Good Goodbye

"Good Goodbye" is the second track on One More Light. The song had its lyrics premiered through Genius on April 10, three days before the song was released for fans who pre-ordered the album. Although it wasn't released as a single in the US, "Good Goodbye" received radio airplay in Europe and a music video was created for the song.

Mike Shinoda raps heavily on the track, making it one of the few songs with rap on the album. It features guest vocals by Pusha T and Stormzy and additional production by Jesse Shatkin. The track has been described as a hip hop track with a sarcastic tone to it that doesn't fit in with any other song on One More Light.

Background

The title "Good Goodbye" was first seen in a picture posted on Joe Hahn's Instagram story on September 6, 2016 of Brad playing acoustic guitar with the band's song board behind him. According to Mike Shinoda, the song was created very early in the album process. He came up with the hook and the track in a day while working alone with Jesse Shatkin. Mike originally had two verses on the song and wanted to add an electronic drop to the bridge but it didn't sound good and he thought a third rap verse by him would be too much, so they started thinking about who they could bring in on the track for rap verses. That ended up being Pusha T (who was previously featured on DJ Vice's remix of "I'll Be Gone") and Stormzy.

Explaining how the collaboration with Stormzy came together, Mike Shinoda said, "Our manager ran into Stormzy’s manager, and mentioned we had a couple of songs that Stormzy would sound great on. He came through right at the last moment, understandably, since he’s [busy] dropping the biggest record you’ve ever heard. We didn’t know how crazy it was [for Stormzy] over here, by the way, we just liked him from afar." According to Chester, Stormzy had been on the band's radar for quite a while.

About the inspiration for the song, Mike said, "I wanted this song to be about one of my favourite moments in a basketball game. This is when, at a Lakers game, the rival team fouls out and the whole place erupts into this moment where they sing Hit the Road, Jack and they kick them out of the building. The cheerleaders are swishing their pompoms around and literally sending them out of the door, and the crowd do it too. There’s a couple of songs they use there, but I wanted to write one which they would also make use of in that kind of situation. A song which you can use to kick people out of the door." Chester added, "We wanted this song to apply to two things at the same time: someone getting kicked out of a game, and someone getting out of a bad relationship."

Music Video

Lyric Video

A lyric video for "Good Goodbye" was directed by Rafatoon (who also directed "Battle Symphony") and released on April 13, 2017 on Linkin Park's official YouTube channel.

Director: Rafael Perez
3D Director: Andres Garcia
Cinematography: Luis Rojas
Camera Assistant: Arturo Roa
Production Company: Dreambear

Music Video

The official music video for "Good Goodbye" was directed by Isaac Rentz and features Pusha T and Stormzy, who are featured on the track, and NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The video was released on May 5, 2017 without any previous announcement.

During a Facebook chat on April 02, 2017, Mike Shinoda announced Linkin Park were working on a new video for a new song that is "not super silly, but it's still not very serious," commenting it was a change of pace for the band. It was later revealed that the music video was for the song "Good Goodbye". It has been filmed in Los Angeles over a day on March 14th and Stormzy flew out to be a part of it. Just like on the "Heavy" music video, Linkin Park partnered with Mercedes-Benz for "Good Goodbye", having 3 cars featured on the video.

Versions

Note: Only the date of the very first release of each version is listed.

Title	Album	Length	Recorded	Released	Notes
Good Goodbye (feat. Pusha T & Stormzy)	One More Light	3:31	2016	April 13, 2017	Features vocals by Pusha T and Stormzy.
Good Goodbye (Official Video)		3:54	2016	May 5, 2017	Extended synth intro.
Good Goodbye	Good Goodbye (Radio Promo) One More Light Instrumentals	3:31	2016	April 2017	Official instrumental version. Contains pitch-shifted vocals.

Live

Shortly after the release of "Good Goodbye", Mike Shinoda announced he would rap his original verse in the place of Stormzy's/Pusha T's verse (if they're not with Linkin Park) when performing live. Linkin Park went live on Facebook to promote the announcement of the North American Tour on May 2nd and performed "Good Goodbye" from the rehearsals. The song featured a brand new extended intro as well as Mike rapping a second verse over the instrumental of Stormzy's verse. The second chorus and Pusha T's verse were skipped.

"Good Goodbye" got its live debut on May 6th at Linkin Park's performance in Buenos Aires, Argentina with Mike slightly changing the seventh and eighth lines from the second verse performed in the rehearsal and with an extended, sing-a-long intro. The full song was debuted at the band's show in London, when Stormzy came out to play the song with the band. Mike rapped his original verse in place of Pusha T's instead of Stormzy's.

Variations

Last Updated: October 30, 2017

Type	Description	First Played	Last Played
Intro	Synth Intro w/ Light Guitar	May 2, 2017	May 2, 2017
Intro	Synth Intro w/ Sing-a-Long	May 6, 2017	July 6, 2017
Alternative	Shortened (No Second Chorus or Second Verse) w/ Live Verse	May 2, 2017	July 6, 2017
Alternative	w/ Live Verse	July 3, 2017	July 4, 2017

Live Guests

• Stormzy

Personnel

Linkin Park

• Chester Bennington - Vocals
• Rob Bourdon - Drums, Background Vocals
• Brad Delson - Guitar, Background Vocals
• Joseph Hahn - Programming, Background Vocals
• Phoenix - Bass, Background Vocals
• Mike Shinoda - Keyboards, Programming, Vocals

Additional Musicians

• Pusha T's vocals recorded at No Name Studios, North Hollywood, CA by Tom Kahre
• Stormzy's vocals recorded at Matrix Studios, London, UK by Fraser T. Smith

Production

• Written by Mike Shinoda, Brad Delson, Jesse Shatkin, Terrance Thornton and Michael Omari
• Produced by Mike Shinoda and Brad Delson
• Additional production by Jesse Shatkin
• Vocal production by Jesse Shatkin
• Pusha T appears courtesy of Def Jam Recordings. A division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
• Stormzy appears courtesy of #Merky Records
• Music performed by Linkin Park
• Vocals by Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda
• Chester's vocals recorded at The Pool Recording Studio, London, UK
• Mike's vocals recorded at The Warehouse Studio, Vancouver, CA
• Music recorded at Larrabee Studios, North Hollywood, CA and Sphere Studios, North Hollywood, CA
• Engineered by Ethan Mates, Mike Shinoda and Josh Newell
• Assistant engineer: Alejandro Baima
• Studio B assistant engineer: Warren Willis
• Studio drum tech: Jerry Johnson
• Mixed by Manny Marooquin at Larrabee Studios, North Hollywood, CA
• Mix engineer: Chris Galland assisted by Jeff Jackson and Robin Florent

Lyrics

So say goodbye and hit the road
Pack it up and disappear
You better have some place to go
'Cause you can't come back around here
Good goodbye
(Don't you come back no more)
 
Live from the rhythm, it's
Something wild, venomous
Enemies trying to read me
You're all looking highly illiterate
Blindly forgetting if I'm in the mix
You won't find an equivalent
I've been here killing it
Longer than you've been alive, you idiot
And it makes you so mad
Somebody else could be stepping in front of you
And it makes you so mad that you're not the only one
There's more than one of you
And you can't understand the fact
That it's over and done, hope you had fun
You've got a lot to discuss on the bus
Headed back where you're from
 
So say goodbye and hit the road
Pack it up and disappear
You better have some place to go
'Cause you can't come back around here
Good goodbye
(Don't you come back no more)
 
Goodbye, good riddance
A period is after every sentence
Did my time with my cellmate
Maxed out so now we finished
Every day was like a hail date
Every night was like a hailstorm
Took her back to my tinted windows
Showin' out, she in rare form
Wings up, now I'm airborne
King Push, they got a chair for him
Make way for the new queen
The old lineup, where they cheer for 'em
Consequence when you ain't there for him
Were you there for him?
Did you care for him?
You were dead wrong
 
So say goodbye and hit the road
Pack it up and disappear
You better have some place to go
'Cause you can't come back around here
Good goodbye
(Don't you come back no more)
 
Let me say goodbye to my demons
Let me say goodbye to my past life
Let me say goodbye to the darkness
Tell 'em that I'd rather be here in the starlight
Tell 'em that I'd rather be here where they love me
Tell 'em that I'm yours this is our life
And I still keep raising the bar like
Never seen a young black brother in the chart twice
Goodbye to the stereotypes
You can't tell my kings we can't
Mandem we're linking tings in parks
Now I gotta tune with Linkin Park
Like goodbye to my old hoe’s
Goodbye to the cold roads
I can't die for my postcode
Young little Mike from the Gold Coast
And now I'm inside with my bro bro's
Gang
 
So say goodbye and hit the road
Pack it up and disappear
You better have some place to go
'Cause you can't come back around here
Good goodbye
(Don't you come back no more)

So say goodbye and hit the road
Pack it up and disappear
You better have some place to go
'Cause you can't come back around here
Good goodbye
(Don't you come back no more)
 
Live from the rhythm, it's
Something wild, venomous
Enemies trying to read me
You're all looking highly illiterate
Blindly forgetting if I'm in the mix
You won't find an equivalent
I've been here killing it
Longer than you've been alive, you idiot
And it makes you so mad
Somebody else could be stepping in front of you
And it makes you so mad that you're not the only one
There's more than one of you
And you can't understand the fact
That it's over and done, hope you had fun
You've got a lot to discuss on the bus
Headed back where you're from
 
So say goodbye and hit the road
Pack it up and disappear
You better have some place to go
'Cause you can't come back around here
Good goodbye
(Don't you come back no more)

Live from the genesis
Underlining for emphasis
There is no way to pretend
That we don't really know what the ending is
Part of me thinkin' that
Even addressing is being too generous
Do you really think that they'll
Notice when you get removed from the premises
And it makes you so mad
Somebody else could be stepping in front of you
And it makes you so mad
That I won't give you the respect that the others do
And you can't understand the fact
That it's over and done, hope you had fun
You've got a lot to discuss on the bus
Headed back where you're from

So say goodbye and hit the road
Pack it up and disappear
You better have some place to go
'Cause you can't come back around here
Good goodbye
(Don't you come back no more)

Gallery

• 

  Swedish promo CD

• 

  Lyric sheet

• 

  Chester Bennington, Pusha T, Stormzy and Mike Shinoda

• 

  Picture posted on Linkin Park's snapchat on March 14th announcing they were working on a music video

External Links

Music Videos

• Good Goodbye (Official Lyric Video): LPTV
• Good Goodbye (Official Video): LPTV | Isaac Rentz Vimeo

Live Videos

• Good Goodbye (Rehearsal Video): LP FB

LPTV

• Good Goodbye - Behind The Scenes: LPTV | LP FB

Facebook

• Mic Tests - The Making of Good Goodbye (feat. Pusha T & Stormzy)
• Chester's Vocals - Good Goodbye (feat. Pusha T & Stormzy)
• Gang Vocals - Good Goodbye (feat. Pusha T & Stormzy)

Other

• Making Of Good Goodbye (Official Lyric Video): Rafatoon IG