Love Me or Leave Me

Love Me or Leave Me is a popular song composed by Walter Donaldson with lyrics by Gus Kahn in 1928 for the Broadway musical Whoopee!, produced by Florenz Ziegfeld. Ruth Etting introduced the song on stage on December 4, 1928, and her subsequent studio recording became a major hit, reaching number two on the charts in early 1929. The melody features insistent, repeated phrases and a striking harmonic move from its initial minor tonality to the relative major without transitional chords, creating an abrupt but memorable tonal shift that has long attracted jazz improvisers. The lyrics present a blunt emotional ultimatum, and the oscillation between plea and defiance in the words is mirrored by the melody's angular swerves within a compact range. Donaldson wrote the tune during his peak productive period, which also yielded standards such as My Blue Heaven and Makin' Whoopee, and his collaboration with lyricist Gus Kahn was among the most prolific partnerships of the era. The song has been recorded across genres by artists including Benny Goodman, Fats Waller, Lester Young with Count Basie's small group, and Nina Simone, whose 1958 version on her debut album Little Girl Blue became one of her signature performances. A 1955 biographical film about Etting, starring Doris Day, helped renew popular interest in the song. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2005.