"You're Gone" is a song written by

Paul Williams Paul Williams may refer to: Authors * Paul Williams (Crawdaddy) (1948–2013), American music and science fiction journalist; founder of ''Crawdaddy'' and the Philip K. Dick Society * Paul Williams (Irish journalist) (born 1964), Irish journalis ...

and Jon Vezner, and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

group

Diamond Rio Diamond Rio is an American country music band from Nashville, Tennessee. The band consists of Marty Roe (lead vocals, guitar), Jimmy Olander (lead guitar, banjo), Dan Truman (keyboards), Dana Williams (bass guitar, vocals), Micah Schweinsberg ( ...

. It was released in June 1998 as the lead-off single from their album '' Unbelievable''. It peaked at number 4 in the United States and number 5 in Canada, in the Country charts of both territories.

Content

According to co-writer

, the song came about when he and Vezner were discussing the death of one of Williams' old friends,

Tom Jans Tom Jans (February 9, 1948 – March 25, 1984) was an American folk singer-songwriter and guitarist from San Jose, California. He is perhaps best known for his song " Loving Arms" (also known as "Lovin' Arms"), which was recorded initially by Kr ...

, as well as other people who influenced their lives.

Critical reception

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the musi ...

from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' wrote, " Jon Vezner and

have written a song that grabs the listeners by the ears immediately with the opening lines "I said hello I think I'm broken/And though I was only jokin'/It took me by surprise when you agreed/I was trying to be clever/For the life of me I never/Would have guessed how far the simple truth would lead." This is an incredible song, and

lead vocalist

Marty Roe Diamond Rio is an American country music band from Nashville, Tennessee. The band consists of Marty Roe (lead vocals, guitar), Jimmy Olander (lead guitar, banjo), Dan Truman (keyboards), Dana Williams (bass guitar, vocals), Micah Schweinsberg ( ...

delivers the powerful poetry in a voice that perfectly conveys the complex emotions in the lyric. The production by the talented Mike Clute and the Rio boys is clean and uncluttered, letting the vocal and piano drive home the impact of the lyric. This is just the first single from a great new

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

that shows these guys plan to hang on to that Country Music Assn. vocal group trophy they recaptured last fall."

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for the song was directed by Peter Zavadil, and premiered in mid-1998.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

1998 singles Diamond Rio songs Songs written by Paul Williams (songwriter) Music videos directed by Peter Zavadil Arista Nashville singles 1998 songs Songs written by Jon Vezner Songs about death {{1998-country-song-stub