If Leaving Me Is Easy

"If Leaving Me Is Easy"
"If Leaving Me Is Easy"
Single by Phil Collins
from the album Face Value
B-side	"In the Air Tonight"; "I Missed Again"; "If Leaving Me Is Easy" (demo);
Released	May 1981
Recorded	1980
Genre	Soul; R&B;
Length	4:56
Label	Virgin (UK); Atlantic (International)
Songwriter(s)	Phil Collins
Producer(s)	Phil Collins, Hugh Padgham
Phil Collins singles chronology
Audio
	"Phil Collins - If Leaving Me Is Easy (2016 Remaster)" on YouTube

"If Leaving Me Is Easy" is a song by Phil Collins from his 1981 album Face Value. Released as the third single from the album, it reached No. 17 in the UK, but was not released as a single in the United States. The song was also a top 40 hit in Ireland, reaching No. 25. Collins sings in a high falsetto in its chorus. The song was later covered by The Isley Brothers for their 1985 album Masterpiece.

Involvement of Eric Clapton[edit]

This was the first of two Phil Collins singles that featured Eric Clapton. The other single was "I Wish It Would Rain Down" from Collins' final album of the 1980s, ...But Seriously. He also recorded some dobro for "The Roof Is Leaking", which was not used on the final recording.

Live versions[edit]

Collins revealed on the "Making of Face Value" episode of Classic Albums that he decided to stop performing this song live on stage following his 1985 No Jacket Required tour because he disliked the audience yelling and screaming instead of being quiet while he performed this song. According to SongFacts.com,^[2] Collins performed the song on the BBC music show Top of the Pops with a bucket of paint and paintbrush on top of his electric piano, a reference to his first wife's affair with a painter and decorator.

Charts[edit]

Chart (1981)	Peak position
German Singles Chart	61
Irish Singles Chart^[3]	25
UK Singles Chart	17

Personnel[edit]

Phil Collins: Rhodes, drums, vocals, Prophet 5
Eric Clapton: guitar
Daryl Stuermer: guitar
Alphonso Johnson: bass guitar
Don Myrick: alto sax
Rahmlee Michael Davis and Michael Harris: flugelhorns
Strings arranged by Arif Mardin
Gavin Cochrane: Photography

References[edit]

^ "Phil Collins singles".
^ "If Leaving Me Is Easy by Phil Collins Songfacts". www.songfacts.com. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
^ "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". www.irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 6 July 2023.

[1] "Phil Collins singles".

[2] "If Leaving Me Is Easy by Phil Collins Songfacts". www.songfacts.com. Retrieved 11 November 2016.

[3] "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". www.irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 6 July 2023.

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v t e Phil Collins songs
Discography
Face Value	"In the Air Tonight" "I Missed Again" "If Leaving Me Is Easy"
Hello, I Must Be Going!	"Thru These Walls" "You Can't Hurry Love" "I Don't Care Anymore" "Don't Let Him Steal Your Heart Away" "Why Can't It Wait 'Til Morning" "I Cannot Believe It's True"
No Jacket Required	"Sussudio" "One More Night" "Don't Lose My Number" "Take Me Home"
Buster	"A Groovy Kind of Love" "Two Hearts"
...But Seriously	"Another Day in Paradise" "I Wish It Would Rain Down" "Something Happened on the Way to Heaven" "That's Just the Way It Is" "Do You Remember?" "Hang in Long Enough"
Serious Hits... Live!	"Do You Remember?" (live) "Who Said I Would" (live)
Both Sides	"Both Sides of the Story" "Everyday" "We Wait and We Wonder"
Dance into the Light	"Dance into the Light" "It's in Your Eyes" "No Matter Who" "Wear My Hat" "The Same Moon"
...Hits	"True Colors"
Tarzan	"You'll Be in My Heart" "Two Worlds" "Strangers Like Me" "Son of Man"
Testify	"Can't Stop Loving You" "Come with Me" "Wake Up Call"/"The Least You Can Do"
Brother Bear	"Look Through My Eyes" "No Way Out"
Going Back	"(Love Is Like A) Heatwave" "Going Back"
Featured singles	"Do They Know It's Christmas?" "Easy Lover" "Hero" "In the Air Tonite" "Home"
Other singles	"Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" "Separate Lives" "Somewhere"
Other songs	"The Man with the Horn" "You Ought to Know..."
Category