"Comment te dire adieu" (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: "How to Say Goodbye to You") is a French adaptation of the song "It Hurts to Say Goodbye". It was originally recorded by

Françoise Hardy Françoise Madeleine Hardy (; born 17 January 1944) is a French former singer and songwriter. Mainly known for singing melancholic sentimental ballads, Hardy has been an important figure in French pop music since her debut, spanning a career of ...

in 1968. "It Hurts to Say Goodbye" was written by Arnold Goland, probably best known for his co-operation with

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...

, and the American producer and songwriter Jacob "Jack" Gold (1921-1992). In 1966 it was recorded by

Margaret Whiting Margaret Eleanor Whiting (July 22, 1924 – January 10, 2011) was an American popular music and country music singer who gained popularity in the 1940s and 1950s.Mapes, Jillian.Margaret Whiting, Iconic Standards Singer, Dies at 86. ''Billboard' ...

on her album ''The Wheel of Hurt''. In 1967 a release by

Vera Lynn Dame Vera Margaret Lynn (; 20 March 191718 June 2020) was an English singer and entertainer whose musical recordings and performances were very popular during World War II. She is honorifically known as the " Forces' Sweetheart", having giv ...

reached No. 7 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

''s

Adult Contemporary chart The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to ''Billboard'' by sta ...

. These versions were interpreted in the style of a

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

, as was the first French version of the song with lyrics by Michèle Vendôme titled "Avant de dire adieu" which was released by

Ginette Reno Ginette Reno (born Ginette Raynault; 28 April 1946) is a Canadian author, composer, singer, and actress. She has received nominations for the Genie and Gemini Awards and is a multi-recipient of the Juno Award. She is a gold and platinum sel ...

on her 1967 album ''Quelqu'un à aimer''. More beat driven were the instrumental interpretations by Brazil's

Walter Wanderley Walter Wanderley (born Walter Jose Wanderley Mendonça, May 12, 1932 – September 4, 1986) was a Brazilian organist and pianist, best known for his lounge music, lounge and bossa nova music and for his instrumental version of the song ''Summer ...

, dominated by the

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

he is known for, and the Frenchman

Caravelli Caravelli (born Claude Vasori; 12 September 1930, Paris, France – 1 April 2019, Cannet, France) was a French orchestra leader, composer and arranger of orchestral music. Biography The son of an Italian father and a French mother, Vasori was ...

, who focused more on

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, both published in the same year. The Jack Gold Orchestra & Chorus version, which was in a style similar to the Caravelli release, made No. 28 on the ''Billboard''

Easy Listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...

charts in 1969. Françoise Hardy heard an "American instrumental version" of the song and her manager asked

Serge Gainsbourg Serge Gainsbourg (; born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French musician, singer-songwriter, actor, author and filmmaker. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provoca ...

to provide suitable lyrics for it. The resultant "Comment te dire adieu" was combined with an arrangement relatively closer to the Caravelli version and included on Hardy's 1968 album. Hardy also recorded the song in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

("Il pretesto", 1968) and

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("Was mach' ich ohne dich", 1970; collected in the album ''

Träume ''Träume'' is the second and last studio album in German language by the French popular singer Françoise Hardy. Released only in Germany during January 1970. The record was published in no other country making it extremely rare and sought after. ...

'', 1970.) The French lyrics are notable for their uncommon rhymes in "ex", within the subject of the song having a sense of "ex" as in "ex-boyfriend". A German version with new lyrics, titled "Ich sage dir adieu", was released by veteran Greek-German singer

Vicky Leandros Vasiliki Papathanasiou ( el, Βασιλική Παπαθανασίου; born 23 August 1949), generally known as Vicky Leandros ( el, Βίκυ Λέανδρος, links=no), is a Greek singer living in Germany. She is the daughter of singer, music ...

on her 2010 album ''Zeitlos''.

Formats and track listings

French SP

*Production Asparagus/

Disques Vogue Disques Vogue was a jazz record company founded in France by Léon Cabat and Charles Delaunay in 1947, the year after the American Vogue label ceased. They originally specialized in jazz, featuring American performers such as Sidney Bechet, D ...

/Vogue international industries (V.45-1552), 1968. **A-side: "Comment te dire adieu" ("It Hurts to Say Goodbye"), (ad. lyrics from Jack Gold:

/ 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 United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...

(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 Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

Graeme Allwright Graeme Allwright (7 November 1926 – 16 February 2020) was a New Zealand-born French singer and songwriter. He became popular in the 1960s and 1970s as a French language interpreter of the songs of American and Canadian songwriters such as Leon ...

/ music: L. Cohen) – 3:08 **B2: "La Mer, les étoiles et le vent" (lyrics and music: Françoise Hardy) – 1:50

Jimmy Somerville version

The song was covered in 1989 by former

Bronski Beat Bronski Beat were a British synthpop trio which achieved success in the mid-1980s, particularly with the 1984 chart hit "Smalltown Boy", from their debut album '' The Age of Consent''. "Smalltown Boy" was their only US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 s ...

and

Communards The Communards () were members and supporters of the short-lived 1871 Paris Commune formed in the wake of the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. After the suppression of the Commune by the French Army in May 1871, 43,000 Communards ...

singer

Jimmy Somerville James William Somerville (born 22 June 1961) is a Scottish pop singer and songwriter. He sang in the 1980s with the pop groups Bronski Beat and The Communards, and has also had a solo career. He is known in particular for his powerful and soul ...

, as a duet with

June Miles-Kingston June Miles-Kingston is a British singer and drummer, best known for her work with various successful bands and singers in the 1980s. She was a founding member of the post-punk group The Mo-dettes, which lasted from 1979 to 1982, and later beca ...

. It was a hit in the UK, reaching number 14 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, helping Somerville's solo career take off.

Track listing

* 7" single # "Comment te dire adieu" (7" version) — 3:35 # "Tell the World" — 4:12

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Kate Ryan version

In 2016, Belgian dance singer

Kate Ryan Kate Ryan (born Katrien Verbeeck, 22 July 1980) is a Belgian singer and songwriter, and the winner of a World Music Award. She began her singing career in 2001 and later found fame with a string of dance hits. These included covers, mostly of M ...

covered the song and released it as a stand-alone single via

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

on 24 June 2016, under

CNR Music CNR is a Dutch audio and video label. It was founded in 1937 as CNR Records by Cornelis Nicolaas Rood, who made his fortune as a producer of lampshades and other lighting materials. Rood regarded his record label merely as a hobby, but things ch ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. It was produced by Yves Jongen a.k.a. Yves Gaillard and Soufiane Amrani "Amro". A music video accompanied the song, premiered via

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

on 29 June 2016.

Other cover versions

* 1967:

, a Brazilian organist, recorded an instrumental cover of the song on his album ''

Batucada Batucada is a substyle of samba and refers to a percussive style, usually performed by an ensemble, known as a bateria. Batucada is characterized by its repetitive style and fast pace. As is Samba, the Batucada is a Brazilian musical expression wit ...

'' * 1967:

and his orchestra released an instrumental version on the album ''Eloïse'' * 1969:

Anni-Frid Lyngstad Princess Anni-Frid Synni Reuss, Countess of Plauen (born Anni-Frid Synni Lyngstad on 15 November 1945), also known by her nickname "Frida", is a Norwegian-born Swedish singer, songwriter and environmentalist, who is best known as one of the foun ...

, later a member of

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's ...

, recorded the song in

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

as ''Så synd du måste gå'' ("So sad you have to go"); it was also included on her 1972 album ''

'' * 1973: Czech recording by

Hana Hegerová Hana Hegerová (20 October 1931 – 23 March 2021) was a Slovak singer and actress. Often referred to as the Queen of Czechoslovak chanson, she gained popularity primarily as a singer of chansons. Outside of her homebase, Hegerová has attained ...

titled ''Rýmováni o životě'' ("Rhyming about life") * 1974: Russian version ''Моя мечта'' ("My dream") by

Aida Vedishcheva Aida Semyonovna Vedishcheva (russian: Аида Семёновна Ведищева, born Ida Solomonovna Weiss, russian: Ида Соломоновна Вайс, 10 June 1941) is a Soviet and American singer. In the 1960s, she contributed songs ...

* 1985:

Jun Togawa is a Japanese singer, musician and actress. Her close friends over the years include Susumu Hirasawa. Career After gaining attention a guest singer for the New Wave band Halmens and her acting roles in Japanese dramas and commercials for th ...

recorded a Japanese version, ''さよならをおしえて'' (''Sayonara wo oshiete'', literally "Tell me goodbye") * 1987:

Taxi Girl Taxi Girl were a French New wave music, new wave band, adopting the New Romantic aesthetics of the time, such as clashing red and black clothing, synthesizer-led songs, and taking influence from mythology and literature. The group existed betwe ...

's frontman

Daniel Darc Daniel Rozoum (20 May 1959 – 28 February 2013), known as Daniel Darc, was a French singer, who achieved success with his band Taxi Girl (together with Mirwais Ahmadzaï) between 1978 and 1986, and also as a solo artist. After Taxi Girl was di ...

, collected on ''Sous influence divine'' * 1996:

Jane Birkin Jane Mallory Birkin, Order of British Empire, OBE (born 14 December 1946) is an English-French singer and actress. She attained international fame and notability for her decade-long musical and romantic partnership with Serge Gainsbourg. She als ...

published an "arabesque version" on her album ''Versions Jane'' * 1996:

Brave Combo Brave Combo is a polka/rock/worldbeat band based in Denton, Texas. Founded in 1979 by guitarist/keyboardist/accordionist Carl Finch, they have been a prominent fixture in the Texas music scene for more than thirty-five years. Their music, both o ...

recorded the song as "A Way to Say Goodbye" on their album ''Kiss of Fire'', with a new English lyric by guest vocalist Lauren Agnelli. * 1999: A new Czech version by

Ilona Csáková Ilona Csáková (born 1 October 1970, Cheb) is a Czech popular singer. She has released ten solo albums, and was the best-selling singer in the Czech Republic in 1998. She also appeared as a judge on reality TV music competition '' Česko hledá ...

titled ''Jedno Tajemství'' ("A Secret") featured 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 is a series of rhythm video games, that was first introduced by Konami in Japan on February 26, 1999. ''IIDX'' has since spawned 31 arcade releases and 14 console releases on the Sony PlayStation 2. It is the sequel to the ''beatmania'' game ...

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'' * 2008: Instrumental guitar band from Finland, Agents arranged the song for their instrumental album ''Agents... Is Beat!'' * 2009:

Amanda Lear Amanda Lear (; born 1939) is a French singer, songwriter, painter, television presenter, actress, and former model. She began her professional career as a fashion model in the mid-1960s, and went on to model for Paco Rabanne, Ossie Clark, and ...

recorded her version for her album ''

Brief Encounters ''Brief Encounters'' is a studio album by French singer Amanda Lear, released in 2009 by independent label Just Good Music for Your Ears. Background Amanda Lear met the singer and producer Enrico Petrelli in Paris in 2008, and started working ...

''. * 2010: Cover by Satanicpornocultshop in their album Arkhaiomelisidonophunikheratos * 2011: A cover of the French version with the lyrics sung by

Berry A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, raspb ...

was released by Germany's

Blank & Jones Blank & Jones are a German electronic music duo, consisting of the members Jan Pieter Blank (born June 15, 1971), known as Piet Blank; René Runge (born June 27, 1968), better known as DJ Jaspa Jones; and the producer Andy Kaufhold (N*D*K) (born ...

on their album '' Relax Edition Six'' * 2012:

Meg Meg is a feminine given name, often a short form of Megatron, Megan, Megumi (Japanese), etc. It may refer to: People *Meg (singer), a Japanese singer *Meg Cabot (born 1967), American author of romantic and paranormal fiction *Meg Burton Cahill ( ...

, a Japanese singer, covered the song in French for her album ''La Japonaise'' * 2012: English cover by

Julian Ovenden Julian Mark Ovenden (born 29 November 1976) is an English actor and singer. He has starred on Broadway and West End stages, in television series in both the United Kingdom and United States, in films, and performed internationally as a concert ...

* 2012: French/Italian cover by LaCalani * 2020: Covered by

Pomplamoose Pomplamoose is an American musical duo composed of husband-and-wife multi-instrumentalist Jack Conte and singer-songwriter and bassist Nataly Dawn. The duo formed in 2008 and sold approximately 100,000 songs online in 2009. They are known for t ...

* 2021: Cover by

Reni Jusis Reni Jusis (born March 29, 1974, in Konin, raised in Mielno) is a Polish pop singer, songwriter and producer. At first, Jusis recorded R&B music, which evolved into electronic dance style in later albums. After ten years of her career, she record ...

featured on her album ''Je suis Reni''COMMENT TE DIRE ADIEU · Reni Jusis
/ref>

Usage in film and television

* 2018: '' A Simple Favor'' * 2014: ''Falling Star'' ("Stella cadente" / Spain) / "Comment te dire adieu" * 2013: ''Coming out'' (Hungary) / "It hurts to say goodbye" (Saxophone version) * 2009: ''The Island Inside'' ("La isla interior" / Spain) / "Comment te dir adieu" * 2004: ''Ferpect Crime'' ("Crimen ferpecto" / Spain/Italy) / "Comment te dire adieu" * 1987: '' Mournful Unconcern'' ("Скорбное бесчувствие" / Soviet Union) * 1972: ''A Revolta dos Anjos'' ("Revolt of the Angels / TV Series/Brazil) / "Comment te dire adieu"

References

External links

*
Françoise Hardy, "Comment te dire adieu"
', Lyrics on German fan site, (per 12 November 2017) *
Jack Gold Discography, Writing-Arrangement Credits
',

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

, (per 12 November 2017) *
Cover versions of It Hurts to Say Goodbye by Margaret Whiting
', SecondHandSongs, (per 12 November 2017) *
Arnold Goland
',

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

, (per 12 November 2017) {{authority control Songs about parting 1966 songs 1968 singles Françoise Hardy songs Vera Lynn songs 1989 debut singles Jimmy Somerville songs Songs written by Serge Gainsbourg Disques Vogue singles London Records singles Male–female vocal duets