I've had this song chorus in my head since 1990. Please send help.
June 25, 2016 8:48 PM Subscribe
I went to summer camp in northern Minnesota in the late 80s/early 90s. I was exposed to all kinds of awesome music there from kids all over the country, which was a huge big thing for young midwestern me. I remember sitting on a cold lake beach listening intently to a mix tape one of the older girls was playing, and there is a song that has stuck in my head ever since. The chorus is something like "So wave goodbye to everything you knew." I can still noodle it out on piano and guitar, but I can't identify the song. Please help.
It was somewhere in that broad transition between new wave and alt rock, and the male singer had an accent and vocal style that I now associate with Pulp ("Common People" in particular). The chorus went something along the lines of "so wave, wave goodbye, to all the things you knew-ew-ew-ew-ewwwww / wave, wave goodbye, my heart will be true."
It might have been "say" instead of "wave" in some places, but I distinctly remember the "so wave" part.
I remember it being somewhat echoey and tinny (but that could have been the cheap shitty tape deck), and I remember it having a really spare sound on the chorus, like maybe just dropping down to drums and vocals.
I could be misremembering a ton of things. It's been over 25 years, and I'm trying to identify a song that I heard once on a cheap tape deck on a lake a couple decades ago. This song is just still so firmly lodged in my head that I am desperately reaching out in hopes of finding it.
I will attempt to upload me singing or playing it if necessary.
I am hopeful because the last time I asked The Internet a question like this, I re-found the very 90s "Shutters Closed" by Tripmaster Monkey.
It was somewhere in that broad transition between new wave and alt rock, and the male singer had an accent and vocal style that I now associate with Pulp ("Common People" in particular). The chorus went something along the lines of "so wave, wave goodbye, to all the things you knew-ew-ew-ew-ewwwww / wave, wave goodbye, my heart will be true."
It might have been "say" instead of "wave" in some places, but I distinctly remember the "so wave" part.
I remember it being somewhat echoey and tinny (but that could have been the cheap shitty tape deck), and I remember it having a really spare sound on the chorus, like maybe just dropping down to drums and vocals.
I could be misremembering a ton of things. It's been over 25 years, and I'm trying to identify a song that I heard once on a cheap tape deck on a lake a couple decades ago. This song is just still so firmly lodged in my head that I am desperately reaching out in hopes of finding it.
I will attempt to upload me singing or playing it if necessary.
I am hopeful because the last time I asked The Internet a question like this, I re-found the very 90s "Shutters Closed" by Tripmaster Monkey.
Response by poster: Sorry, Miko, nothing like that at all.
posted by erst at 10:12 PM on June 25, 2016
posted by erst at 10:12 PM on June 25, 2016
Soft Cell, maybe?
That's a live version, not quite the same, IIRC as the recording, the last track on Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret.
posted by Rash at 11:01 PM on June 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
That's a live version, not quite the same, IIRC as the recording, the last track on Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret.
posted by Rash at 11:01 PM on June 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
I once guessed Soft Cell's SAY HELLO, WAVE GOODBYE in one note Name That Tune - boy did I love that song - and I think you might be misrembering a little and this is the right song.
I'll be back with a link if I find one. Pretty sure you can listen on Spotify or find in iTunes, and really you should find it on YouTube fairly easy.
posted by jbenben at 11:35 PM on June 25, 2016
I'll be back with a link if I find one. Pretty sure you can listen on Spotify or find in iTunes, and really you should find it on YouTube fairly easy.
posted by jbenben at 11:35 PM on June 25, 2016
Could it be Demis Rousssous singing Goodbye my love, goodbye? Here are the lyrics.
posted by colfax at 2:23 AM on June 26, 2016
posted by colfax at 2:23 AM on June 26, 2016
I think I know this song, but I'm blocked by Thomas Dolby-I Love You Goodbye; could this be the song?
posted by coberh at 9:49 AM on June 26, 2016
posted by coberh at 9:49 AM on June 26, 2016
There was a song my dad used to hum to me when I was a baby. Nobody knew what the song was. I tried humming it into the Shazam app and got nowhere. Then I tried the SoundHound app and boom! It popped up within seconds.
So....if you've got a smartphone (or can your hands on one for a few minutes), download SoundHound and hum away. I'd be willing to bet it would find it.
posted by eatcake at 2:24 PM on June 26, 2016 [3 favorites]
So....if you've got a smartphone (or can your hands on one for a few minutes), download SoundHound and hum away. I'd be willing to bet it would find it.
posted by eatcake at 2:24 PM on June 26, 2016 [3 favorites]
I want to say this is an early Manic Street Preachers song but I cannot remember which one and I probably have it mixed up. I'm nearly certain I know it though. It's newer than Soft Cell.
On the off chance you are remembering nearly everything wrong it's not This IsTheDay by The The is it?
posted by fshgrl at 5:49 PM on June 26, 2016
On the off chance you are remembering nearly everything wrong it's not This IsTheDay by The The is it?
posted by fshgrl at 5:49 PM on June 26, 2016
fshgrl, I love that song, and The The in general, but I don't think those are the right lyrics. Great tune though. :7)
posted by wenestvedt at 7:28 AM on June 27, 2016
posted by wenestvedt at 7:28 AM on June 27, 2016
FYI paulash, that David Gray song is a cover of the Soft Cell song that others have suggested. I just learned that myself.
posted by hootenatty at 10:21 AM on June 28, 2016
posted by hootenatty at 10:21 AM on June 28, 2016
Hootenatty - Yes, I know and love both versions but the David Gray version is 'sparser' so just wanted to put it in. But I've just googled the release year (1998) which means you can take it out again :) Still worth a listen :)
posted by paulash at 1:38 AM on June 29, 2016
posted by paulash at 1:38 AM on June 29, 2016
Response by poster: Oh my dog, KateViolet, IT IS ERASURE. How on earth I have never re-encountered that song is beyond me. I have plenty of Erasure on my playlists. Holy crap, I love you.
posted by erst at 12:16 PM on July 1, 2016
posted by erst at 12:16 PM on July 1, 2016
Response by poster: Also my husband who has like every 80s song ever on his playlists doesn't have that song and has never recognized it when I sang it.
This is amazing.
posted by erst at 12:27 PM on July 1, 2016
This is amazing.
posted by erst at 12:27 PM on July 1, 2016
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Miko at 10:01 PM on June 25, 2016