Yes this song has been covered about 5o times, so what harm would there be in one more? I love this song and the soaring “awaaaayyyy.” Just the thought of a David Archuleta  ” just walk awaaayyyy Renee” makes me all tingly,….. and the change ups…. killer. 

Thought you might enjoy a little history on the song. According to this piece by rock and roll fan Tom Simon:

“Violinist Harry Lookofsky owned a small storefront recording studio in New York City that he called World United Studios. In 1965, he gave a set of keys to his 16-year-old son, Mike Brown [real name: Mike Lookofsky], who helped out by cleaning up and occasionally sitting in as a session pianist. Mike began bringing in his teenage friends who tinkered with drums, guitars, amplifiers, the Steinway piano, and anything else they might find. Except for Mike, who had a background in classical piano, none of them were top musicians. But they could sing, especially one guy named Steve Martin.

By 1966 they started to call themselves the Left Banke. In addition to Mike and Steve, they included Rick Brand on lead guitar, Tom Finn on bass, and drummer George Cameron. Finn brought his girlfriend to the studio one day when the group had assembled for a practice session. She was a 5′ 6″ teenager with platinum blond hair. Mike Brown was infatuated with her the instant he saw her. Her name was Renee Fladen.

The group had begun recording songs, and Harry was particularly impressed with Steve Martin’s voice. Mike wrote a song about Renee. Although there was never anything between the two, Mike was fascinated by her and pictured himself standing at the corner of Hampton and Falmouth Avenues in Brooklyn with Renee, beneath the “One Way” sign. In his fantasy, he was telling her to walk away.

Harry took the song to ten different record companies before Smash Records picked it up. It entered the pop charts in the Fall of 1966 and remained there for ten weeks, peaking at number five.

As for Renee, she moved to Boston with her family shortly after Left Banke recorded Walk Away Renee, and no one in the group ever saw her again.”

  ~happy 

[audio:http://www.thedavidchronicles.com/audio/Walk Away Renee.mp3]

Walk Away Renee 
by Left Banke

And when I see the sign that points one way
The lot we used to pass by every day

Just walk away, Renee
You won’t see me follow you back home
The empty sidewalks on my block are not the same
You’re not to blame

From deep inside the tears that I’m forced to cry
From deep inside the pain that I chose to hide

Just walk away, Renee
You won’t see me follow you back home
Now, as the rain beats down upon my weary eyes,
For me, it cries

Just walk away, Renee
You won’t see me follow you back home
Now, as the rain beats down upon my weary eyes,
For me, it cries

Your name and mine inside a heart upon a wall
Still finds a way to haunt me, though they’re so small

Just walk away, Renee
You won’t see me follow you back home
The empty sidewalks on my block are not the same
You’re not to blame.