If You're Leaving Say Goodbye

One night in my studio, not feeling especially inspired, I opened up the internet to check how a few of my songs were doing on broadjam.com, a Madison-based company founded by a friend of mine, Roy Elkin.

On the homepage was a notice of a song contest, and one entry involved writing music to someone else’s lyrics. So, I thought, I’ve never done that—maybe this would be an excellent exercise for me.

Immediately, I found lyrics that flew off the page, written by an unnamed writer. (The contest would not allow names.)

I said out loud, “Wow, this person sounds in pain. I think I’ll see what happens if I put music to this person’s words.”

And a few hours later, “If You’re Leaving, Say Goodbye” was all but done.

Of course, I always sandpaper and chisel what looks like the final product, but it was ready to share.

Bobby Caputo was later revealed as the lyricist. I was so grateful he loved what I’d done with his lyrics and honored that I had taken the time to set his words to music. Honestly, I don’t remember if we won anything—maybe third place. And that’s not really the point. A finished song is always the coveted prize, anyway.

I hope you like it. You might need a tissue 🙂

Thanks for reading!

Let’s “make this journey a smoother ride.”

Michael

PS) Please look for my “Lyric of the day” post, which would happen of course,

each day—:)—and usually around 8:00 PM Central Time. If you have any lyrics suggestions—just a few lines or a section of a song—I’m all ears, please and thanks!

🎶Listen to “If You’re Leaving Say Goodbye (Streaming everywhere)