The Last Goodbye (Atomic Kitten song)

"The Last Goodbye" is a song by British girl group Atomic Kitten. It was written by Daniel Poku, Espen Lind, Mikkel Storleer Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen, Hallgeir Rustan, and Peter Björklund and recorded by the band for their second album Feels So Good (2002), while production of the song was overseen by Rustan, Eriksen and Hermansen under their under their production moniker Stargate. A mid-paced pop ballad, "The Last Goodbye" is built upon a flute motif and an acoustic guitar loop. Lyrically, the break-up song finds the trio thinking deeply over a relationship with their love interests from whom they parted.

"The Last Goodbye"
Single by Atomic Kitten
from the album Feels So Good
Released25 November 2002
StudioMetropolis
Length3:07
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)StarGate
Atomic Kitten singles chronology
"The Tide Is High (Get the Feeling)"
(2002)		 "The Last Goodbye" / "Be with You"
(2002)		 "Love Doesn't Have to Hurt"
(2003)

The song was released as the third single from the album in fall 2002 and became a top 20 hit in Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Turkey, and the Wallonian region of Belgium. In Ireland and the United Kingdom, "The Last Goodbye" was released as a double A-single with the previously unreleased song "Be with You" and peaked at number five and number two on the Irish and UK Singles Charts, respectively. An accompanying music video was direced by Jake Nava and filmed in Liverpool in October 2002. To further promote "The Last Goodbye", Atomic Kitten also recorded a Spanish version for the song, titled "Algun dia de adios".

Background

"The Last Goodbye" was written by Norwegian musicians Hallgeir Rustan, Mikkel Storleer Eriksen and Tor Erik Hermansen, a trio of Norwegian musicians who work under the production moniker Stargate, along with frequent collaborators Espen Lind and Peter Björklund and British DJ Daniel "D Mob" Poku:[1] It is one out of two tracks Stargate contributed to parent album Feels So Good (2002), the other being lead single "It's OK!".[1] Recording took place at the Metropolis Studios in London, while mixig was helmed at the StarGate Studios in Norway.[1] Bernt Rune Stray played the guitar.[1]

Described by band member Liz McClarnon as a "sort of a slow ballad but still quite funky,"[2] "The Last Goodbye" was re-recorded for its single release to include solo parts of each Atomic Kitten member. While the original version features Natasha Hamilton on lead vocals on both the first and second verses, portions of her vocals were replaced on the single version, with McClarnon and Hamilton splitting the first verse and Jenny Frost and Hamilton sharing the second verse.[1]

Chart performance

In Ireland and the United Kingdom, Virgin Records released "The Last Goodbye" on a double A-single along with the previously unreleased song "Be with You".[3] Both songs served as the album's third and fourth single, respectively.[3] In the United Kingdom, it became the band's eighth top ten hit, peaking at number two on the UK Singles Chart in its first week of release. It stayed on the chart for 12 weeks, and managed to sell 182,695 copies in the UK alone.[4] In 2012, the Official Charts Company named "The Last Goodbye"/"Be with You" the group's fifth best-selling single after "Whole Again", "The Tide Is High (Get the Feeling)", "Eternal Flame" and "It's OK!."[4]

The single also became Atomic Kitten's third top five hit in Ireland, where it peaked at number five on the Irish Singles Chart.[5] Elsewhere released as a standalone single, "The Last Goodbye" reached the top forty on the majority of the charts it appeared on. It became a top 20 hit in Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Turkey, and the Wallonian region of Belgium. In Germany and Switzerland, the song was a top 30 hit, and in the Flemish region of Belgium and Sweden, it was a top 40 hit.

Music video
The music video for "The Last Goodbye" was filmed in various locations throughout Liverpool.[2]

For the music video for "The Last Goodbye" Atomic Kitten re-teamed with British director Jake Nava with whom they had previously worked on the visuals for "It's OK!" and "The Tide Is High (Get the Feeling)". The majority of the video filmed on 16 October 2002 and set in night-time Liverpool.[2] According to band member Natasha Hamilton, the reason the video was filmed in Liverpool, was "because [they] wanted a location with beautiful architecture, and tourist attractions that people will instantly associate with Liverpool."[2]

In the music video, the band members portray three women in differing scenes, who stumble upon various lovestruck couples, whilst they themselves are alone.[2] Liz McClarnon said that it was their first video where they had to include acting, instead of dancing, posing and just singing in front of the camera.[2] Some of the scenes include McClarnon at the Plaza Community Cinema and Jenny Frost in a hotel room, looking out on the balcony. Scenes of Hamilton at the Liverpool Airport were filmed in front of a greenscreen.[2] The final scene includes all three characters walking down a famous sight in Liverpool, again, in the dead of night.

Track listings

Double A-side release
"The Last Goodbye" / "Be with You" – UK enhanced CD single[6]
No.TitleLength
1."The Last Goodbye"3:07
2."Be with You" (radio edit)3:38
3."Be with You" (Milky 7-inch Edit)3:34
4."The Last Goodbye" (video)3:07
"Be with You" / "The Last Goodbye" – UK enhanced CD single[7]
No.TitleLength
1."Be with You" (radio version)3:38
2."The Last Goodbye"3:07
3."For Once in My Life"3:48
4."Be with You" (video)3:38
UK cassette single[8]
No.TitleLength
1."The Last Goodbye"3:07
2."Be with You" (radio version)3:38
3."Be with You" (extended version)4:35

Solo release
European CD single and maxi-single[9][10]
No.TitleLength
1."The Last Goodbye"3:07
2."The Last Goodbye" (Soda Club Mix)6:27
3."For Once in My Life"3:48
Dutch CD single[11][10]
No.TitleLength
1."The Last Goodbye"3:07
2."For Once in My Life"3:48

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Feels So Good.[1]

Charts

References
  1. Feels So Good (liner notes). Atomic Kitten. Virgin Records. 2002.CS1 maint: others (link)
  2. "Atomic Kitten : Behind The Scenes Of The Last Goodbye". CD:UK. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  3. "Atomic Kitten's perfect year". BBC Music. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  4. "Atomic Kitten reform! Plus: their biggest selling tracks revealed!". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  5. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – The Last Goodbye / Be with You". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  6. The Last Goodbye/Be with You (UK enhanced CD single liner notes). Atomic Kitten. Innocent Records, Virgin Records. 2002. SINDX 42, 7243 546851 01.CS1 maint: others (link)
  7. Be with You/The Last Goodbye (UK enhanced CD single liner notes). Atomic Kitten. Innocent Records, Virgin Records. 2002. SINCD 42, 7243 546850 02.CS1 maint: others (link)
  8. The Last Goodbye (UK cassette single sleeve). Atomic Kitten. Innocent Records. 2002. SINC42.CS1 maint: others (link)
  9. The Last Goodbye (European CD single liner notes). Atomic Kitten. Innocent Records, Virgin Records. 2002. SINCDF 42, 7243 546850 26.CS1 maint: others (link)
  10. "Austriancharts.at – Atomic Kitten – The Last Goodbye" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  11. The Last Goodbye (Dutch CD single liner notes). Atomic Kitten. Innocent Records, Virgin Records. 2002. SINCDE 42, 7243 546895 29.CS1 maint: others (link)
  12. "Ultratop.be – Atomic Kitten – The Last Goodbye" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  13. "Ultratop.be – Atomic Kitten – The Last Goodbye" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  14. "Oficiální Česká Hitparáda – Pro týden 14/2003" (in Czech). IFPI ČR. Archived from the original on 6 April 2003. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  15. "Danishcharts.com – Atomic Kitten – The Last Goodbye". Tracklisten. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  16. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 20 no. 51. 14 December 2002. p. 11. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  17. "Offiziellecharts.de – Atomic Kitten – The Last Goodbye". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  18. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 1, 2003" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  19. "Dutchcharts.nl – Atomic Kitten – The Last Goodbye" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  20. "Charts.nz – Atomic Kitten – The Last Goodbye". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  21. "Top National Sellers" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 21 no. 5. 25 January 2003. p. 17. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  22. "Arhiva romanian top 100 – Editia 11, saptamina 24.03–30.03, 2003" (in Romanian). Romanian Top 100. Archived from the original on 18 February 2005. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  23. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  24. "Swedishcharts.com – Atomic Kitten – The Last Goodbye". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  25. "Swisscharts.com – Atomic Kitten – The Last Goodbye". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  26. TTNET Singles Chart Archived 12 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  27. "Atomic Kitten: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  28. "The Official UK Singles Chart 2002" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
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