ENDEIT

Standards

Love Me Or Leave Me chords & key

Walter Donaldson

Key
A♭ major
Form
AABA
Bars
32
Groove
Medium swing
Time signature
4/4

“Love Me Or Leave Me” is a jazz standard by Walter Donaldson. It is usually played in A♭ major as a medium swing, and the 32-bar AABA form has 4 sections. Harmonically it contains 3 major ii–V–I cadences and 2 minor ii–V–i, uses 13 different chords and moves between the key centres A♭ major, F minor and B♭ minor. In this atlas it appears on 8 album tracks.

Chord changes

Showing in: Concert (C) — A♭ major

A
Fm7
G7C7
Fm7
G7C7
A♭maj7Fm7
B♭m7E♭7
1.
A♭6
Gm7♭5C7♭9
2.
A♭6E♭7
A♭6
B
Cm7
F7
B♭m7F7♭9
B♭m7
B♭m7
E♭7
Cm7Bdim7
B♭m7C7♭9
A
Fm7
G7C7
Fm7
G7C7
A♭maj7Fm7
B♭m7E♭7
A♭6
Gm7♭5C7♭9

Changes as commonly played (concert pitch). Your band's version may differ.

Harmonic analysis

3Major ii–V–I
2Minor ii–V–i
7ii–V moves
0Tritone substitutions
6Dominant chains
13Different chords

Most used chords

  • Fm7×9
  • B♭m7×7
  • G7×6
  • C7×6
  • E♭7×5
  • A♭6×4

Key centres reached by ii–V

A♭ major, F minor and B♭ minor

Characteristics

  • AABA song form

Recorded on these albums

1956 Lady Sings the Blues
Billie Holiday · “Love Me or Leave Me”
1956 It's Love
Lena Horne with Lennie Hayton & His Orchestra
1958 Little Girl Blue
Nina Simone · “Love Me or Leave Me”
1965 Let It All Out
Nina Simone · “Love Me or Leave Me”
1993 Ella Swings Brightly With Nelson
Ella Fitzgerald · “Love Me or Leave Me”
1995 Love Me or Leave Me
Billie Holiday · “Love Me or Leave Me”
2005 Romance in the Dark, Vol. 1
Billie Holiday
2026 Too Marvelous For Words
Peggy Lee · “Love Me or Leave Me”

Historic 78 rpm recordings

  • LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME EUNICE and her MEN OF NOTE · Lee Daniels · Norman Feather · Bill… archive.org ↗
  • LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME BUCK CLAYTON'S QUINTET · Buck Clayton · Flip Phillips ·… · 1945 archive.org ↗
  • Love Me or Leave Me Sarah Vaughan · Ted Dale · Gus Kahn · Walter Donaldson · 1948 archive.org ↗

Standards with similar changes

Similarity of the chord progression, independent of key.

TitleComposerKeyFormGroove
Lullaby Of Birdland 29% George Shearing A♭ major AABA · 32 Medium swing
Nancy (With The Laughing Face) 28% Jimmy Van-Heusen E♭ major BBAA · 32 Ballad
I'll Be Seeing You 25% Sammy Fain E♭ major AB · 32 Medium swing
You Are Too Beautiful 25% Richard Rodgers C major AABA · 32 Ballad
Fly Me To The Moon 24% Bart Howard C major AB · 32 Medium swing
In Love In Vain 24% Leo Robin Jerome Kern B♭ major ABAC · 32 Medium swing
You Do Something To Me 24% Cole Porter E♭ major ABC · 32 Medium-up swing
If There Is Someone Lovelier 23% Dietz-Schwartz C major ABC · 28 Ballad

Frequently asked questions

What key is Love Me Or Leave Me in?

Love Me Or Leave Me is usually played in A♭ major. For B♭ instruments that is B♭ major, for E♭ instruments F major.

Who wrote Love Me Or Leave Me?

Love Me Or Leave Me was written by Walter Donaldson.

What is the form of Love Me Or Leave Me?

Love Me Or Leave Me has 4 sections (AABA) with 32 bars in total.

How fast is Love Me Or Leave Me played?

The usual groove is Medium swing.

What are the chord changes to Love Me Or Leave Me?

The opening bars are Fm7 | G7 C7 | Fm7 | G7 C7. The full chart above can be transposed to any key.