I’ve just added The Left Banke’s Walk Away Renée lyrics to Cordula’s Web, associating them with a gloomy painting of a train station by Claude Monet, because many people — including myself — unconsciously project their own unrequited love with it.
Its background is particularly interesting. According to the song’s entry on Wikipedia, Michael Brown allegedly wrote about Renée Fladen, a tall blonde and then-girlfriend of bassist Tom Finn. He fell deeply in love with her; but since she was engaged, he couldn’t confess his love.
Tom Simon wrote: “By 1966 they started to call themselves the Left Banke. In addition to Mike and Steve, they included Rick Brand on lead guitar, Tom Finn on bass, and drummer George Cameron. Finn brought his girlfriend to the studio one day when the group had assembled for a practice session. She was a 5′ 6″ teenager with platinum blond hair. Mike Brown was infatuated with her the instant he saw her. Her name was Renee Fladen. (…) Mike wrote a song about Renee. Although there was never anything between the two, Mike was fascinated by her and pictured himself standing at the corner of Hampton and Falmouth Avenues in Brooklyn with Renee, beneath the “One Way” sign. In his fantasy, he was telling her to walk away.”
Love at 16 being particularly intense, Mike couldn’t complete a recording session for the song, just because Renée happened to be in the control room: “My hands were shaking when I tried to play, because she was right there in the control room,” he says. “There was no way I could do it with her around, so I came back and did it later.”
Renée left the band later, leaving Mike brokenhearted.
This story prompted some interesting reactions. On one hand, Joe from NY seems to confirm the interrupted-recordings incident: My brother Richard – alas, no longer living – had claimed for years that he and his band were present during the recording of “Walk Away Renee.” His band was using the same or adjacent studio facilities in this building – full of music industry offices – which was a few blocks north of Times Square (near the Brill Building). Richard also claimed that the bass player in the band was having difficulty doing the bridge to “Walk Away Renee.” He told me that somebody then yelled out, “Can anybody here play this part?” and Richard answered, “I can.” He played the part and the band wrapped up the session for that day. To the end, Richard never knew if they had used his bass part or if it were re-recorded later. (…)
On the other hand, Anthony Sansone who wrote the lyrics claims in a comment to John Stodder’s “From the Desert to the Sea…” blog entry Renee’s Still Walking Away, 40 Years On: “I never saw or knew Renee. The name was used because the Beatles wrote Michelle so I thought they could use a French name so could I. Mike went with the flow.”
Renée — if she existed at all — remains a mystery, as there are no pictures of her (though one site features an unconfirmed photo). According to Stodder’s blog, Dawn Eden claimed credit 2003 on her blog “The Dawn Patrol” for unearthing Renée’s whearabouts: “Renee Fladen-Kamm is a classical singer and vocal teacher in the Bay Area, who was a member of a medieval English music ensemble, The Sherwood Consort, although does not appear to be a member now.”
Real or not, Renée still inspires deep emotions. Commenter J. from Syracuse, NY, wrote on Songfacts:
“Walk away Renee” has a theme so reminiscent of my loss. I felt the greatest love of my life many years ago — the memory is haunting. She comes to me in dreams now, stirring up our past. In a world misunderstood we were forced apart — two women unwittingly and deeply in love. Pressured, she married a `high school sweetheart’ with hopes of a `normal’ life. She pleaded with me to be her maid of honor and out of love I did so. At the church alter, I stood silently by her side, swallowing my pain, I witnessed her marriage and remembered the last time we touched. I watched the newly married couple drive away beginning their honeymoon and separating our lives. I’ve long since moved away and have kept a respectful distance. I have not seen her or her family in all these years. I’ve always wondered where she placed our love, does she think of me? Sadly we are at a point quite aware our lives will end — I will leave a red rose at her grave and even more so, I pray she will leave a rose at mine.
So much about Renée Fladen-Kamm. Whereever you are Renée, and wether you’re fiction or real, at least you know you’ve inspired Mike and so many others all around the world. Love flows even out of rejection.
There’s just one little remaining mystery to resolve: why Monet’s gloomy train station on Cordula’s Web “Walk Away Renée”‘s page? It reminds me of my own “Renée”: the last time we’ve laughed and talked was some 22 years ago, as she dropped by for an all too short visit. At the end of that wonderful day, she left by train, and I stood there long after the train departed. I never met her again ever since. Just like Renée, she’ll remain a mystery.
September 22nd, 2009 at 1:56 am
Renee does indeed exist. Try some of the yahoo groups. There was one in particular that contained a picture of her taken in the 60′s & another of her in her later years. (some type of stage production, I’m not really sure what’s going on in the picture)
Two other songs besides “Walk Away Renee” where written about her by Mike Brown, “Pretty Ballerina” & “She May Call You Up Tonight”
The most notable lyric is the first in “Pretty Ballerina”
“I had a date with the pretty balerrina
her hair so brilliant that it hurt my eyes”
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April 4th, 2010 at 10:26 am
Hello. And Bye.
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