The Story Behind 'Goodbye Girl'

There are some songs of mine that fall under the category of 'songs I've written for and/or about certain people that said people have never heard.' This one also follows suit. I was made aware of this story by a colleague and by the time she finished relaying it to me I was in tears. I thought to myself how cold and heartless could one human being be?

It's not until recently I've begun to wonder about the protagonist's state of mind and question his mental health. The story goes that there was a couple in high school, a typical couple with their share of ups and downs etc, but for all intents and purposes just your average teenage couple trying to make the best of their high school years. That unfortunately is the end of anything typical about this couple.

One night the girl gets a text from her boyfriend and it reads "goodbye it's all your fault"! She was soon to discover that he had texted that to her right before he jumped to his death from a bridge. One can only imagine the onslaught of emotions that would surely accompany such an event. I know I had a vast and wide variety just upon learning of this situation.

I determined that someone ought to speak up on this girl's behalf; say something for her that she would likely never be able to on her own. That's how this song came to be. People often ask me which comes first, lyrics or music, and in this case they came together in under 12 minutes. I've never met this girl or anyone that may know her but I truly felt a heartbreak for her and her situation. Mental illness is a very real and dangerous thing and should never be taken lightly. Just because we can't see it doesn't mean it isn't there.