Goodbye

"Goodbye" is the ninth single from British-born singer-songwriter Candi and serves as the third single from her sophomore album "The Lighthouse". The single is a very personal song to Candi, singing about the death of her brother, who died from cancer in December 2011. It is often regarded as the standout track on the album. It has recieved universal acclaim from critics. The single was released in the United Kingdom on 15 April 2013 and charted at #4, becoming Candi's lowest charting single to date.

Background
The single was confirmed on 11 March 2013 in a press release from Blacklight Records. Despite this, it was revealed Candi wasn't happy with the single choice. A source close to Candi stated: "The problem is, 'Goodbye' is a track Candi wrote about the death of her brother. She's said she doubts it'll be performed on her next tour because she finds it too upsetting to sing, so she has no idea how she'll manage to spend an entire month promoting the song. She doesn't think she's strong enough to do it." Eventually, Candi decided releasing the single would be the perfect symbol of her love for her brother, and agreed with the singles release.

Release and reception
On 20 August, 2011, Candi's eldest brother Carter Elite was diagnosed with lung cancer. Although initally believed to be able to make a healthy recovery, he passed away from the illness on 01 December, 2011, leading to Candi cancelling several promotional appearances. Later in 2012, Candi's younger brother Jamie Elite revealed he had heard Candi's upcoming sophomore album "The Lighthouse", and that one track in particular, written about Carter's death was "the most personal and heartbreaking Candi track ever."

Upon the album's release in January 2013, "Goodbye" was regarded as the albums stand out track, with the majority of critics complimenting it for it's sincerity and heartbreaking theme.

Jeffrey Mitchell from The Hollywood Reporter described it as a "high point" on the album, and wrote "Candi softly and sweetly lamenting the loss of a loved one on the truly touching 'Goodbye'. Mitchell concluded his review put stock in the song's success, and ended with "Thankfully, it looks like we won’t be saying “goodbye” to Candi for a long time." An anonymous journalist writing in for MTV UK called "Goodbye" a "tear jerking ode to someone who has passed away", and assumed it would "have reality pop contestants singing away for decades to come!" The Houston Chronicle's Goey Guerra highlighted the song as "truly trademark Candi", and described it as "a lighters-and-hands-in-the-air tribute to deceased loved ones". Dan Hinkley of Daily News branded it "the album's most potentially personal song", and assured it would become Candi's 6th chart-topping single in the United Kingdom. The song received positive response from both Rolling Stone's Christian Hoard and Yahoo! Music writer Dann Gennoe, who describes the track as a "piano-based big-voiced" and "lighter-friendly" ballad.

Music video
The video was filmed over 3 days during late February/early March. On 15 March, Candi spoke about the video, revealing it featured someone close to her. On 22 March, a 1:22 preview of the video was published online. The video shows Candi's real life fiance Callum Andrews portray Candi's love interest in the video. This is the third Candi video Andrews has starred in, after "Intergalactic" and "Best Damn Night". The full video is known to be 9 minutes long. The official video premiered on 12 April 2013.

The video starts, with a spoken intro to begin, showing light-filled scenes, such as a field of roses as the sun rises behind them and a bright blue sky with very few clouds. As all of these scenes are shown, Candi speaks:

''“Death is not the end of a life. Although that person is gone, never to return, the memories they leave imprinted in our hearts is just another road we all must walk down. Although no longer with us, that person will always still influence our decissions, bring a tear to our eye and most of all, provide a heart with a beat. Who's to say death is the end, and isn't the beginning? It's kind of beautifully poetic to finally find true freedom, as we leave this life.”''

As her speech comes to an end, the view of the sky lowers down to the ground, where the camera comes upon a graveyard, and in particular focuses on a gravestone reading “RIP Carter Elite. 1983 – 2011, forever in our hearts”. Candi's hand is shown as it places some flowers on the grave. The scene finally fades out into blackness, ready for the song to begin.

An extended introduction to the song begins to play, as scenes on a beach are shown. Shots of the sand blowing in the wind are shown, as well as footprints in the sand, from two people. Candi is finally shown from behind, in a long white dress that is blowing in the wind. Although only seen from behind, she is shown to be looking out into the ocean. It fades out into black once again.

The song finally begins, as Candi is shown on a beach playing volleyball with some of her friends. She seems to be enjoying herself until she looks to her right and see's Callum coming out of the ocean, gripping onto a surfboard. The ball lands right beside Candi's feet and all her friends call at her, however she doesn't hear anything they are saying and slowly walks towards Callum. Meanwhile, Callum spots Candi, drops his board and also walks towards her. They both stand facing one another, showing love at first sight as Callum places his hand upon one of Candi's cheeks.

However throughout the video, quick scenes of Candi standing alone on the beach, looking out to sea looking heartbroken are shown, suggesting something is going to happen.

The video begins to show the couple's love story be told. The pair are shown walking hand in hand down the beach together, and both laughing and flirting together, with Callum running ahead and making Candi laugh as tries to make her follow, while Candi tries to act cute and shy. Next they are shown visiting seaside houses together, and appear to buy one as Callum shakes the estate agents hand and as he leaves, Candi leaps into his arms and kisses him with delight.

Memories spent together in the house are then shown, such as Callum making pancakes for Candi, who sits giggling at him in an apron, and the pair sat in their backgarden by their pool, relaxing. The next scene shows the couple sat by a fire, as they kiss passionately. The next day the couple wake up in each others arms, however Callum is shown sneaking out the house suspiciously as he gets in his car and drives into the local town.

Callum arrives at a jewelers and is shown talking to the man in the shop, as he points to an engagement ring. He then walks out the shop and texts Candi, saying “Meet me at the place we first met in 20 minutes, I have something to ask you” and looks at the engagement ring in his hand as he smiles. He then gets in the car and begins to drive.

Candi is then shown at the beach again, in the white dress. She continues to look out into the ocean. Callum is then shown once again driving on his way to Candi, he looks down at his phone and texts “I love you x” to Candi, and as he presses send, he looks back at the road and collides straight into a vehicle, and flies straight through the windscreen. Candi is shown at the beach, closing her eyes in heartbrake as if she knows what has happened. Callum is shown flying through the air surrounded by glass from the windscreen as a tear drops down Candi's cheek. His hand is then shown to land on the road and become motionless. The footprints Candi and Callum left on the beach are shown, as Callum's fade and the fire that the couple kissed infront of goes out. Candi is shown once again on the beach, as she picks up some sand in her hand and lets go. The camera follows the sand blowing out of Candi's hand and pans across the tide, as a spoken outro is said by Candi.

''“When death overtakes us; all that we have is left to others; all that we are we take with us. Although our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them. It may sound insane, but the night I lost you, I swear a new star appeared in the sky, and believe me, it was the brightest. Crying won't bring you back, although tears have been shed. I used to be comforted by your arms around me, now your memories have taken the role. Just remember, there's always 'good' in 'goodbye'.”''

The video fades to black.

Track listing

 * CD1
 * 1) "Goodbye"
 * 2) "One Last Time"
 * 3) "Dumb"
 * 4) "Goodbye" (Live Acapella Version)

Performances
Candi has stated she finds the track to personal and emotional to perform live, therefore no performances to date have been given.

Chart performance
The single is due for release on 15 April 2013. Upon it's release, the single debuted at #4, becoming Candi's lowest charting single to date and first to miss the top three. It had first week sales of 91,554 copies, and was the lowest new entry on the chart. On 24 March, the single debuted at #20 on the download chart and rose to #15 then #13 then #12. Upon the single's release, it rose to a new peak of #2 with download sales of 32,855. On the same week it debuted on the download chart, "Goodbye" debuted at #36 on the Airplay chart and rose to #15 the following week where it remained for two weeks before rising into the top ten at #10 where it also remained for four weeks.

Chart Run
TOTAL: 340,540
 * Week 1: #4 - 91,554
 * Week 2: #6 - 66,239
 * Week 3: #6 - 63,148
 * Week 4: #8 - 55,206
 * Week 5: #13 - 18,946
 * Week 6: #20 - 14,320
 * Week 7: #38 - 3,819
 * Week 8: #19 - 14,421
 * Week 9: #19 - 12,890