Goodbye
"Goodbye" is the tenth track on Paper Monsters.
Lyrics
There's no one to blame
I opened up my eyes to see a world
With so much pleasure not pain
As she looked into my eyes
I knew I might not see her again
We're changing and it's hard for me
To stay the same
She answers all the questions
Things I find so very hard to say
As I closed my eyes
I heard her whisper "goodbye"
All these questions that I'm asking
Feel very foolish anyway (goodbye)
As I turned the corner I heard her whisper again
It's what she said
(Goodbye) It's what she said
(Goodbye) It's what she said
It's what she said
I loved her from the first time we kissed
She taste so great
She lit another candle and slowly
Fell into the flame
She answers all the questions
Things I find so very hard to say
As I closed my eyes
I heard her whisper "goodbye"
All these questions that I'm asking
Feel very foolish anyway (goodbye)
As I turned the corner I heard her whisper again
It's what she said
(Goodbye) It's what she said
(Goodbye) It's what she said
It's what she said
Goodbye
Goodbye
My Take
Instrumentally, this song is very sparse and abstract-sounding. There is a very subtle underlying rhythm, provided by what sounds like an idling motorcycle engine...hmmm, now where have we heard that before from Depeche Mode??? Near the very end after the last chorus is when things seem to culminate sonically, and we're treated with an explosion of rock guitars and orchestral strings, as if the two had a scuffle with one another on the stairs and both came crashing down them. I'm not sure I'm a fan of the instrumentation on this track, especially being the last song on this record, as I would prefer a richer, more melodic-sounding closer, so I almost always skip this song, to be honest, and make my exit of the album on "Hidden Houses" instead. Okay, but the lyrics, though...I am wondering if the "she/her" referred to in this song is, again, Dave's wife, Jennifer Sklias-Gahan, as there are some interesting references that seem to be unique to her. One of them is from the line, "She lit another candle and slowly fell into the flame." Probably one of the most poignant words I find in this song, it also reminds me of what Dave once said about Jennifer upon their meeting and getting to know one another: "I could see something in her that I wanted. She really inspired me and...genuinely cared about what I was doing to myself and I saw that right from the beginning. That was unusual because I was usually very suspicious of people, particularly myself. When you can't trust yourself it's impossible to trust other people. But there was something about Jennifer that lit a candle in me."1 So, to say that Jennifer had a big impact on Dave's life (and recovery from addiction) is a big understatement. I also wonder what the parts in the song about saying "goodbye" all mean, too. I mean, obviously he and Jennifer are still together so it could maybe be speaking about a temporary parting of sorts that occurred between them in the past? At that level, though, it gets so personal that it is probably best not to ever know the answer. The song is about parting to some extent and it makes sense to make this the album closer, but like I said above, it's not necessarily one of my favorite songs.
Music Video
There is no music video for this song.