"Goodbye" | ||||
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Single by Spice Girls | ||||
B-side | "Christmas Wrapping" | |||
Released | 14 December 1998 | |||
Format | ||||
Recorded | 15–18 July 1998 (Nashville, Tennessee) |
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Genre | Pop | |||
Length | 4:47 (single version) 4:35 (album version) 4:20 (radio version) 4:14 (orchestral version) |
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Label | Virgin | |||
Writer(s) | ||||
Producer(s) |
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Spice Girls singles chronology | ||||
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"Goodbye" is a song recorded by British girl group Spice Girls. It was written by the Spice Girls, Richard Stannard and Matt Rowe, while it was produced by the latter two. The song became the group's first song without the vocals of Geri Halliwell. It was released by Virgin Records on 14 December 1998 as a Christmas single, along with the B-side, "Christmas Wrapping". The song was composed by Richard Stannard and Matt Rowe along with the remaining Spice Girls. It was later included as the eleventh and final track on their third studio album Forever.
"Goodbye" was a commercial success, peaking at number one on the UK Singles Chart, and making the Spice Girls the first act to have three consecutive Christmas number-one singles since The Beatles in 1965.
"Goodbye" was originally written by Emma Bunton, Geri Halliwell, Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard intending it to be on Spiceworld. However, due to time constraints it was not recorded by the Spice Girls at the time. During the American leg of the Spiceworld Tour in July 1998, after the departure of Halliwell, Stannard and Rowe flew to Nashville, Tennessee to meet the group and rewrite the song. The group put input on the song and recorded it. In the Spice Girls' third autobiography, "Forever Spice", Melanie C said "Goodbye" was originally about a relationship ending, but now it's about Geri and it's really sad.
The single contains a cover of The Waitresses' 1981 single, Christmas Wrapping. The cover was recorded in November 1998, and only features vocals from Melanie C and Emma Bunton, due to the pregnancies of Mel B and Victoria. The lyrics in the cover features anglicized lyrics to mention the Spiceworld Tour, and British supermarket chain, Tesco.
"Goodbye" was released in a two-CD format (a standard 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" (which only featured vocals from Melanie C and Emma Bunton due to the pregnancies of Mel B and Victoria), and live versions of "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" and "We Are Family", which were recorded at their Wembley Stadium concert on 20 September 1998. The U.S. single also included a set of four stickers of the girls, portraying them as fairies, similar to their appearance in the music video of "Viva Forever". In November 2000, it was included on the group's third studio album, Forever.