Don't Leave Me Now (Pink Floyd Song) - Composition

Composition

The main section of "Don't Leave Me Now", recorded with synthesizer bass, piano, and a delay-treated guitar, does not adhere to one single key, but rather cycles slowly through four dissonant and seemingly-unrelated chords, for two measures of each: An E augmented chord, followed by a D flat major seventh chord, a B flat dominant seventh chord with a suspended second, followed by a G Major chord, which, after one bar, augments its fifth, before returning to the beginning of the progression. The first three chords all sustain the notes G♯/A♭ and C, and this interval is then lowered chromatically by one semitone for the conclusion on G Major. Furthermore, the roots of this chord progression (E, D♭, B♭, and G) outline the intervals of a diminished seventh chord. The roots relate to each other as a pair of tritones - the E and B♭ form one tritone, and the D♭ and G form the other. Musicologist and author Phil Rose described this section of the song as "entirely non-functional harmonically" and stated that "ost of the time when a phrase ends, Waters is either singing one of the most dissonant notes in the accompanying chord, or a non-chord tone." There is no percussion, and the tempo is very slow.

In the second section, drums, bass, and guitar enter, and the music becomes more consonant, resolving to the key of A minor through the use of D and A suspended second chords, as David Gilmour sings a refrain of "Ooh, babe".