Meaning of “Too Good at Goodbyes” by Sam Smith

“Too Good at Goodbyes” is a break-up song by English singer and songwriter Sam Smith. The lyrics of the song were inspired by a personal experience in Smith’s life. According to an interview Smith had with BBC Radio 1, “Too Good at Goodbyes” is based on a real romantic relationship that he was in and that the lyrics basically talk about him becoming an expert “at getting dumped”.

On Amazon Music’s Side-by-Side (Side by Side with Sam Smith), the singer shed some more light on the relationship that inspired the song. In his commentary on the song, Smith said in 2016, he was in a relationship with someone who dumped him “about three times”. According to him, on the third time that he was dumped by his significant other, he had got so good at being dumped that he “kind of knew” how to handle the whole situation very well. In another interview with CBS’ Radio.com, Smith referred to that particular relationship as “a very tumultuous” one.

According to him, every single time, his lover dumped him, he got “better and better at saying goodbye”.

Facts about “Too Good at Goodbyes”

• “Too Good at Goodbyes” was co-written by Sam Smith, English singer Jimmy Napes (a long time friend of Smith) and the popular Norwegian songwriting and record producing duo Stargate (Mikkel Storleer Eriksen and Erik Hermansen).
• The production of the song was handled by Stargate, Jimmy Napes and the English Grammy Award-winning music producer Steve Fitzmaurice.
• All the writers of the song contributed to its production with the exception of Smith.
• The track was released officially on September 8th, 2017 as the lead single from Smith’s second studio album titled The Thrill of It All.
• The song’s official music video was shot in Newcastle, England.
• The song has a total run time of approximately 3 minutes and 21 seconds.
• The LJ Singers provided backing vocals on the track.
• On the UK Singles Chart, the song made it to number one. On the US Billboard Hot 100, it peaked at number four. It was also very successful in several countries across the globe. For example, it also made it to number one in both New Zealand and Australia.
• “Too Good at Goodbyes” is one of the most successful singles of Smith’s career.

What key is “Too Good at Goodbyes” in?

D minor.

What musical genre is this track?

It is an orchestral pop song.

Does this song contain any samples?

No, it doesn’t.