Goodbye Girl by Squeeze

Album: Cool For Cats (1979)

Charted: 63

License This Song

lyrics

artistfacts

Songfacts®:

There were both UK and US versions of this song, mainly because a lot of the items mentioned in the lyrics were in British English, something that may have kept Squeeze from duplicating their UK success in the States. For example, in the lyrics "Sunlight on the lino," Lino is short for linoleum, a type of floor covering. The line, "My wife has moved to Guernsey" (UK version) was changed to "My wife has moved to Boston" for the US release. Guernsey is one of the Channel Islands owned by Britain just off of the North coast of France. >>>
Suggestion credit:
Jon - Bridport, United Kingdom
In the book Squeeze: Song by Song, Glenn Tilbrook explains: "Gilson (Lavis)' influence in the arrangement was massive, not bringing the drums in until the third verse. Gilson had four percussion parts that he overdubbed one after the other that went throughout the song. It had a jolly tune, which later to my horror someone pointed out sounded like The Muppets theme tune.

Chris Difford added: "Gilson constructed a washing line of bottles and bits of metal and tin and played them instead of a drum kit. It was a very inventive thing to do, slightly surreal, but it worked a treat. Our trademark octave apart vocal is all over it."

Comments: 6

Mark Miwurdz from Barnsley, South Yorks., U.k.If my old memory serves me correctly, the original U.K. version of "Goodbye Girl" had other words changed in the last verse. "The money in the fur coat" became "The money in the billfold" in the US version. Apparently the "fur coat" mentioned was the favoured outerwear of original keyboard player Jools Holland. The band and their then manager Miles Copeland (brother of Police drummer Stewart) used to rib Jools over his furry top coat. And Jools would usually have a stash of cash in the pockets of the coat. Hence the original lyric.
Moosehead from Sci think girl from mars by ash is the child of this song. love them both dearly
Druidus from UppsalaI just googled Goodbye Girl Muppet Show to see if anyone else had noticed the similarity and I'm happy to see that they had.
Seanny2 from New YorkWhy didn't they just say "my wife has moved to Jersey" which would have worked in the US and UK??
Richard Trepsas from San Diego, CaliforniaI love this song, I always have, ever since I heard it not in 1978 when it was released or maybe 79 in USA but about half a decade later. Great tune, love the melody and the vocal harmonies as well as the instrumentation. Thanks to the Internet, just now October 2, 2020, I got a hold of the actual lyrics. Actually just now I was watching a program on PBS, public broadcasting system called “A-to-Z: how writing changed the world”. Going back in time to Papyrus being used in ancient Rome, the narrator was describing a “lintel” which is an architectural feature around a doorway, I guess. This instantly brought to mind my decades of trying to understand the lyric “”the sun upon the lino”, I thought that was some kind of a window pane or other feature of a room. Only just now by looking it up and finding the lyrics that I understand that Lino means linoleum floor. Brilliant lyrics by Chris Difford!
Zabadak from London, EnglandThis was one of a short series of singles by the band named after films, including "Cool For Cats" and "Up The Junction".

see more comments

More Songfacts:

FancyIggy Azalea

The video for Iggy Azalea's "Fancy" pays homage to the classic 1995 film Clueless with the rapper playing Cher and featured singer Charli XCX portraying Tai. It was filmed at some of the same locations used in the movie.

What A Fool BelievesThe Doobie Brothers

Kenny Loggins co-wrote the Doobie Brothers hit "What a Fool Believes," which is about a guy who just can't accept that an affair from long ago was meaningless to her.

River BankBrad Paisley

"Brad Paisley's "River Bank" was inspired by his childhood growing up 500 yards from the Ohio River.

Breakin'... There's No Stopping UsOllie & Jerry

Jean-Claude Van Damme was an extra in the video for Ollie & Jerry's "Breakin'... There's No Stopping Us." He can be seen at point dancing in the background.

Mr. CrowleyOzzy Osbourne

The Ozzy Osbourne song "Mr. Crowley" is about Aleister Crowley, a British practitioner of dark magic in the early 1900s.

Stay With MeSam Smith

A gospel choir appears in Sam Smith's "Stay With Me" video, but the vocals on the song are all Smith - about 20 tracks of his voice were used to make him sound like a chorus.