"Long Goodbye" is a song by the British pop group Thompson Twins, released in 1987 as the second and final single from their sixth studio album Close to the Bone. It was written by Alannah Currie and Tom Bailey, and produced by Rupert Hine and Bailey. Continuing the duo's commercial decline, the single only peaked at #89 in the UK for a total of one week.

In an issue of The Spokesman-Review from early July 1987, an article/interview with The Thompson Twins was published, based on the band's touring for Close to the Bone. The article speaks of the experience behind the song, writing "For Currie, one of the experiences was the emotional trauma of seeing her mother die, and losing her and Bailey's baby to a miscarriage - both on the same day."

The Thompson Twins' break in 1986 followed after Leeway's left the band, before extending into several months while Currie dealt with her grief over the loss of her mother and baby. Eventually, "to have something positive to do," the pair bought an old house in Ireland, moved in with Bailey's collection of religious objects and Currie's collection of first editions by British poet Edith Sitwell and forgot about music altogether. When Currie felt like working again, the pair started on the next album as a duo.

As a result of the lyrical message, the Chicago Tribune of 10 May 1987, stated "For most pop singers, hearing one of their songs played on the radio is cause for unbridled elation. But the Thompson Twins' Alannah Currie has decidedly mixed emotions when it comes to "Long Goodbye," the British band's next single. Chances are that the ballad - the scheduled follow-up to the Thompsons Twins' current Top 40 hit, the danceable "Get That Love" - will get its share of airplay; the Twins, who have sold more than 20 million records in the last five years, are a proven pop force. But Currie won't be listening to the song that probably means more to her than any other she's ever written. While there's a line in "Long Goodbye" about seeing both the future and the past die, you wouldn't know - unless Currie told you - that the song was triggered by the double emotional whammy she suffered last year: Her much-loved mother died on the same day the singer lost the baby she and fellow Thompson Twin Tom Bailey were eagerly expecting. Currie stated "I can't hear it without crying. I'll turn the radio off when it comes on. I skip that song on the album. It's weird to me that they're releasing it as a single, because for me it's a grieving song. I spent all of last summer crying. It was an awful time, and I put a lot of my feelings into that song. It was like a parting gift - I believe that people continue on spiritually after they die - and it was nice to write a tribute to my mother, who was so wonderful. But it was sad, and it was impossible to separate my feelings about my mother's death and the miscarriage. "Long Goodbye" is all of those things condensed into something quite subtle and quite painful. It's all okay now, I'm okay, and I'm looking forward to having children in the future. But... I still can't bear to listen to that song."

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