Written by Chris White, the band's bass guitarist, "Leave Me Be" was released on a non-album single in October 1964.

Unlike its predecessor, which was a top-20 hit in the United Kingdom, "Leave Me Be" became a commercial failure due to flopping worldwide, only gracing the lower regions of the Australian charts.

[9] "Leave Me Be" was initially recorded as a demo at Ryemuse Studios in London on 13 August 1964, together with Argent's "Kind of Girl" and "Woman".

[9][10] This version wasn't released for over 30 years, and instead the group entered Decca Studios in West Hampstead, London on 31 August 1964 to professionally lay down the backing track to the song.

[14] Drummer Hugh Grundy had purchased a Ludwig drum kit, with White buying a Gibson EB-3, two instruments that would dominate the remainder of the group's output on Decca Records.

[12] Matthew Greenwald of AllMusic called the song a "minor-key ballad", and Johansen compares it to the soft and jazz rock that was present on "She's Not There".

[19] This was most likely to allow for a US-release of "She's Not There", which occurred only a few days after the vocal track for "Leave Me Be" was finished, on 7 September through Parrot Records.

[20][21] As "She's Not There" was more successful in the United States than in the UK, Decca decided to release "Leave Me Be" in the latter territory in order to see whether it would become a hit or not.

[19] "Leave Me Be" was issued in several other territories, including Australia, which was the only country in which the song actually landed on the national charts, Kent Music Report.

[24] According to White, the reason behind the disappointing chart success of "Leave Me Be" was that the song didn't have the same aura when recorded in the studio as it did during live performances.

[10] He claims that it was a fantastic track during rehearsals and on tour, but that the "produced sound" on the studio version most likely hindered further chart success.

In a review for Disc and Music Echo, critic Don Nicholl writes that "Leave Me Be" seems to be self-pitying, though "it should register another hit".

[37] He notes the "soft beat" contrasting to the "orchestrated power of Colin Blunstone's vocals", further praising Argent's organ playing.

[37] In a blind test for Melody Maker, musician Sandie Shaw states that she likes the sound of the song's introduction and almost immediately recognized it to be the Zombies.

[38] Peter Aldersley of Pop Weekly states that he likes the song, due to the "haunting fascination springing from the melody and the vocal".

[39] In an anonymous review for Record Mirror, the single is described as a "a gentle medium pace ballad with some good soft vocal work".

[18] He compared it to the music of the Beach Boys and positively notes the self-referencial lyrical content that "was probably deeply felt by every heartbroken teenager that ever heard it".

[18] The single became a favorite of guitarist John Du Cann of Atomic Rooster, who stated he enjoyed both the inclusion of minor chords and Blunstone's phrasing on the song, leading to him getting a copy of it signed during a Zombies concert.

[44] Vernon Joynson writes that "Leave Me Be" has a "muffled, surly feel",[45] while Dafydd Rees and Luke Crampton compared the song to "She's Not There", lacking a hook that would have made it more commercial.

However, engineer Gus Dudgeon stated that this was an attempt to ensure commercial success, as many follow-ups to debuts had a similar arrangement to the originals.

"Leave Me Be" eventually achieved something similar to a cult status among the Zombies' fans, due to its chord progression, lyrical relevance and relative obscurity.

[49] Based on the Janglers version, "Leave Me Be" was picked up by Kenneth "Kenta" Gustafsson and Gustav "Stoffe" Svensson, which was later featured in the Swedish cult film They Call Us Misfits in 1968.