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Creativity Quote by Bobby Womack

"Leave them wanting more and you know they'll call you back"

About this Quote

Show up, set the room on fire, then vanish before the warmth turns into wallpaper. Bobby Womack's line reads like backstage wisdom, but its real subject is power: who gets to be missed, and who has to beg for attention. "Leave them wanting more" is the old showbiz rule, yet Womack sharpens it with the cold mechanics of the industry: scarcity creates demand, and demand creates the callback. It is less romance than leverage.

Coming from a soul musician who lived inside the churn of labels, touring, and fickle radio tastes, the advice carries a practical sting. Womack isn't preaching artistic purity; he's describing a market where people love you loudest when you're just out of reach. The word "them" matters: audiences, executives, lovers, gatekeepers - anyone with the ability to choose. And "call you back" is tellingly passive. You do not chase. You arrange conditions so the world does the pursuing.

The subtext is also self-protection. In a business built on extraction, leaving early can be a boundary disguised as charisma. Don't overexplain, don't overstay, don't give away the whole map. Let the song end a beat before the sentiment turns sentimental. Womack turns restraint into strategy: in a culture that equates constant visibility with relevance, he argues for the opposite. Absence, timed well, isn't emptiness; it's a hook.

Quote Details

TopicRomantic
SourceHelp us find the source
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Womack, Bobby. (2026, January 17). Leave them wanting more and you know they'll call you back. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/leave-them-wanting-more-and-you-know-theyll-call-45466/

Chicago Style
Womack, Bobby. "Leave them wanting more and you know they'll call you back." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/leave-them-wanting-more-and-you-know-theyll-call-45466/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Leave them wanting more and you know they'll call you back." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/leave-them-wanting-more-and-you-know-theyll-call-45466/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.

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Leave Them Wanting More - Bobby Womack
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Bobby Womack (born March 4, 1944) is a Musician from USA.

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