The Song "When A Man Loves A Woman," Made Famous By Percy Sledge, Tells Of His Personal Heartbreak

Dec 21, 2019 by apost team

Percy Sledge was a struggling artist, who also worked as an orderly at a hospital in the 1960s, when he wrote a song that he had titled, "Why Did You Leave Me Baby?" However, American Song Writer reports that after feedback from record producer Quin Ivy to change the lyrics, it soon became "When a Man Loves a Woman," and that song shot to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in 1966 and is still adored to this day.

What made this story so incredible was that "When a Man Loves a Woman" was the first song that Percy had recorded. Few rags-to-riches stories are as amazing as his is, and the emotion that was in his voice when he sung the song, combined with how beautifully he sung it caused so many to fall in love with it and with him.

apost.com

The song genuinely had great meaning to him as it was inspired by his own broken heart. According to the Independent Percy said the person he had in his mind was Lizz King, a girlfriend of three years who departed for Los Angeles and the pursuit of a modeling career after he had lost a construction job, leaving a heartbroken Percy behind. This is evident in lyrics such as these: "When a man loves a woman, spend his very last dime, trying to hold on to what he needs, he'd give up all his comforts and sleep out in the rain if she said that's the way it ought to be."

This was definitely the biggest and most successful song for Sledge, and his only Top 10 in the US. His following release was "Warm and Tender Love," which made #17 US. His second-biggest US hit was "Take Time to Know Her" in 1968, which reached #11.

Regardless of what he was singing, it touched on heartstrings of all who were listening. His death in 2015 was mourned by music fans worldwide.

Do you remember the first time you heard "When a Man Loves a Woman," whether it was Percy's version or the one sung by Michael Bolton 25 years later? Do you have someone in mind whenever you hear it? Is it someone who broke your heart, is it someone who you still love today, or both?