Songfacts®:

• Here, James Bay sings about the pain of saying goodbye to a loved one. He is trying to be strong and not cry, but can't help feeling sad. He will miss the person he's saying farewell to and doesn't want to let them go.
  
  "'Goodbye Never Felt So Bad' is a song about how crazy it can feel to say goodbye," said Bay. "There's rarely ever anything good about it. I say goodbye to the people I love constantly; it comes with the territory of my work. I'm always traveling. It's an amazing job but everything in life has its upsides and downsides."
• James Bay co-wrote "Goodbye Never Felt So Bad" with British songwriter Phil Plested (Little Mix's "Touch," Lewis Capaldi's "Before You Go," James Bay's "Everybody Needs Someone"). He co-produced it with American producer and multi-instrumentalist Gabe Simon (Lana Del Rey's "Blue Banisters," Noah Kahan's "Dial Drunk," James Bay's "Give Me The Reason").
• Bay recorded the song with his tour band. Simon "pushed me to new heights and created a very wonderful vibe in the studio," said Bay. "Believe it or not for the first time ever I took the brilliant band that I tour with straight into the studio to record with me as well."
  
  The musicians are:
  
  Katie Dove Dixon: keyboard
  Tom Peel: bass
  Luke Bullard: guitar
  Don Hep: drums
• James Bay released the guitar ballad as a single on August 11, 2023. He originally tested the waters by playing the song for his fans at his live shows over the 2023 summer. It went down so well, he decided to make it available for them.
  
  "I just wanted to share new music for the thrill of it," he said. "You can't ask an audience to like something, but every time my fans put their hands in the air, clapped along and by the last chorus they were singing the words."