About The Song
“When You Are Gone” was written by Jim Reeves and Dean Manuel, the pianist and manager who traveled and worked closely with him for several years. The song was recorded during Reeves’ lifetime but remained unreleased until after his death. RCA Victor issued it as a single in September 1968, drawn from the posthumous album *A Touch of Sadness*.
The single reached number seven on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart and spent fifteen weeks on the list. In Canada it performed even more strongly, climbing to number one on the RPM Country Tracks chart. The B-side was “(How Can I Write on Paper) What I Feel in My Heart,” another earlier recording that had previously charted in its own right.
The lyric describes the emptiness that follows the absence of a loved one. Crowds lose their appeal, the singer finds himself crying, and the world seems to stand still. The heart refuses to accept the situation, and life itself feels without purpose when the other person is gone. Reeves delivers the lines in his familiar smooth, restrained style, giving the straightforward words a quiet weight.
Dean Manuel had been a constant presence in Reeves’ professional life, serving as both musician and business partner. The two men died together in the plane crash of July 31, 1964. The posthumous release of a song they had written together added a personal dimension to the recording that was not lost on listeners at the time.
By 1968 RCA continued to draw on unreleased and lesser-known material from Reeves’ sessions. *A Touch of Sadness* collected several such tracks and reached the upper ranks of the country album chart. “When You Are Gone” served as the lead single and helped sustain the steady flow of posthumous hits that kept Reeves’ name active on the charts well into the late 1960s.
Within the body of Reeves’ later releases the song stands as one of the clearer examples of material he had co-written himself. It reflects both the collaborative work he did with Manuel and the calm, measured delivery that remained consistent across the recordings issued after 1964.
Video
Lyric
When you are gone (you are gone)
There’s no fun with the crowd
I find myself crying
Even crying out loud (crying out loud)
I could find fun
But I’d still be alone
‘Cause my world simply stands still
When you are gone
When you are gone (gone)
My heart knows it well (knows it well)
And it just won’t believe
These stories I tell
Just can’t get used to (can’t get used)
This being alone
And there’s nothing to live for
When you are gone
When you are gone (gone)
My heart knows it well (knows it well)
And it just won’t believe
All these stories I tell
Just can’t get used to (can’t get used)
This being alone
And there’s nothing to live for
When you are gone (when you are gone)