Song of the day: The Power of Good-bye

Written by Madonna and Rick Nowels
Produced by Madonna, William Orbit and Patrick Leonard
String arrangement by Craig Armstrong

Your heart is not open
So I must go
The spell has been broken
I loved you so

Freedom comes when you learn to let go
Creation comes when you learn to say no

You were my lesson
I had to learn
I was your fortress
You had to burn

Pain is a warning that something's wrong
I pray to God that it won't be long
Do you wanna go higher?

There's nothing left to try
There's no place left to hide
There's no greater power than the power of good-bye

Your heart is not open
So I must go
The spell has been broken
I loved you so
You were my lesson
I had to learn
I was your fortress

There's nothing left to lose
There's no more heart to bruise
There's no greater power than the power of good-bye

Learn to say good-bye
I yearn to say good-bye

There's nothing left to try
There's no more places to hide
There's no greater power than the power of good-bye

There's nothing left to lose
There's no more heart to bruise
There's no greater power than the power of good-bye

This beautiful ballad about a painful breakup was the fourth single, released late 1998. Though Madonna's ballads usually do well in the charts (and this one deserved to), it only went to #11 in the US, #6 in the UK and Canada, and #7 in Japan.

Director Matthew Rolston shot the blue-themed video at the 'Silver Top' mansion and Malibu beach in LA. Madonna says goodbye to her lover, who's played by actor Goran Visnjic. After a last confrontation between the lovers, Madonna sets for the beach, where she seems to drown herself at the end of the video. Whether she actually does, is a point of discussion among fans. Some scenes of the video (like the kiss and the chess game) are inspired by the original The Thomas Crown Affair movie (featuring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway), while the beach scene is a homage to Joan Crawford's performance in the 1946 movie Humoresque.



(amazing video!)