So what鈥檚 the perfect goodbye song? I鈥檓 not sure there鈥檚 anything as immense as Roy Orbison and 鈥業t鈥檚 Over鈥�. The trembling delivery, the staggering beat, the swelling apprehension and worse. The girl has been untrue and she tells Roy that they鈥檙e emphatically done. No more rainbows, only lonely sunsets. The song surges for the last time and the sorrow takes us to a hitherto unreachable summit of disconsolation. Even the stars are weeping in the sky
. 听
I may have mentioned Soft Cell before and the imperial 鈥楽ay Hello, Wave Goodbye鈥�. Seek out the 12 inch version for the most lonesome clarinet solo, ever. But while Roy Orbison had a kind of dignity in despair, Marc Almond is more theatrical and less generous with his exit. He takes a few bitchy sideswipes as he stumbles out the doors of the Pink Flamingo and into the rain. But beyond the posturing, there鈥檚 an ill-disguised heartbreak. David Gray used this in his version of the song. Then he had the smart idea of hitching it onto Van Morrison鈥檚 鈥楳adam George鈥� - the tune with the most protracted and soul-shredding outro in popular music. A hundred goodbyes, and it鈥檚 still never enough.
听
Yet on the other side, there is resignation. You will find that on 鈥楧o What You Gotta Do鈥�, a Jimmy Webb song that the Four Tops covered in 1969. It鈥檚 a song about letting go of the lover and telling her to chase those dappled dreams elsewhere. There鈥檚 a deal of self-possession at the beginning of the song and then it does something that I normally wouldn't care for. It starts to repeat the early verses. But on this recording, the effect is devastating. All of the poise starts to crack and the voices are faltering. They just about make it through the song before you hear grown men in tears.
听
We could talk about Scott Walker, Nina Simone or Edith Piaf, but our farewell tour ends with The Verve in 1995 and 鈥楬istory鈥�. Lyrics on loan from William Blake, handclaps by Liam Gallagher plus a billowing orchestra. It鈥檚 the sound of Richard Ashcroft, lost in London, grieving from a break-up and singing the blues right out of the estuary mud. There was a Times Square sign on the single sleeve that read: 鈥淎ll Goodbyes Should Be Sudden鈥�. And sure enough, The Verve had fractured before the record was even released.
听
Anyway, I must go. Best wishes and everything. Adieu. 听