Goodbye (Spice Girls song)

"Goodbye"
Single by Spice Girls
from the album Forever
B-side	"Christmas Wrapping"
Released	8 December 1998
Format	CD single
Recorded	1998
Genre	Pop
Length	4:44 (single version) 4:35 (album version) 4:20 (radio version)
Label	Virgin
Writer(s)	Spice Girls, Richard Stannard, Matt Rowe
Producer	Stannard, Rowe
Spice Girls singles chronology
"Viva Forever" (1998) "Goodbye" (1998) "Holler"/"Let Love Lead the Way" (2000) Audio sample file info · help

"Goodbye" is a song by the Spice Girls' from their third studio album, Forever. It was released on 8 December 1998 by Virgin Records as a Christmas single, along with a previously unreleased song. The song was written by the Spice Girls, Richard Stannard, and Matt Rowe, and is the group's first song without the vocals of Geri Halliwell. Originally written as a tribute to the people who died in the Dunblane massacre^{[citation needed]}, the song was re-written and all contributions from Geri Halliwell removed after her departure from the group.

Release

"Goodbye" was released in a two-CD format (standed single and a maxi single). The typical track listing internationally followed the UK track listing. In the U.S. the single was released as an EP and contained only the B-side, "Christmas Wrapping", and live versions of "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" and "We Are Family", which were recorded at their final concert at Wembley Stadium in September 1998. The U.S. single also included a set of four stickers of the girls, portraying them as fairies, similar to how they looked in the music video of Viva Forever. It was later included on the girls' third studio album, Forever.

Reception

A review of Sputnikmusic considered the song "very tasteful and emotionally sweeping," while Tania Kraines from BBC Music UK said "the heartbroken post-Geri 'Goodbye' provided the girls with their last really good single." Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic said, "neither the production, songs, nor performances [of Forever] have much life to them, with the exception of the closer, Goodbye." The song peaked at number eleven on the Billboard Hot 100, and at number three on the Hot 100 Singles Sales. In the United Kingdom, the single became the girls' eighth number-one single, topping the charts for only one week, selling 380,000 in the first week. "Goodbye" was also their third consecutive Christmas number-one single in the UK.

Music video

The group, for the first time as a four-piece, in the music video for "Goodbye".

The music video for the song was filmed at Mentmore Towers in Mentmore, Buckinghamshire on 1 and 2 November 1998. It opens with each of the girls in four different black cars: 1957 Cadillac Fleetwood 75, 1941 Cadillac Fleetwood 75, 1955 Imperial Newport, 1958 Imperial Crown and white wolves running. They arrive at a castle and walk up the stairs arm-in-arm. When they enter there are frozen couples that the girls observe. The video also shows shots of each girl in a different setting with falling objects and then together as a group. The video ends with the ice melting off the people as they come back to life, then shows the shot of the girls entering in reverse to look like they are leaving.

Live performances

"Goodbye" was included on the setlist of Christmas In Spiceworld Tour in 1999. The song was performed at the 2000 BRIT Awards along with "Spice Up Your Life" and "Say You'll Be There". During the ceremony the Spice Girls received an Award for Outstanding Contribution To The British Music Industry. It was also performed on the Royal Variety Performance in October 1998. During The Return of the Spice Girls, Halliwell sang the harmony with the rest of the girls. This is the only song originally recorded without her vocals that she participated in.

Track listings

• UK CD 1

1. "Goodbye" (radio edit) – 4:20
2. "Christmas Wrapping" – 4:14
3. "Goodbye" (orchestral version) – 4:14

• UK CD 2

1. "Goodbye" (single version) – 4:44
2. "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" (live) – 4:22
3. "We Are Family" (live) – 3:35

• U.S. CD

1. "Goodbye" (single version) – 4:44
2. "Christmas Wrapping" – 4:14
3. "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" (live) – 4:35
4. "We Are Family" (live) – 3:22

Charts and certifications

Charts

Chart (1998)	Peak position
Australian Singles Chart	3
Austrian Singles Chart	13
Belgium (Flanders) Singles Chart	14
Belgium (Walonia) Singles Chart	12
Dutch Singles Chart	5
Finnish Singles Chart	2
French Singles Chart	21
German Singles Chart	17
Irish Singles Chart	1
Italian Singles Chart	2
New Zealand Singles Chart	1
Norwegian Singles Chart	6
Swedish Singles Chart	2
Swiss Singles Chart	8
UK Singles Chart	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	11

End-of-year charts

Country	Year	Peak position
Australia	1998	99
Australia	1999	45

Certifications

Country	Certification
Australia	Platinum
Canada	2× Platinum
New Zealand	Platinum
Sweden	Gold
United Kingdom	Platinum
United States	Gold

Chart precession and succession

Preceded by "Too Much" by Spice Girls	UK Christmas number-one single 1998	Succeeded by "I Have a Dream" by Westlife
Preceded by "To You I Belong" by B*Witched	UK Singles Chart number-one single 20 December 1998	Succeeded by "Chocolate Salty Balls" by Chef
Preceded by "Believe" by Cher	Irish Singles Chart number-one single 26 December 1998	Succeeded by "Chocolate Salty Balls" by Chef
Preceded by "Crush" by Jennifer Paige	New Zealand RIANZ singles chart number-one single 20 December 1998 – 3 January 1999	Succeeded by "Believe" by Cher

References

• Brown, Melanie (2002). Catch a Fire: The Autobiography. Headline Book Publishing. ISBN 0755310632.