"Good-bye-ee!" is a popular song which was written and composed by

R. P. Weston Robert Patrick Weston ( Harris; 7 March 1878 – 6 November 1936) was an English songwriter. He was responsible for many successful songs and comic monologues between the 1900s and 1930s, mostly written in collaboration with other writers, notab ...

and

Bert Lee William Herbert Lee (11 June 1880 – 23 January 1946) was an English songwriter. He wrote for music hall and the musical stage, often in partnership with R. P. Weston. Life and career Lee was born in Ravensthorpe, Yorkshire, England.Richard A ...

. Performed by

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...

stars

Florrie Forde Flora May Augusta Flannagan ( Flannagan; 16 August 187518 April 1940), known professionally as Florrie Forde, was an Australian popular singer and music hall entertainer. From 1897 she lived and worked in the United Kingdom. She was one of the ...

Daisy Wood Daisy Violet Rose Wood (15 September 1877 – 19 October 1961), was an English music hall singer. Life and career Wood was born in Hoxton, London, the fifth of nine children, the oldest being Matilda Alice Victoria Wood (1870–1922), who per ...

, and Charles Whittle, it was a hit in 1917. Weston and Lee got the idea for the song when they saw a group of factory girls calling out goodbye to soldiers marching to Victoria station. They were saying the word in the exaggerated way which had been popularised as a

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

by comedian

Harry Tate Ronald Macdonald Hutchison (4 July 1872 – 14 February 1940), professionally known as Harry Tate, was an English comedian, who performed in the music halls, in variety shows, and in films. Career Born in Lambeth, the son of a Scottish tea m ...

. They then travelled to

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

and wrote the song on a wet afternoon in their cabin under the

pier image:Brighton Pier, Brighton, East Sussex, England-2Oct2011 (1).jpg, Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century. A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of ...

. The song lent its name to "

Goodbyeee "Goodbyeee", or "Plan F: Goodbyeee", is the sixth and final episode of ''Blackadder Goes Forth'', the fourth and final series of British historical sitcom '' Blackadder''. The episode was first broadcast on BBC1 in the United Kingdom on 2 Novem ...

", the final episode of the sitcom ''

Blackadder Goes Forth ''Blackadder Goes Forth'' is the fourth series of the BBC sitcom '' Blackadder'', written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, which aired from 28 September to 2 November 1989 on BBC1. The series placed the recurring characters of Blackadder, Bald ...

''.

Chorus

Good-bye-ee! good-bye-ee! Wipe the tear, baby dear, from your eye-ee. Tho' it's hard to part I know, I'll be tickled to death to go. Don't cry-ee! don't sigh-ee! There's a silver lining in the sky-ee. Bonsoir old thing, cheerio! chin chin! Nah-poo! Toodle-oo! Good-bye-ee! The salutations at the end of the chorus are from various languages. ''Bonsoir'' is French for goodnight. ''Chin chin'' is a Chinese toast. "Nahpoo" and "toodle-oo" are corruptions of the French ''il n'y en a plus'' (there is no more) and ''à tout à l'heure'' (see you later).

References

{{authority control 1917 songs British patriotic songs Songs of World War I Florrie Forde songs Songs written by R. P. Weston Songs written by Bert Lee Songs about soldiers Songs about the military Songs about parting