Songfacts®:

• This is the original version of the song Michael McDonald released as his first solo single in 1982, albeit with major changes. This Chuck Jackson original from 1962 repeats the line, "I keep forgetting you don't love me no more." McDonald changed that to "I keep forgettin' we're not in love anymore" and used completely different verse lyrics and instrumentation. Jackson's song has a punchy arrangement and a rapid-fire delivery; McDonald's is backed with a wall of mellow instrumentation that plays under his distinctive baritone. Both singers are soulful in their own way, but with very different styles.
  
  The songs tell different stories with the same concept: After a breakup, the guy just can move on. Emotionally, he still thinks they're a couple despite evidence to the contrary.
• Chuck Jackson, who died in 2023, was an R&B singer best known for his 1962 hit "Any Day Now (My Wild Beautiful Bird)," which went to #23 on the Hot 100, the highest he got. He was highly regarded and made lots of showings on the R&B chart in the early '60s, but couldn't crossover to pop. He was signed to a small label called Wand that suited him well, but he left for Motown in 1968 with stars in his eyes. That didn't work out - Jackson found out that Motown wasn't the best place for established acts to transfer because they had so much home-grown talent. Marvin Gaye seemed to get all the oxygen. Jackson's hits dried up, but his recordings with Wand stand up as little undiscovered gems.
• The song was written and produced by the team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who were all over the charts with hits for The Coasters, The Drifters, Ben E. King, and, of course, Elvis - they wrote "Jailhouse Rock" and produced his version of "Hound Dog."
  
  Jackson usually worked with Luther Dixon or other producers at his label, Wand, but was open to other writers as well. "Any Day Now" was co-written by Burt Bacharach.