"If Leaving Me Is Easy" is a song by

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...

from his 1981 album ''

Face Value The face value, sometimes called nominal value, is the value of a coin, bond, stamp or paper money as printed on the coin, stamp or bill itself by the issuing authority. The face value of coins, stamps, or bill is usually its legal value. Ho ...

''. 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 Falsetto ( , ; Italian language, Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ...

in its chorus. The song was later covered by

the Isley Brothers The Isley Brothers ( ) are an American soul group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of the brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decades, ...

for their 1985 album ''

Masterpiece A masterpiece, , or ; ; ) is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, skill, profundity, or workmanship. Historically, ...

''.

Involvement of Eric Clapton

This was the first of two Phil Collins singles that featured

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

. The other single was "

I Wish It Would Rain Down "I Wish It Would Rain Down" is a song by English musician Phil Collins from his fourth solo studio album, '' ...But Seriously'' (1989). The song was a chart success in early 1990, peaking at 7 on the UK Singles Chart, No. 3 on the US ''Billb ...

" from Collins' final album of the 1980s, '' ...But Seriously''. He also recorded some

dobro Dobro () is an American brand of resonator guitars owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. The Dobro was originally a gui ...

for "The Roof Is Leaking", which was not used on the final recording.

Live versions

Collins revealed on the "Making of ''Face Value''" episode of ''

Classic Albums ''Classic Albums'' is a British documentary series about pop, rock and heavy metal albums that are considered the best or most distinctive of a well-known band or musician or that exemplify a stage in the history of music. Format The TV ser ...

'' that he decided to stop performing this song live on stage following his 1985 ''

No Jacket Required ''No Jacket Required'' is the third solo studio album by English drummer and singer-songwriter Phil Collins. It was released on 18 February 1985 by Virgin Records in the UK and by Atlantic and WEA internationally. After finishing touring commi ...

'' tour because he disliked the audience yelling and screaming instead of being quiet while he performed this song. According to SongFacts.com, 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

Personnel

Rhodes Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...

, drums, vocals,

Prophet 5 The Prophet-5 is an analog synthesizer manufactured by the American company Sequential. It was designed by Dave Smith and John Bowen in 1977. It was the first polyphonic synthesizer with fully programmable memory. Before the Prophet-5, synth ...

: guitar *

Daryl Stuermer Daryl Mark Stuermer (born November 27, 1952) is an American musician, songwriter, singer, and record producer best known for playing the guitar and bass for Genesis during live shows, and lead guitar for Phil Collins during most solo tours and ...

: guitar *

Alphonso Johnson Alphonso Johnson (born February 2, 1951) is an American jazz bassist active since the early 1970s. Johnson was a member of the jazz fusion group Weather Report from 1973 to 1975, and has performed and recorded with numerous high-profile rock and ...

: bass guitar *

Don Myrick Donald Myrick (April 6, 1940 – July 30, 1993) was an American saxophonist. A member of the Phenix Horns, he was best known for his work with Earth, Wind & Fire and Phil Collins. He played alto, tenor, and soprano sax as a member of Earth, W ...

alto sax The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E, smaller th ...

*Rahmlee Michael Davis and Michael Harris: flugelhorns *Strings arranged by

Arif Mardin Arif Mardin (March 15, 1932 – June 25, 2006) was a Turkish-American music producer, who worked with hundreds of artists across many different styles of music, including jazz, rock, soul, disco and country. He worked at Atlantic Records for ov ...

* Gavin Cochrane: Photography

References

{{authority control 1981 singles Phil Collins songs 1980 songs 1980s ballads Rhythm and blues ballads Song recordings produced by Hugh Padgham Song recordings produced by Phil Collins Songs written by Phil Collins Virgin Records singles