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Comment te dire adieu

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"Comment te dire adieu"
Song
B-side"L'Anamour"[1]
Untitled

"Comment te dire adieu" (English: "How to Say Goodbye to You") is a French adaptation of the song "It Hurts to Say Goodbye". It was recorded by Françoise Hardy in 1968[3] and remains one of Hardy's most popular songs.

Background

The song, originally called "It Hurts To Say Goodbye", was written by Arnold Goland, who is considered a major factor in the creation of Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound", and the American producer and songwriter Jacob "Jack" Gold (1921-1992) and was initially recorded by Margaret Whiting on her album The Wheel of Hurt in 1966.[4] In 1967 a release by Vera Lynn reached #7 in Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart.[5][6]

These versions were interpreted in the style of a ballad, as was the first French version of the song with a text by Michèle Vendôme titled Avant de dire adieu which was released in 1967 by Ginette Reno with her album Quelqu'un à aimer. More beat driven were the instrumental interpretations by Brazil's Walter Wanderley and the Frenchman Caravelli, both published in the same year. Jack Gold Orchestra & Chorus peaked with their version in mid-1969 on #28 of the Billboard Easy Listening charts.

Françoise Hardy heard an "American instrumental version" of the song and her manager asked Serge Gainsbourg to provide suitable lyrics for it.[7] The resultant "Comment te dire adieu", was comnbined with an arrangement relatively closer to the Caravelli version and included on Hardy's 1968 album.[3] Hardy also recorded the song in Italian ("Il pretesto", 1968) and German ("Was mach' ich ohne dich", 1970; collected in the album Träume, 1970.) The lyrics are notable for their uncommon rhymes in "ex", within the subject of the song having a sense of "ex" as in "ex-boyfriend".

Amongst the more recent versions of the song is a German version with a new text, titled Ich sage dir adieu, released by veteran Greek-German singer Vicky Leandros on her 2010 album Zeitlos.

Formats and track listings

French SP

  • Production Asparagus/Disques Vogue/Vogue international industries (V.45-1552), 1968.
    • A-side: "Comment te dire adieu" ("It Hurts to Say Goodbye"), (ad. lyrics from Jack Gold: Serge Gainsbourg / music: Arnold Goland, arr. S. Gainsbourg) – 2:25
    • B-side: "L’Anamour" (lyrics and music: Serge Gainsbourg) – 2:14

English SP

  • Asparagus Production/United Artists (UP 35011 ), 1969.
    • A-side: "Comment te dire adieu" ("It Hurts to Say Goodbye"), (ad. lyrics from Jack Gold: Serge Gainsbourg / music: Arnold Goland, arr. S. Gainsbourg) – 2:25
    • B-side: "La Mer, les étoiles et le vent" (lyrics and music: Françoise Hardy) – 1:50

French EP

  • Production Asparagus/disques Vogue/Vogue international industries (EPL 8652), 1968.
    • A1: "Comment te dire adieu" ("It Hurts to Say Goodbye"), (ad. lyrics from Jack Gold: Serge Gainsbourg / music: Arnold Goland, arr. S. Gainsbourg) – 2:25
    • A2: "Il vaut mieux une petite maison dans la main, qu’un grand château dans les nuages" (lyrics: Jean-Max Rivière / music: Gérard Bourgeois) – 2:23
    • B1: "Suzanne", (ad. lyrics from Leonard Cohen: Graeme Allwright / music: L. Cohen) – 3:08
    • B2: "La Mer, les étoiles et le vent" (lyrics and music: Françoise Hardy) – 1:50

Jimmy Somerville version

"Comment te dire adieu"
Song
B-side"Tell the World"

In 1989 it was covered by former Bronski Beat and Communards singer Jimmy Somerville, as a duet with June Miles-Kingston. The song was a hit in the UK, reaching #14 on the UK singles chart, helping Somerville's solo career take off.

Track listing

7" single
  1. "Comment te dire adieu (7" version) — 3:35
  2. "Tell the World" — 4:12

Certifications

Country Certification Date Sales certified
France[8] Silver 1990 200,000

Charts

Chart (1989/90) Peak
position
Dutch Mega Top 100[9] 26
French SNEP Singles Chart[9] 3
German Singles Chart[9] 25
Irish Singles Chart[10] 3
UK Singles Chart[11] 14

Other cover versions

Apart from Jimmy Somerville, a number of artists have covered the song:

  • 1967: Walter Wanderley, a Brazilian organist, recorded an instrumental cover of the song on his album Batucada.
  • 1967: Caravelli and his orchestra released an instrumental version on the album Eloïse.
  • 1969: Anni-Frid Lyngstad, later a member of ABBA, recorded the song in Swedish as Så synd du måste gå ("So sad you have to go"); also published on her album Anni-Frid Lyngstad of 1972.
  • 1973: Czech recording by Hana Hegerová titled Rýmováni o životě ("Rhyming about life").
  • 1974: Russian version Моя мечта ("My dream") by Aida Vedishcheva.
  • 1985: Jun Togawa recorded a Japanese version, さよならをおしえて (Sayonara wo oshiete, literally "Tell me goodbye"; 1985).
  • 1987: Taxi Girl's frontman Daniel Darc, collected on Sous influence divine.
  • 1996: Jane Birkin, published an "arabesque version" on her album Versions Jane.
  • * 1999: A new Czech version by Ilona Csáková titled Jedno Tajemství ("A Secret") released on the album Blízká i vzdálená.
  • 2001: A cover arranged by Tomosuke Funaki, and sung by Shizue Tokui (as Orange Lounge), appeared in beatmania IIDX 6th style.
  • 2003: French cover by Annie and Valérie, two contestants of Star Academy 3 and included on the album Star Academy fait sa bamba.[12]
  • 2009: Amanda Lear recorded her version for her double-cd Brief Encounters in 2009.
  • 2011: A cover of the french version with the lyrics sung by Berry was released by Germany's Blank & Jones on their CD Relax Edition Six
  • 2012: Meg, a Japanese singer, covered the song in French for her album La Japonaise in 2012.
  • 2012: English cover by Julian Ovenden.
  • 2016: Cover by Belgian singer Kate Ryan.

References

  1. ^ Serge Gainsbourg Archived 2009-05-28 at the Wayback Machine, biography, RFI Musique. Accessed on line May 7, 2009.
  2. ^ On this label there is a mistake in the firstname of one of the authors of the song; we should read A. Goland instead of G. Goland.
  3. ^ a b "Original versions of Comment te dire adieu by Françoise Hardy". SecondHandSongs.com. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
  4. ^ "Cover versions of It Hurts to Say Goodbye by Margaret Whiting". SecondHandSongs.com. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
  5. ^ Vera Lynn - Billboard Singles, Allmusic. Accessed on line May 5, 2009.
  6. ^ "Original versions of It Hurts to Say Goodbye by Vera Lynn". SecondHandSongs.com. 1967-01-06. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
  7. ^ p. 50, Serge Gainsbourg: a fistful of gitanes: requiem for a twister, Sylvie Simmons, Da Capo Press, 2002, ISBN 0-306-81183-9.
  8. ^ French certifications Chartsinfrance.net (Retrieved October 3, 2008)
  9. ^ a b c "Comment te dire adieu", in various singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved October 3, 2008)
  10. ^ Irish Single Chart Irishcharts.ie Archived 2009-06-03 at WebCite (Retrieved October 3, 2008)
  11. ^ "Comment te dire adieu", UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved October 3, 2008)
  12. ^ Star Academy fait sa Bamba, track listing and charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved October 3, 2008)
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