Goodbye Stranger

"Goodbye Stranger"
Single by Supertramp
from the album Breakfast in America
B-side "Even in the Quietest Moments"
Released June 1979
Recorded September 1978 at The Village Recorder/Studio B, Los Angeles, California
Genre Pop rock, progressive rock
Length 5:50
Label A&M
Writer(s) Rick Davies, Roger Hodgson
Producer(s) Supertramp, Peter Henderson
Certification Gold (CRIA)[1]
Supertramp singles chronology
"Breakfast in America"
(1979)		 "Goodbye Stranger"
(1979)		 "Take the Long Way Home"
(1979)

"Goodbye Stranger" is a song by the English progressive rock band Supertramp, which first appeared on their 1979 album Breakfast in America. It met with only limited success in the band's native country but was a major hit elsewhere, reaching number 15 in the USA and number 6 in Canada.

The main "body" of the song is backed by a simple Wurlitzer electric piano melody; the arrangement intensifies as the song progresses. This is eventually joined by intermittent electric guitar chords and bass. The song features several layers of vocals to complete the melody and has falsetto vocals during the chorus.

In the music video, the band plays the track on a soundstage. Rick Davies is playing the Wurlitzer electric piano, Roger Hodgson and Dougie Thomson are playing their guitars (Hodgson on electric, Thomson on bass), John Helliwell is playing keyboards and Bob Siebenberg is playing drums and percussion.

It was featured on the TV show WKRP in Cincinnati on the episode "Baby, If You Ever Wondered". It was also featured on the 1999 soundtrack to Magnolia album, along with "The Logical Song", its predecessor on the Billboard singles charts. The American TV series Supernatural has an episode named after the song, which features it prominently during the closing scene. This song was referred to in the arabic novel (The Legend of the Prophecy "Ostorat Al Noboaa", arabic: أسطورة النبوءة), the novel number 53 of the horror series (Metaphysics, aka: Ma Waraa Al Tabiaa) written by the novelist Ahmed Khaled Tawfik.

Cover versions

Charts

Chart (1979) Peak
Position
UK Singles Chart[3] 57
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[4] 15
Canadian RPM Singles Chart[5] 6

Personnel

References

  1. ↑ "Gold Platinum Database: Supertramp - Goodbye Stranger". Canadian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 2012-02-19.
  2. ↑ The Office - Goodbye Toby, from NBC, retrieved 2009-08-27
  3. ↑ Supertramp in the UK Charts, The Official Charts.
  4. ↑ "Goodbye Stranger - Supertramp". Billboard. Retrieved 2012-02-19.
  5. ↑ "Top Singles - Volume 32, No. 1, September 29 1979". RPM. Retrieved 2012-02-19.

External links