis, Will Young)
CD2
  1. "Leave Right Now"
  2. "Cry" (Young, Richard Stannard, Julian Gallagher)
  3. "Leave Right Now" (Acoustic)
  4. "Leave Right Now" (Video)

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Chart (2003–10) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[7] 63
Belgium (Ultratip Flanders)[8] 14
Canada (Hot Canadian Digital Songs)[9] 69
Ireland (IRMA)[10] 1
Italy (FIMI)[11] 27
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[12] 36
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[13] 29
Norway (VG-lista)[14] 17
Scotland (Official Charts Company)[15] 1
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[16] 6
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[17] 1
US Billboard Hot 100[18] 81
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[19] 19
US Heatseekers Songs (Billboard)[20] 5

Decade-end chart

Chart (2000–2009) Position
UK Singles Chart[21] 67

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[22] Platinum 622,000[23]

^shipments figures based on certification alone

Cover versions

It was covered in French by Pierrick Lilliu as "La même erreur" (The Same Mistake) on his 2005 debut album, Besoin d'espace. Earlier that year, Lilliu was a runner-up in the French reality show, Nouvelle Star. The show is an analogue to the UK's Pop Idol, which launched Will Young's career. It was parodied in Ireland by Mario Rosenstock for the radio show Gift Grub, whose identically titled version poked fun at Roy Keane's controversial departure from Manchester United and his falling-out with Alex Ferguson. Rosenstock's version also reached number one on the Irish Christmas charts.

In 2005, The O.C. actor Peter Gallagher recorded a version for his album 7 Days in Memphis, released on 8 November 2005.

In 2013, Australian artist Anthony Callea recorded a version for his album, Thirty.

References

  1. ↑ Byrne, Katie (2010-02-25). "'American Idol' Reveals New Exit Song: 'Leave Right Now'". MTV.com. Retrieved 2014-04-02.
  2. ↑ ""Gotta Get Thru This": Dom Passantino's Survey of the New Millenium's UK #1 Singles - Article - Stylus Magazine". stylusmagazine.com.
  3. ↑ top 100 songs of all time | FreakyTrigger
  4. ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 693. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  5. ↑ "Simon Cowell: The Official Top 50". MTV. MTV Networks. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
  6. ↑ "Lee DeWyze lands six tracks on SoundScan Top 200". Content.usatoday.com. 2010-06-02. Retrieved 2014-04-02.
  7. ↑ "ARIA Report: Issue 733 (Week Commencing 15 March 2004)" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. p. 4. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  8. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Will Young – Leave Right Now" (in Dutch). Ultratip.
  9. ↑ "Will Young - Chart history". Billboard. Retrieved 2014-04-02.
  10. ↑ "Chart Track: Week 51, 2003". Irish Singles Chart.
  11. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – Will Young – Leave Right Now". Top Digital Download.
  12. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Will Young – Leave Right Now" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  13. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Will Young – Leave Right Now". Top 40 Singles.
  14. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Will Young – Leave Right Now". VG-lista.
  15. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2003-11-30". Scottish Singles Top 40.
  16. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Will Young – Leave Right Now". Singles Top 100.
  17. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2003-11-30" UK Singles Chart.
  18. ↑ "Will Young – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Will Young. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  19. ↑ "Will Young – Chart history" Billboard Adult Contemporary for Will Young. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  20. ↑ "Will Young - Chart history". Billboard. Retrieved 2014-04-02.
  21. ↑ Radio 1 Chart of the Decade, as presented by DJ Nihal on 29 December 2009
  22. ↑ "British single certifications – Will Young – Leave Right Now". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Leave Right Now in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
  23. ↑ Copsey, Rob (26 May 2015). "Will Young's Official biggest selling singles revealed: "I'm shocked by that!"". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
Preceded by
"Mandy"
by Westlife		 UK number-one single
30 November 2003 – 13 December 2003 		Succeeded by
"Changes"
by Ozzy Osbourne and Kelly Osbourne
Preceded by
"Sound of the Underground"
by Girls Aloud		 Christmas number one single (Ireland)
(Will Young version)
2003 		Succeeded by
"Do They Know It's Christmas?"
by Band Aid 20
Preceded by
"Do They Know It's Christmas?"
by Band Aid 20		 Christmas number one single (Ireland)
(Mario Rosenstock version)
2005 		Succeeded by
"A Moment Like This"
by Leona Lewis
Preceded by
"Home Sweet Home" by Carrie Underwood		 American Idol Farewell Song
Season 9 (2010) 		Succeeded by
"Don't You" by David Cook
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