About The Song
“Almost Goodbye” is a song written by Billy Livsey and Don Schlitz, and recorded by American country music singer Mark Chesnutt. It was released in August 1993 as the second single and title track from his 1993 album of the same name. The power ballad peaked at number-one on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) chart and at number 2 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks chart.
Almost Goodbye was led off by the No. 1 single “It Sure is Monday.” The title track was the second single sent to radio, and it replicated the success of the lead single.
Mark Chesnutt is known as one of the traditionalist titans of his time, so what to make of this string-drenched ballad?
My take: It’s an homage to those dramatic domestic disturbance records released by George Jones and produced by Billy Sherill.
“Almost Goodbye” captures a near breakup following a fight where “everything we said, we made sure the neighbors heard.” But before it goes too far, as they reach the moment where it all comes “down to one word – but you couldn’t say it and I couldn’t say it.”
So the drama of the record comes from the strings, which imply an alternative timeline where our narrator didn’t hold his tongue, and all that would’ve been lost if he or his partner hadn’t stepped back from the precipice.
As he notes in the bridge, “sometimes the most important words are the ones that you leave unspoken.”
Video
Lyrics
There was rain on the street last night
We stood beneath the front door light
And everything we said we made sure the neighbors heard
You called me this, I called you that
Standing on the welcome mat
Everything we felt it all came down to just one word
But you couldn’t say it and I couldn’t say it
You know I tried my best to go
I know you cried ’cause I hurt you so
It should have been easy to say that we were through
But to walk away from love was more than we could do
It was almost goodbye
Almost goodbye
Now there was sun through the blinds this morning
When I opened up my eyes
Outside I could hear a mockingbird
And I could feel your heartbeat as you laid there by my side
I thought of how the world could end with just one word
But you didn’t say it, and I didn’t say it
You know I tried my best to go
I know you cried ’cause I hurt you so
It should have been easy to say that we were through
But to walk away from love was more than we could do
It was almost goodbye
It was almost goodbye
Sometimes the most important words are the ones that you leave unspoken
You know I tried my best to go
And I know you cried ’cause I hurt you so
It should have been easy to say that we were through
But to walk away from love that way was more than we could do
It was almost goodbye
Almost goodbye, no, I couldn’t say it was
Almost goodbye, oh-oh
Almost goodbye
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