About The Song
“Never Say Goodbye” is a song by American rock band Bon Jovi, written by Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora. It was a track off the band’s third album, Slippery When Wet, on June 15, 1987, and reached number 11 on the mainstream rock charts and number 21 on the UK Singles Chart. Because it was not released domestically as a commercially available single, “Never Say Goodbye” was ineligible to chart on the Billboard Hot 100; Nevertheless, it reached number 28 on the Hot 100 Airplay survey.
The song was featured on some versions of the band’s Cross Road greatest hits album and is still occasionally performed live by the band in concert.
“Never Say Goodbye” is a power ballad, featuring drawn-out vocals and a slow tempo, in contrast to the other tracks on Slippery When Wet, which is of a much faster, metal pace.
The song is in the key of A major and progresses to C♯ minor, D major, and D minor.
On one of the early demos and alternate takes that were made for this song, Richie Sambora sang lead vocals on only one of them while Jon Bon Jovi sang lead vocals on most of them.
Video
Lyrics
As I sit in this smokey room
The night about to end
I pass my time with strangers
But this bottle’s my only friend
Rememberin’ when we used to park
On Butler Street, out in the dark
Remember when we lost the keys and
You lost more than that in my backseat, baby
Remember how we used to talk
About busting out, we’d break their hearts
Together, forever
Never say goodbye
Never say goodbye
You and me and my old friends
Hoping it would never end
Say goodbye
Never say goodbye
Holdin’ on, we’ve gotta try
Holdin’ on to never say goodbye
Remember days of skipping school
Racing cars and being cool
With a six pack and the radio
We didn’t need no place to go
Remember at the prom that night
You and me, we had a fight
But the band they played our favorite song
And I held you in my arms so strong
We danced so close
We danced so slow
And I swore I’d never let you go
Together, forever
Never say goodbye
Never say goodbye
You and me and my old friends
Hoping it would never end
Say goodbye
Never say goodbye
Holdin’ on we’ve gotta try
Holdin’ on to never say goodbye
Oh, and I guess you’d say
We used to talk about busting out
We’d break their hearts
Together, forever
Never say goodbye
Never say goodbye
You and me and my old friends
Hoping it would never end
Say goodbye
Never say goodbye
Holdin’ on, we gotta try
Holdin’ on to never say goodbye, yeah yeah