"The Power of Good-Bye"
Single by Madonna
from the album Ray of Light
Released	September 29, 1998 (U.S.) November 16, 1998 (Europe) November 26, 1998 (Japan)
Format	CD Single 7" Vinyl Single Cassette Single
Genre	Pop
Length	4:12
Label	Warner Bros./Maverick
Writer(s)	Madonna Rick Nowels
Producer(s)	Madonna William Orbit Patrick Leonard
Certification	Gold (Germany) Silver (United Kingdom)
Chart positions
#6 (United Kingdom) #11 (US Billboard Hot 100)
Madonna singles chronology
"Drowned World/Substitute for Love" (1998)	"The Power of Goodbye" (1998)	"Little Star" (1998)

"The Power of Good-Bye" is a pop ballad written by American singer Madonna and Rick Nowels for Madonna's seventh album Ray of Light (1998). It was produced by Madonna, William Orbit and Patrick Leonard, and received a positive reception from music critics. The song was released as a single in the fall of 1998 (see 1998 in music), and although it failed to match the chart success of its predecessor "Ray of Light", which reached the top five in several countries, "The Power of Good-Bye" is considered to be a minor worldwide hit as it reached number four in Germany, the top ten in the United Kingdom and Canada, and the top twenty in the United States, where it became Madonna's thirty-seventh top-twenty single. Image File history File links The Power Of Good-Bye is the fourth single by singer Madonna from the album Ray Of Light, released in 1998. ... A collection of various CD singles In music, a single is a short record, usually featuring one or two tracks as A-side, often accompanied by several B-sides, usually remixes or other songs. ... This article is becoming very long. ... Ray of Light is the seventh album by American pop–dance singer Madonna. ... September 29 is the 272nd day of the year (273rd in leap years). ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... This article is about the country in North America. ... November 16 is the 320th day of the year (321st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 45 days remaining. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... World map showing Europe Political map Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of Earth; the term continent here referring to a cultural and political distinction, rather than a physiographic one, thus leading to various perspectives about Europes precise borders. ... November 26 is the 330th day (331st on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... A CD single is a music single in the form of a compact disc. ... The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour (1967) as a 33 ⅓ LP vinyl record A gramophone record (also phonograph record, or simply record) is an analogue sound recording medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed modulated spiral groove. ... Insert from the Winter cassette single by Tori Amos The cassette single was a music recording format that debuted in the 80s. ... A music genre is a category (or genre) of pieces of music that share a certain style or basic musical language (van der Merwe 1989, p. ... For Popular music (music that is popular, rather than being of a specific genre or style), see Popular music. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Warner Bros. ... Maverick Records is a record label owned by the Warner Music Group and distributed through Warner Brothers Records. ... A songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics to songs, the musical composition or melody to songs, or both. ... Rick Nowels is a record producer and songwriter who is known for his work with Stevie Nicks, Belinda Carlisle, Madonna, Darren Hayes, Amber, Dido, Sonique, Ronan Keating, New Radicals, k. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the performers, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes. ... William Orbit 1999 William Orbit (sometimes written as William Ørbit, born on 30 July 1956, as William Wainwright) is a British musician and record producer, best known to the public for producing Madonnas album Ray of Light, which received two Grammy-awards. ... Patrick Leonard is an American songwriter, keyboardist and music producer, known for his longtime collaboration with Madonna on many different recordings. ... Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has sold a certain number of copies. ... A record chart, also known as a music chart, is a method of ranking music according to popularity during a given period of time. ... This article is about the country in North America. ... This article is becoming very long. ... Drowned World/Substitute for Love is a pop song written by American singer Madonna, William Orbit, Rod McKuen, Anita Kerr and David Collins for Madonnas seventh album Ray of Light (1998). ... Little Star is a song by American singer Madonna from her 1998 album Ray Of Light. ... For Popular music (music that is popular, rather than being of a specific genre or style), see Popular music. ... A ballad is a story in a song, usually a narrative song or poem. ... This article is becoming very long. ... Rick Nowels is a record producer and songwriter who is known for his work with Stevie Nicks, Belinda Carlisle, Madonna, Darren Hayes, Amber, Dido, Sonique, Ronan Keating, New Radicals, k. ... An album is a collection of related audio tracks distributed to the public. ... Ray of Light is the seventh album by American pop–dance singer Madonna. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the performers, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes. ... William Orbit 1999 William Orbit (sometimes written as William Ørbit, born on 30 July 1956, as William Wainwright) is a British musician and record producer, best known to the public for producing Madonnas album Ray of Light, which received two Grammy-awards. ... Patrick Leonard is an American songwriter, keyboardist and music producer, known for his longtime collaboration with Madonna on many different recordings. ... A collection of various CD singles In music, a single is a short record, usually featuring one or two tracks as A-side, often accompanied by several B-sides, usually remixes or other songs. ... See also: 1997 in music, other events of 1998, 1999 in music, 1990s in music and the list of years in music // Events February 15 - Sir Edward Elgars unfinished third symphony, completed by Anthony Payne is performed for the first time at the Royal Festival Hall. ... Ray of Light is a single by American singer Madonna from her 1998 album Ray of Light. ...

Composition and inspiration

"The Power of Good-Bye" is a ballad featuring numerous string instruments and an electronic music sound, with lyrics reflecting on a painful breakup. The version that was released as a single and included on the album Ray of Light is quite different from the original demo version. In the summer of 2002, demos recorded during the Ray Of Light recording sessions were released, with one of the demos being for "The Power of Good-Bye". The demo version features a stronger rhythm and more drum and bass. The lyrics are also different, including the sentence 'Walk away' instead of 'Do you wanna go higher' (in the album's booklet, the lyrics 'Walk away' were never changed) and the final message: 'God help me, learn to say goodbye, please give me the power of goodbye'. Many of Madonna's fans believe that this ending is much more beautiful than the final one. A string instrument (or stringed instrument) is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. ... Electronic music is a term for music created using electronic devices. ... A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. ... Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated dnb) is a type of electronic dance music also known as jungle. ...

In the U.K., "The Power of Good-Bye" was released as a double A-side with "Little Star", a track from Ray of Light. In Europe the song was included on the major single releases as a B-side. Also notable is that the European releases included several experimental remixes of the song by Luke Slater plus one remix by Dallas Austin, who previously worked with Madonna on her Bedtime Stories (1994). Little Star is a song by American singer Madonna from her 1998 album Ray Of Light. ... In recorded music, the terms A-side and B-side refer to the two sides of 7 inch vinyl records on which singles have been released since the 1950s. ... Luke Slater (Born June 12, 1968 in Reading, England) has produced techno since the beginning of the 1990s. ... Dallas Austin (born December 29, 1970 in Columbus, Georgia) is an African American songwriter, record producer, guitarist, and keyboardist. ... Bedtime Stories is the seventh studio album and the tenth recording by singer Madonna, released in 1994 (see 1994 in music). ...

Music video

Madonna playing chess with her lover, deciding the future of her relationship in the music video for "The Power of Good-Bye" (1998).

The music video for "The Power of Good-Bye" was directed by Matthew Rolston, and was filmed in early August 1998 in Los Angeles, CA (although many believed the location to be the coast of Ireland.) In the aquatic green-themed video, Madonna says goodbye to her lover (played by Goran Višnjić). Throughout the video Madonna is shown playing chess with her lover, the chess will decide the future of the couple, but Madonna decides to stop playing, leaving the relationship. It ends with Madonna walking on to the beach, into the water. The video created some controversy due to its ending. It is debatable, but many Madonna fans believe she commits suicide at the end of the video, drowning herself in the ocean. Just before the music video ends Madonna is shown on the beach again, happier than before. Therefore the drowning of her character may represent the element water, which represents rebirth. The use of water-images - as well as the use of the other three elements - was an important part of the album, with the theme appearing in songs such as "Swim". Image File history File links POGBMusicvideo. ... Image File history File links POGBMusicvideo. ... A frame from Bob Dylans Subterranean Homesick Blues video. ... A frame from Bob Dylans Subterranean Homesick Blues video. ... Matthew Rolston is an acclaimed American photographer and music video director, known for videos in Pop and R&B genres. ... Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,290. ... Goran ViÅ¡njić as Luka Kovač on ER Goran ViÅ¡njić (born September 9, 1972) is a Croatian actor who has appeared in many American film and television productions. ...

The chess-playing and the kissing-scene in the video were inspired by the 1968 film The Thomas Crown Affair. While the beach-scenes were inspired by the famous film Humoresque from 1946. The video was premiered on MTV on September 10, 1998, a few minutes before the MTV Video Music Awards show began. The video was occasionally played on The WB Network after the television show Felicity, which played the song as the background music during its TV ads. It is available on Madonna's Video Collection 93:99 DVD. The Thomas Crown Affair is the name of two films: The original The Thomas Crown Affair was a 1968 film starring Steve McQueen as Thomas Crown and Faye Dunaway as Vicki Anderson. ... MTV (Music Television) is a cable television network headquartered in New York City. ... September 10 is the 253rd day of the year (254th in leap years). ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... The MTV Video Music Awards were established in 1984 by MTV to celebrate the top music videos of the year. ... The WB Television Network, casually referred to as The WB, or sometimes as The Frog (referring to the networks former mascot, the animated character Michigan J. Frog), is a television network in the United States, founded as a joint venture between the Warner Bros. ... Felicity was an American television series that revolved around the fictional college experiences of the title character, Felicity Porter (played by Keri Russell), as she attended the University of New York in New York City across the country from her home of Palo Alto, California. ... DVD (also known as Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc) is an optical disc storage media format that can be used for data storage, including movies with high video and sound quality. ...

The Power Of Good-bye is one of the few singles that Madonna has performed on the BBC program Top of the Pops. Top of the Pops was a long-running British music chart television programme shown each week on BBC and now licensed for national versions around the world. ...

Chart performance

In the United Kingdom, the song debuted at number six, but after nine weeks quickly fell off the singles chart. Elsewhere the song was a minor success, usually charting within the top twenty. The song charted in top twenty in Canada, Germany, Japan and the United States.[and a huge over the Arab world].

While the song was a modest success, it brought Ray Of Light back into the top ten on many album charts - more than seven months after its release. The success of the single was also influenced by Madonna's one month European promotional tour, which took her across Europe promoting the album and the song on a variety of music television shows.

Charts

This article is about the musical term aria. ...

Chart trajectories

Remixes

Remixes of "The Power Of Goodbye" include mixes by Fabian and the controversial experimental mixes by Luke Slater.

• Album Version (4:12)
• Demo Version (5:15) Unreleased
• Dallas' Low End Mix (4:32)
• Video Instrumental (4:12)
• Fabian's Good God Mix (8:23)
• Fabian's Good God Edit (5:11) Promo Only
• Luke Slater's Super Luper Mix (8:48)
• Luke Slater's Filtered Mix (6:07)
• Acapella (3:43) Unreleased

[Note: The so-called Hex Hector Demo Mix is actually a bootleg mix by Danny Morris. 8:14 long.]

References

• Billboard.com. link. Last accessed on Feb. 27, 2006. - US chart positions.
• MoCaW: Madonna on Charts around the World. link. Last accessed on Feb. 27, 2006. - Worldwide chart positions and certifications.
• Enlace Madonna link. Last accessed on Feb. 27, 2006. - Release and music video information.