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The Claire Byrne Show

The best Goodbye songs

14 May 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

1.87 - 6.582 Claire Byrne

The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk. With Aviva Insurance.

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9.262 - 28.628 Ed Smith

It is time to mix music and politics. We've been hearing all week how the political end is nigh for Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer. It hasn't happened yet, let me tell you, but more on that later. But to make sure that we're ready for all of this, Ed Smith is here from Go Loud to bring us through some of the best goodbye songs. I suggested this, I think, to your producer, Dee, on Monday.

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28.668 - 33.615 Ed Smith

I was fully expecting that by the time I came on to talk about goodbye songs. But he's hanging on.

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Chapter 2: What is the connection between music and politics in this episode?

33.996 - 45.859 Ed Smith

He is hanging on. Until when, I don't know. We don't know. Maybe even during this segment he might go. But anyway, so goodbye songs, Clare. Sad songs. Sad songs. Poignant songs. But you know, we all have them in our canons. Starting off 1967.

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Chapter 3: What are some of the best goodbye songs mentioned?

45.98 - 63.319 Ed Smith

I will say something controversial now. For people out there, hold on to your jambons. Because I feel that a lot of... More songs that people are willing to admit by the Beatles are not very good, right? They have what I call their children's canon. Oh, you're in so much trouble. Oobla Dee, Oobla Dah is... It's a child's song.

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63.76 - 82.679 Ed Smith

And I would count the song we're going to start with on our little trip through goodbye tunes from 1967. A non-album single. They were very good for these as well. Can I just stop you there for one second? The WhatsApp number, if you want to respond to that, is 087-1400-1065. Let it be stated that they changed music forever, the greatest of all, but they have a lot of dreadful songs.

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83.08 - 104.828 Ed Smith

Anyway, so magical mystery tour era, not maybe their most lauded era of music, but Paul McCartney, as was his want, full of tunage, was sat at his piano and he said to his assistant, I'm going to say a word and you say the opposite. And he started plinking, plonking onto the piano. And this happened, unfortunately. But this actually kind of furthered the controversy on this. The

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104.808 - 119.374 Ed Smith

A side that was proposed for this single was going to be I Am The Walrus by John Lennon. A far superior tune, but no, McCartney won the war, much to John Lennon's fury. And out of this, we got this from 1967 from the Beatles, Hello Goodbye.

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135.655 - 161.643 Unknown

You say goodbye and I say hello. Hello, hello. I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello. I don't know why you say goodbye. I say I love you.

161.663 - 162.805 Ed Smith

I know nothing about music, right?

Chapter 4: How do The Beatles' songs reflect on goodbyes?

162.965 - 172.42 Ed Smith

But that's fine. That's fine to me. What's wrong? It's fine. It's just about fine. Oobla dee, oobla da to me. Please, if I ever have to do a feature on this that features that song, I'm going to walk out of the studio.

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172.441 - 172.921 Unknown

Let's do that next week.

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172.941 - 186.463 Ed Smith

But the Beatles, the greatest of all time. Let's do that. So we're going to 1975 next. Speaking of children's songs, Paul Simon would sing a little tune to his little boy at that time, Harper, and he would sing just a rhyming tune. I think people maybe are guessing where we're going with this.

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186.903 - 199.522 Ed Smith

And he'd rhyme up these little things and out of that came out one of the greatest songs from one of the most incredible canons of music of all time, Mr. Paul Simons. So we're going back to 1975. I'm glad you like this because I think this is great.

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199.542 - 207.394 Ed Smith

This is wonderful because what it is, it starts, the choruses on this versus the verses are, there's a lot of poignancy and sadness and then he kicks into the kind of

207.374 - 237.162 Ed Smith

into the chorus and it's very jolly and kind of like I'm Grant you're leaving this is how you leave so going 1975 of course Paul Simon's brilliant and this is very well known of course for the legendary Steve Gadd on drums here his military style drums on this which he came up with in the corridor outside the studio while he's waiting to go in I love those stories anyway this is 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover Paul Simon At the risk of being cruel there must be 50 ways to leave your lover

238.998 - 269.61 Unknown

50 ways to leave your lover You just slip out the back, Jack Make a new plan, Stan You don't need to be coy, Roy Just get yourself free Hop on the bus, Gus You don't need to discuss much Just drop off the key, Lee And get yourself free Ooh, slip out the back, Jack Make a new plan, Stan. You don't need to be coy, Roy. You just listen to me.

269.63 - 288.259 Ed Smith

All I could hear there was Steve's drums. Oh, there's the drill. Yeah, a little military. Yeah, it feels like a little march because he's marching out the door, I think. That's what they're going for there. So now we're going to imagine when we hear this, this is Dolly giving it away. But let's imagine Andy Burnham singing this to Keir Starmer sometime tomorrow. And he's thinking, man,

288.239 - 310.855 Ed Smith

Cooney an accent so look the story behind this just as fascinating and brilliant as the song Porter Wagner was a big deal a big wheel in the country music TV scene there's a lot of country music television back in the 60s 70s in America and he had a TV show was hugely popular he took on this young ingenue 1819 at the time young Dolly Parton as he took her under his wing they developed a relationship beyond the cameras and

Chapter 5: What is the story behind Paul Simon's '50 Ways to Leave Your Lover'?

594.352 - 613.943 Ed Smith

His clothes. You just hear this. Bye bye, Ed. No, he's back. Play the right song. The Beatles. Let him go. So look, it's been nicely segued into our final goodbye song. 1997. This, for anyone that maybe featured this in their graduation, this would have been a very popular one for people leaving school. Has a kind of teen angsty feel to it.

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613.963 - 632.745 Ed Smith

Of course, we're talking about Green Day written by Billy Joe Armstrong. Actually, there's a bitterness to this. If you listen to hear the story here, you'll hear the bitterness then. I hope I don't ruin it for you. But Billy Joe Armstrong's girlfriend at the time was moving to Ecuador for an extended period. He was doing his best to be like, that's cool. I'm really happy for you. That's great.

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633.097 - 648.401 Ed Smith

So he wrote this song and his real feelings. As is often the case with men. He wasn't best pleased for it. He was in a right sulk about it. And he says, good riddance. I hope you have the time of your life. You know, go on, have a great time. Good riddance. I don't care. I'm fine. Clearly not, Billy. You've just written an entire song about it. He didn't want to keep the relationship, did he?

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648.421 - 666.549 Ed Smith

So this is what the song is based on. And this is, again, for many people out there, it's going to bring back many leaving certain memories as well. This is, of course, from 1997. Oh, just a little fact as well. If you hear the original recording of this, it's on the album as well. He stops it twice, starts it twice. And they've left the F-bomb. He can't get the chords right at the beginning.

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666.829 - 679.567 Ed Smith

And he goes F. And he does it again. He makes another mistake. And then he kicks into it in earnest. And they sounded, I think, rather nicely to keep that in. So you hear that at the beginning. You won't hear it here because he says the F-word. But from 1997, this is Time of Your Life, Good Riddance.

680.969 - 708.278 Unknown

So take the photographs and still frames in your mind. Hanging on a shelf in good health and good time. Tattoos and memories and dead skin on trial. For what it's worth, it was worth all the while. It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right. I hope you had the time of your life.

714.417 - 729.499 Ed Smith

I wonder, did they ever get back together or stay together? We don't know that, do we? I doubt it. I don't know how she would have reacted to hearing that in Ecuador when she touched down. She goes, oh, Billy wrote a song about you. Don't know how I feel about this, she would think. What's the connection to Seinfeld? Seinfeld, yes.

729.659 - 749.487 Ed Smith

Any Seinfeld fans out there will know, of course, that this was used, the series finale of Seinfeld in 1998, just a year after its release, watched by nigh on 76 million people. Incredible. People watch television to that extent. So this has a really strong connection to one of the greatest sitcoms of all time. And I think it'll live forever.

749.767 - 767.01 Ed Smith

I hope I haven't ruined it for people by giving the kind of slightly small man bitterness that gave it to us in the first place. I hope I'm not going to ruin your day now with this message from a listener who says criticizing the Beatles is such a trend these days. Anyone who says they aren't great has no clue about music. Ed Smith's music expert.

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