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How Can I Help You Say Goodbye
"How Can I Help You Say Goodbye" is a song written by Karen Taylor-Good and Burton Banks Collins. It was first recorded by American country music singer Patty Loveless for her sixth album, Only What I Feel (1993), and released in March 1994 by Epic Records as the fourth single from the album. The song peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot Country Singles and Tracks chart. The accompanying music video was directed by Jim Shea. A version by American singer, songwriter, and actress Laura Branigan was released later the same year on her final studio album, Over My Heart (1993), also being released as a single. The song was later included on Branigan's 1995 greatest hits album, The Best of Branigan.
The song is also recorded by Melanie Safka in some different versions. It was first released on the Double CD "Silvery Anniversary" in 1993 and on some compilation CD's in 1999.
In the three verses, the narrator describes with florid imagery three experiences of loss in her life: moving away from her best friend as a young girl, separating from her husband as an adult, and her mother's death. Each time, in the repeating chorus, her mother seeks to comfort her, asking "how can I help you to say goodbye?"
Loveless' album, "Only What I Feel" had sold over 650,000 copies and had been certified as an RIAA Gold Album. Sony/Epic was receiving requests from radio stations that this song be released as a single, and in March 1994 it was released. The song climbed up the charts, reaching number three in June. It was also nominated for the 1995 Grammy Awards for Best Female Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Song. The music video, directed by Jim Shea, was nominated by both the CMA and the ACM as 1995 Video of the Year. The song was also nominated for the Song of the Year at the 12th annual Music City News Country Songwriters Awards in 1994.
"How Can I Help You Say Goodbye" charted for 20 weeks on the US Billboard Hot Country Singles and Tracks chart, reaching No. 3 during the week of June 4, 1994.
"Leaving a childhood friend behind, I've gone through that. I've been through a divorce, and I've lost a parent. I've known all three experiences. I think that this song is a way of making us understand that you've got to say goodbye. It's a very hard word, but it's a part of our lives."
Burton Collins, who was an actor at the time, had never written a song before "How Can I Help You Say Goodbye". He told Country Weekly that the title was spoken to him by his grandmother shortly before her death in 1988. After being introduced to Karen Taylor-Good by a mutual friend, he wrote the song with her. Collins said that he and Taylor-Good wrote the song in three hours.
Loveless told in 1993, that a letter from Collins gave her the strength to get through the song. "It hit me so hard that I just cried every time I tried to record it. I had a real difficult time just getting through it." The universal power of the song became evident the first time she performed it - for an audience of crusty media types at a convention in New York. "I saw this guy breaking up, sort of rubbing his eyes and trying to control his feelings, and I went up to him after the show and said, 'I didn't mean to make you cry'."
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How Can I Help You Say Goodbye
"How Can I Help You Say Goodbye" is a song written by Karen Taylor-Good and Burton Banks Collins. It was first recorded by American country music singer Patty Loveless for her sixth album, Only What I Feel (1993), and released in March 1994 by Epic Records as the fourth single from the album. The song peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot Country Singles and Tracks chart. The accompanying music video was directed by Jim Shea. A version by American singer, songwriter, and actress Laura Branigan was released later the same year on her final studio album, Over My Heart (1993), also being released as a single. The song was later included on Branigan's 1995 greatest hits album, The Best of Branigan.
The song is also recorded by Melanie Safka in some different versions. It was first released on the Double CD "Silvery Anniversary" in 1993 and on some compilation CD's in 1999.
In the three verses, the narrator describes with florid imagery three experiences of loss in her life: moving away from her best friend as a young girl, separating from her husband as an adult, and her mother's death. Each time, in the repeating chorus, her mother seeks to comfort her, asking "how can I help you to say goodbye?"
Loveless' album, "Only What I Feel" had sold over 650,000 copies and had been certified as an RIAA Gold Album. Sony/Epic was receiving requests from radio stations that this song be released as a single, and in March 1994 it was released. The song climbed up the charts, reaching number three in June. It was also nominated for the 1995 Grammy Awards for Best Female Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Song. The music video, directed by Jim Shea, was nominated by both the CMA and the ACM as 1995 Video of the Year. The song was also nominated for the Song of the Year at the 12th annual Music City News Country Songwriters Awards in 1994.
"How Can I Help You Say Goodbye" charted for 20 weeks on the US Billboard Hot Country Singles and Tracks chart, reaching No. 3 during the week of June 4, 1994.
"Leaving a childhood friend behind, I've gone through that. I've been through a divorce, and I've lost a parent. I've known all three experiences. I think that this song is a way of making us understand that you've got to say goodbye. It's a very hard word, but it's a part of our lives."
Burton Collins, who was an actor at the time, had never written a song before "How Can I Help You Say Goodbye". He told Country Weekly that the title was spoken to him by his grandmother shortly before her death in 1988. After being introduced to Karen Taylor-Good by a mutual friend, he wrote the song with her. Collins said that he and Taylor-Good wrote the song in three hours.
Loveless told in 1993, that a letter from Collins gave her the strength to get through the song. "It hit me so hard that I just cried every time I tried to record it. I had a real difficult time just getting through it." The universal power of the song became evident the first time she performed it - for an audience of crusty media types at a convention in New York. "I saw this guy breaking up, sort of rubbing his eyes and trying to control his feelings, and I went up to him after the show and said, 'I didn't mean to make you cry'."