"The Last Farewell" is a song from 1971 by British
folk
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singer
Roger Whittaker
Roger Henry Brough Whittaker (born 22 March 1936) is a British singer-songwriter and musician, who was born in Nairobi to English parents. His music is an eclectic mix of folk music and popular songs in addition to radio airplay hits. He is bes ...
. Whittaker hosted a radio programme in The
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
in 1971, backed by an orchestra with arrangements by
Zack Lawrence. Whittaker says "one of the ideas I had was to invite listeners to send their poems or lyrics to me and I would make songs out of them. We got a million replies, and I did one each week for 26 weeks."
Ron A. Webster, a silversmith from
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
, England, sent Whittaker his poem entitled "The Last Farewell", and this became one of the selections to appear on the radio program. It was recorded, and featured on Whittaker's 1971 album ''
New World in the Morning
''New World in the Morning'' is a studio album by Roger Whittaker released in 1971. It featured some of his most popular songs, including "The Last Farewell", "A Special Kind of Man", the title track "New World in the Morning" (#12 US Easy Listeni ...
'' (''A Special Kind of Man'' in the US and Canada). It is one of the fifty all-time
singles to have
sold 10 million (or more) physical copies worldwide.
Popularity
According to Whittaker, the wife of a
program director for a radio station in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
, Georgia, was travelling in Canada, in 1975, and heard Whittaker's four-year-old recording on the radio. After she returned to the United States, she asked her husband to play it on the station. After he played the song a few times, listeners called the station to discover more about the song and singer, and soon thereafter "The Last Farewell" was on the charts. The
single reached the Top 20 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 19 in June 1975, the only single of Whittaker's career to appear on the Hot 100. It also went to number 1 on the ''Billboard''
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 ...
.
The response in America led the single to achieve success in other parts of the world, including in the United Kingdom, peaking at number 2 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 ...
. It was kept from number 1 in the UK by
Rod Stewart's "
Sailing
Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cou ...
", resulting in an oddity that the top 2 songs in the UK singles chart at the time had a nautical theme. "The Last Farewell" also went to number 1 in 11 other countries, selling an estimated 11 million copies worldwide, making it Whittaker's best-known song.
Whittaker says much of the appeal of "The Last Farewell" comes from the classical-sounding nature of the opening
French horn
The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...
solo. This arrangement was done by Zack Lawrence for the song's initial airing on Whittaker's radio programme.
From the mid-1970s until about 1981,
WGN-TV, "Chicago's Very Own Channel Nine" used the introductory fanfare in its
station identification
Station identification (ident, network ID or channel ID or bumper) is the practice of radio and television stations and networks identifying themselves on-air, typically by means of a call sign or brand name (sometimes known, particularly in th ...
.
Cover versions
The song has since been
covered by many artists. In 1976,
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
included "The Last Farewell" on his album, ''
From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee
''From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee'' is the twenty-third studio album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley, released by RCA Records in May, 1976. It became Presley's fourth album to reach #1 on the ''Billboard'' country m ...
''. This version was released as a posthumous single in the UK in 1984, peaking at number 48 in December.
Also reaching the UK singles chart with a version of "The Last Farewell" was the Marine Band of
HMS Ark Royal, just before the aircraft carrier was decommissioned by the Royal Navy in December 1978. It peaked at number 41 in January 1979.
Östen Warnerbring
Östen Warnerbring (22 November 1934 – 18 January 2006), also known as Östen med Rösten (lit. "Östen with the Voice"), was a Swedish singer, musician, composer and lyrics writer who mastered several musical genres. He started out as a jazz mu ...
wrote lyrics in Swedish called ''Ännu kan en sjöman längta hem'' ("Still, a seaman can long home"), and recorded the song on his 1976 eponymous album. and by
Vikingarna on the 1977 album ''Kramgoa låtar 5''. With other lyrics, ''Å vi e AIK'', the song has been used as fight song for
AIK
AIK Fotboll (), more commonly known simply as AIK (), an abbreviation for Allmänna Idrottsklubben (meaning ''the public'' or ''general sports club''), is a Swedish football club competing in Allsvenskan, the top flight of Swedish football. The ...
.
See also
*
List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1975 (U.S.)
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Last Farewell, The
1971 songs
1975 singles
Roger Whittaker songs
Elvis Presley songs
Chet Atkins songs
British songs
Schlager songs
Vikingarna (band) songs
Östen Warnerbring songs