Sweet Partings: 4 Excellent Songs With “Goodbye” in Their Titles

Shakespeare insisted that “parting is such sweet sorrow.” But maybe the esteemed poet and playwright didn’t consider that goodbye need not be a bad thing. Especially when that word is in the hands of top songwriters.

These four songs all feature the word “goodbye” in the title. And they make listeners come back for those farewells again and again.

“Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye” by Leonard Cohen

Even before he recorded the song on his debut album, Leonard Cohen handed “Hey That’s No Way To Say Goodbye” to Judy Collins to record. That was the first of many cover versions of this track. Perhaps artists were drawn to it because, on the surface anyway, it’s a bit less cynical than some other Cohen tracks. Then again, you can read the lyrics as a guy saying all these romantic things because he’s trying to get this girl to accept that it’s the end of the line. Maybe he just doesn’t want to face the guilt that her heaving and sobbing might engender. No matter how you parse this one, though, it’s evidence of Cohen’s nimble way of elucidating relationship entanglements.

“Caroline Goodbye” by Colin Blunstone

The Zombies dissolved before they became a belated hit when American audiences discovered “Time Of The Season”. There was a notion to reunite the band when that happened. But Colin Blunstone, the band’s lead singer, embarked upon a solo career instead. His old bandmates Chris White and Rod Argent helped him with production on Year One, his solo debut from 1971. They concocted a sound that recalled The Zombies’ orchestral pop without the psychedelia. “Caroline Goodbye” is the undeniable highlight. Blunstone’s wounded vocals bring home the pathos of the narrator’s heartbreaking loss.

“Say Goodbye To Hollywood” by Billy Joel

Much of Billy Joel’s 1976 album Turnstiles was a coded message of sorts. Gifted as he was as a songwriter, he could keep any autobiographical bits from becoming too overbearing, thus making the songs resonant for everybody listening. But just about every song relates to what was going on in his life. “Say Goodbye To Hollywood”, the opening track, came at a time when Joel was literally leaving behind a life that he felt had stagnated on the West Coast. Since he included a “Be My Baby”-style beat, he exaggerates his falsetto a bit in honor of Ronnie Spector. Rather than a sassy kiss-off, Joel’s narrator finds that he’s still a bit heartsick about having to turn tail on his former location.

“Goodbye Girl” by Squeeze

A year before this song was released, David Gates of Bread scored a hit with a track of the same name from the Neil Simon film. Squeeze’s “Goodbye Girl” couldn’t have been much different in terms of its manner and temperament. Lyricist Chris Difford spins one of his typically wry slices of life, as a romantic rendezvous ends up pretty badly for the narrator. You might hear any one of three versions of this song, all slightly different, on the radio. The band released one single for the UK market and another for the US. A third take popped up on their album Cool For Cats. In every one of them, you’ll marvel at the melody and chuckle about the poor sap’s dilemma.

(Photo by Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns)