In their masterful and landmark single “Don’t You Want Me,” the Human League tells the story of a woman leaving her lover while the man begs her to stay. The premise worked so well that songwriter Philip Oakey revisited the tale three years later with “Louise,” the third single from their second album, Hysteria.
The song is simple, in D major, with a moving bassline that jumps an octave before settling back down, going at its own leisurely pace and repeating every four beats. Oakey’s robotic bass voice comes in early as two synthesizer chords ring slowly, starting on a G, not quite resolving, and then moving to a D to match the bass.
He tells the tale of the rejected boyfriend meeting the woman, Louise, in a chance encounter while the man is in a coffee shop:
When he saw her getting off the bus
It seemed to wipe away the years
Her face was older, just a little rough
But her eyes were still so clear
He drank his coffee and he hurried out
Across before she walked away
Then he approached her like a little child
Too scared for what he had to say
“Hello, Louise,
Remember me?
Now should we part
Or stay a while
As if we were still lovers?”
She took a moment just to recognise
The man she’d known so well before
And as he started to apologise
Lose any bitterness she bore
She gently put her finger on his lips
To let him know she understood
And with her suitcase standing on the floor
Embraced him like a lover wouldHe told Louise
“You look so good
It’s just you see
You make me feel
As if we were still lovers”
It’s not always true that time heals all wounds
There are wounds that you don’t wanna heal
The memories of something really good
Something truly real, that you never found again
And though they talked for just a little time
Before she said she had to go
He saw the meeting as a tiny sign
That told him all he had to knowAnd so Louise
Waved from the bus
And as she left
She gave that smile
As if they were still lovers
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