We take you behind the scenes and explore the making of one of our favorite tunes with The Song Remembers When…
Song: “Even Though I’m Leaving”
Songwriters: Luke Combs, Wyatt Durrette, and Ray Fulcher
Album: The Prequel (EP), What You See Is What You Get, What You See Ain’t Always What You Get (Deluxe)
In 2016, Luke Combs had yet to launch his career. It was during that time when he was in a writing session with a couple of friends and one of them wanted to write a song about being a father. He had just had a conversation with a friend who had to bury his father. It got him thinking about how generations of family move on – that idea married up perfectly with a title Luke had in his phone, “Even Though I’m Leaving.”
The guys started the song with a lyric about a little boy telling his daddy that he was afraid of monsters in his room with the father telling his boy that he’ll always be there for him. The second verse was about the son going off to the military and admitting to his father that he was nervous about leaving. And, the third verse was the son telling his father that he was scared to have to tell him goodbye, and the father told his son that even in his passing he would always be with him.
All three writers admitted to tearing up while writing this one. Luke even told his producer that it was hard to get through recording the song.
Luke made his debut as an artist just eight months after writing this song. But, it would be three years before he released it as a single. “Even Though I’m Leaving” became a number one hit for Luke in November 2019. By the following January, it had spent five non-consecutive weeks at the top of the chart.