-STORY ABOUT THE SONG-
Probably the oldest subject in music, its popularity in life keeps it current. Here is yet another song that deals with the heartaches of heartbreak. It’s a song about finally being able close a chapter of life by saying goodbye to it - a very difficult gesture.

Goodbye took only about three days to write, but two years to complete. I originally started writing the song on January 6, 1997. I got through only the first two verses, and then put the song away.

From time to time, the song would come to mind, but I would never put any effort into finishing it. Instead, I moved on to writing other songs, such as Cuz I’m in Love, She’s the One, Can We Hang Out, Best Friends, and other tentatively titled and currently unreleased tracks, as well as current releases, such as Brain Freeze, Hanging On, My Girl, 16, a Bombshell… and My Friend, and so on. Before I knew it, a couple years had passed, and I hadn’t even noticed. Finally, in December 1998, I realized that I had ignored Goodbye for too long. I wanted to sit down and finally finish it, and aimed to have the song completed before the new year. With motivation as my driving force and a deadline as my goal, I went to work right away.

While working at In-N-Out emptying trashcans in the dining room on December 30th, the song played in my head. That was the beauty (the only beauty) of working the dining room - you were on your own, your own boss, away from the craziness of the behind-the-counter experience, so you had a lot of time to think to yourself. Anyway, I was emptying trashcans, and that’s when I thought of the line, "The wicked games you played with my heart / Lifted me high just to throw me down hard / Fed me hope just to tear it apart." I was so excited because I thought the lyrics were clever, and very accurate.

The next day was New Year’s Eve. My friends were over, and I had the paper with me and was trying to finish Goodbye. Of course, since concentration is the secret ingredient to songwriting, that wasn’t the best time to work on the song. So midnight came and midnight left, and the song was still incomplete. I missed my deadline. But that did not de-motivate me. I wanted to write the song - I wanted to finally finish what I started. I wanted to finally give my long experience a sort of anthem. And finally, at about 4 AM, I found the words for the chorus, and wrote them. With that, I went to bed, dreamed, woke up, and later that New Year’s Day, found the rest. The anthem was written; the song was complete.

Just days before we finally mixed this song down in the studio (that’s the final step of the recording process… besides mastering anyway), I asked my friend Jami if she would do a little talking part for Goodbye. She was cool and said she would. So I set the speakerphone, microphone, and 4-track recorder up, and called her back about 15 minutes later. I gave her the three lines, “Hello,” “Yah,” and “I’m busy, call me back,” and Jami, being the talented natural she is, got her part down on the first take. Well, we did three takes, but we ended up using the first. Later, while in the studio, I recorded my part: “Jami,” and “Hey it’s Marc, how’s it going?!” At first, in a bold attempt to protect the identities of the innocent, I was going to use different names. But then, I figured heck! It was my song, and it was Jami’s voice, so why not get credit for performing in our own starring roles?! It made sense. Anyway, the way the lines were pasted together later in the studio sounded perfect. They sounded so good together - the way they overlapped and everything. The only problem was that, during mixing, the volume of the lines was not turned up loud enough, and once placed over the music, became a little hard to hear. But listen closely, and you will hear them. I’m sure for many people, these lines hit too close to home. My condolences. -Marc Morcos
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