Goodbye

Song facts

From Wikipedia:

“Goodbye” is a song written by Paul McCartney (but credited to Lennon–McCartney) and performed by Mary Hopkin. It was released on 28 March 1969, and it reached No. 2 in the UK singles chart, prevented from reaching the top position by the Beatles’ single “Get Back“. In the US, released 7 April 1969, the song reached No. 13 on the singles chart. In the Netherlands and Ireland the single peaked at No. 1.

McCartney’s demo was officially released on the 2019 reissue of Abbey Road.

Background

The song was conceived as a follow-up to the success of Hopkin’s first single, produced by McCartney, titled “Those Were the Days“, which was highlighted on her debut album Postcard, one of the first records issued by the newly founded Apple Records. In later years, McCartney had little recollection of creating the song, which was written in a great hurry to capitalise on Hopkin’s popularity, but he did recall being told by a boat skipper from the Orkney Islands that it was the man’s favourite song, which seemed appropriate to McCartney since, “if you think of it from a sailor’s point of view, it’s very much a leaving-the-port song.”

Reception

Billboard praised Hopkin’s “fine vocal work” and McCartney’s “exceptional” production. Allmusic critic Richie Unterberger described “Goodbye” as a “pleasant and catchy romp, rather like a Continental European folk love ballad in tone, with a dash of music hall.”

Recording

To assist Hopkin in learning the song, McCartney recorded a solo demo at his home, 7 Cavendish Road, London, in February 1969. The song was arranged by Richard Hewson, who had also orchestrated “Those Were the Days,” and produced, along with its flip side, “Sparrow”, by Paul McCartney on 1 March 1969 at Morgan Studios in Willesden. To better match Hopkin’s voice, the key was raised from C major to E major. The recording was Apple’s first official double-A-side, and the first Apple record to feature a full-fledged picture sleeve.

For the recording, Hopkin sang and performed acoustic guitar, while McCartney played bass guitar, an acoustic guitar introduction and solo, along with lap-slapping percussion and drums. Backing vocals, horns and strings, in Hewson’s arrangement, were overdubbed. The session was filmed by Apple’s Tony Bramwell for a promotional clip. In the footage, Hopkin can be seen miming to the song inside the studio, combined with shots of her and McCartney in the control room listening to a playback.

The flip side “Sparrow” was written by Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle, a songwriting duo signed to Apple Publishing. The recording took place on 2 March 1969; Hopkin sang and played guitar, McCartney added maracas, a session musician played upright bass, and Hewson arranged a choir part.

Mary Hopkin met her future husband, record producer Tony Visconti, while making foreign-language versions of the song.

The song was one of only two hits to be omitted from the compilation disc The Songs Lennon and McCartney Gave Away, issued originally in 1971 and re-released in 1979.

On 28 April 2014, “Goodbye” was released digitally along with “Those Were the Days” on Mary Hopkin Music. […]

Paul McCartney recording

For many years bootleg recordings existed of McCartney’s original demo of the song, recorded for Mary Hopkin. The international online magazine PopMatters published McCartney’s demo along with critical commentary expressing a preference for the composer’s version over Hopkin’s rendition.

The original demo by McCartney was officially released on the Super Deluxe Edition of Abbey Road in September 2019. […]

I didn’t have in mind any more Russian folk songs so I just wrote one for her. I thought it fit the bill. It wasn’t as successful as the first one but it did all right. My main memory of it is from years later, going on a boat trip from the north of Scotland to the Orkney Islands. The skipper of the boat was called George, and he told me it was his favourite song. And if you think of it from a sailor’s point of view, it’s very much a leaving-the-port song. He had the strangest Scottish accent, almost sort of Norwegian, as the Orkneyans do. He was quite proud of the fact that that was his favourite song.

Paul McCartney – from “Many Years From Now”, by Barry Miles, 1997

Paul then wrote a follow-up song to “Those Were the Days,” a G song called “Goodbye,” which Mary Hopkin sang beautifully. “Goodbye” featured an arrangement by Richard Hewson, whom I had brought to Apple to work on James Taylor’s album. Paul and I used him for “Those Were the Days” and Paul stuck with him for “Goodbye.” The arrangement Richard did for “Goodbye” incorporated many of Paul’s favourite elements. The trumpet doing pa-pa-pa-pa eighth notes is very much a Paul kind of idea. Indeed, the little pitter-patter noise that Paul put in there for percussion is very Buddy Holly influenced, another of Paul’s favourites. Paul McCartney, by the way, also played the bass on that record.

From “The Beatles from A to Zed: An Alphabetical Mystery Tour” by Peter Asher

We got a memo from McCartney saying that he wanted material for Mary Hopkin’s new single, and he had everybody in the company trying to write her something. We wrote a song and put it down, but nothing happened. I remember I was down in the main studio. I was at Apple by myself, and I went down to the studio and heard a guitar strumming. It was just George Martin and Paul McCartney in the studio, and the lights were out. I sat in the corner and listened to Paul put down a version of “Goodbye,” and George was putting it down on tape. The studio was in shambles, but they recorded that demo there.

Tom Smith, from the band Mortimer – From “Those Were The Days 2.0” by Stefan Granados

[Paul] did demo ‘Goodbye’ for me, which he wrote and then produced. And when we recorded it we played the guitar part together, plus Paul added a thigh slap all through the song and played ukulele.

Mary Hopkin – Interview with Record Collector, 1988

The Beatles were having serious problems by 1969. Did you feel that Paul was paying less attention to your career?

Of course. A year went by before he wrote “Goodbye.” And that was after I’d said, “Look, how about another single?” But I understood. Obviously his priority was the Beatles, that’s natural. He said he wrote “Goodbye” in about 10 minutes. I’m not sure how true that is! It probably is.

The two of you played acoustic guitar together on “Goodbye” right?

Yes, we did. And Paul put a thigh–slap on there—on his own thigh, I might add! It’s a good song for its kind, but whether it was suited to me, I don’t know. It was easy for me to do those songs. They were fun little pop songs. So it was very easy for me to say, “Oh. Okay. Yes.” But as soon as I realized what was happening, I started putting the reins on, and putting my foot down about what material I was going to do.

I trusted Paul’s judgment, anyway. I would never condemn him for what he did; because he did what he felt was right for me. And I really enjoyed working with him.

Mary Hopkin – Interview with Goldmine, 1992

Although I’m flattered that Paul wrote Goodbye especially for me, it was, I believe, a step in the wrong direction for me. I’m so grateful that he chose Those Were The Days as my first single. I think Those Were The Days, being originally a Ukrainian folk song, has a timeless quality, but Goodbye is set firmly in the sixties pop era.

Mary Hopkin – Interview with Goldmine magazine, 2007

Last updated on October 28, 2021

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