Goodbye Girl Lyrics
Her name I didn't catch
She looks like something special
The kind who'd understand
The room was almost spinning
She pulled another smile
She had the grace like pleasure
She had a certain style
Woke me with a shake
I looked around to find her but she'd gone
Goodbye girl
Goodbye girl
Goodbye girl
A room on the second floor
A kettle and two coffees
A number on the door
She said I hardly know you
Agreed we kissed goodnight
I knew that in the morning
Somehow I'd wake to find
Wakening me with a shake
I looked around to find her but she'd gone
Goodbye girl
Goodbye girl
Goodbye girl
My clubroom locker keys
The money in the billfold
It doesn't bother me
My wife has moved to Boston
So mum is not the word
If you ever see her
Say hello goodbye girl
Woke me with a shake
I looked around to find her but she'd gone
Goodbye girl
Goodbye girl
Goodbye girl
Goodbye girl
Goodbye girl
Goodbye girl
Goodbye girl
She is a criminal who steals from guys who think they're picking her up for a one-night stand. ("I lost my silver bracelet / My clubroom locker keys / The money in the billfold . . . .") He though he was going to sleep with her, but she thought he was an easy target because, to him, "The room was almost spinning". There was a Seinfeld eipsode where George met a woman on the subway who did this too him, except that she tied him up, and upon discovering how little cash he had, she stole his clothes out of spite.
Agreed, but I think she f'ed him He was expecting to see her in the morning. "I looked around to find her but she'd gone." She stole his stuff after he passed out. And it was worth it to him. " It doesn't bother me."
Agreed, but I think she f'ed him He was expecting to see her in the morning. "I looked around to find her but she'd gone." She stole his stuff after he passed out. And it was worth it to him. " It doesn't bother me."
It is really gutwrenching if you think about it, he wanted something more and she did the disappearing act, Im a huge Squeeze fan, I was made up when Tilbrook himself read my prose on myspace page and told me I could very well write a Squeeze song! Now that was a moment!
Lino = linoleum. He is waking up after passing out of the floor with the sunshine on the linoleum hitting his face. His girl is gone becuase he is a lush.
The first verse describes how he first ever met his wife(a poolroom, didn't catch her name, great smile). The chorus is the reality of his wife as "gone"--it's a bummer to be "woke with a shake." Sunlight on the lino (short for linoleum). His wife was a nice lady upon their first meeting in a poolroom--she only kissed him--she hardly knew him. Finally he lost all his possesions like keys and his billfold, but that was nothing compared to losing his wife. She moved to another city. If the listener's see her out in the world we are advised by the writer to address her as the "Goodbye Girl."
@surfdado - Hi - First let me say that anyone who cares enough and takes the time to understand song lyrics is alright in my book, so don't take it personally when I say I think you have missed the point. Our narrator lost his wife precisely because he was suspected of fooling around with Goodbye Girl - and the poor guy didn't even get any! We are treated to the entertaining story of another one of Difford's lovable cads that gets his comeuppance in the end.
@surfdado - Hi - First let me say that anyone who cares enough and takes the time to understand song lyrics is alright in my book, so don't take it personally when I say I think you have missed the point. Our narrator lost his wife precisely because he was suspected of fooling around with Goodbye Girl - and the poor guy didn't even get any! We are treated to the entertaining story of another one of Difford's lovable cads that gets his comeuppance in the end.
First two verses suggest masturbation. Fantasising in the morning about girls he saw but may not even have spoken to last night. So 'waking with a shake'. Then after the fantasy, back to reality. The same sunlight shining on the same lino, so actually still back home and still alone in his cheap flat.
Last verse ruins that theory though.
@Macanone yeah good try but a little off ... definitely about a woman / girl that is a "predator" ... seeks out men, lures them back to a motel, drugs them and steals their money etc.
@Macanone yeah good try but a little off ... definitely about a woman / girl that is a "predator" ... seeks out men, lures them back to a motel, drugs them and steals their money etc.
When I close my eyes and listen to this song I feel like I am little again.
Does anyone know what 'sunlight on the lino' means?
Sunlight on the linoleum
Sunlight on the linoleum
Thanks. I love Squeeze !
Thanks. I love Squeeze !
@SANDAN I would suggest that the sun symbolises dawn (the next morning) and lino is the floor (lino is a type of floor covering, like a soft cheap plastic covering of sorts).
@SANDAN I would suggest that the sun symbolises dawn (the next morning) and lino is the floor (lino is a type of floor covering, like a soft cheap plastic covering of sorts).
The line that's got me confused is "A kettle and two coffees, Her number on the door". Is a kettle and two coffees supposed to be a pictoral representation of what the numbers on the door are, or is it just a curious observation of his that she's alone in the room but keeps two coffee cups there, or is that how much they drank (that's a lot of caffeine!) ...or am I just way over-thinking it...?
@jimskiski it is a motel room so you'd assume they'd have at least two coffee mugs in there for guests. I think it is all just part of painting the picture that this is a cheap motel room.
@jimskiski it is a motel room so you'd assume they'd have at least two coffee mugs in there for guests. I think it is all just part of painting the picture that this is a cheap motel room.
@jimskiski The room is on the second floor. Her number on the door means she is number two with his wife being number one. This goes back to the line she looks like the kind who'd understand. He is famous and wants to cheat on his wife but needs a girl who will get this and not mind being second fiddle. Most of all, she needs to keep his secret.
@jimskiski The room is on the second floor. Her number on the door means she is number two with his wife being number one. This goes back to the line she looks like the kind who'd understand. He is famous and wants to cheat on his wife but needs a girl who will get this and not mind being second fiddle. Most of all, she needs to keep his secret.
Huh, I knew it with "the money in the waistcoat.." and "my wife has moved to Jersey"... guess it got Americanized (although they didn't change "lino").
Another one of Squeeze's straightforward story songs. Love it.
I think he sings "Jersey", not "New Jersey". Jersey is sort-of part of the UK, a British island off the coast of Normandy--see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey. (And recall that King William I, who conquered England in 1066, was first Duke of Normandy).
I think he sings "Jersey", not "New Jersey". Jersey is sort-of part of the UK, a British island off the coast of Normandy--see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey. (And recall that King William I, who conquered England in 1066, was first Duke of Normandy).
@AHyacinthGirl I realize that I'm responding more than a decade after you wrote this but just for the record he's saying "My wife has moved to Guernsey, which is a British island." However, you're right because in the American single version they changed it to "Boston," of all things. Didn't help the record to chart here! Maybe they should have replaced "lino," since no American has ever heard a linoleum floor called that!
@AHyacinthGirl I realize that I'm responding more than a decade after you wrote this but just for the record he's saying "My wife has moved to Guernsey, which is a British island." However, you're right because in the American single version they changed it to "Boston," of all things. Didn't help the record to chart here! Maybe they should have replaced "lino," since no American has ever heard a linoleum floor called that!
It's a straightforward story as NAwlinsC says. Just wanted to point out that "Goodbye Girl" is intended three ways:
- "Goodbye, girl", won't be seeing you again (with regret), and
- Goodbye Girl, the lady's profession -- she takes men for what they have and bids them goodbye.
- "Goodbye, girl" again, this time for his wife who has now moved away.