Too Late for Goodbyes

"Too Late for Goodbyes"
Single by Julian Lennon
from the album Valotte
B-side
  • "Well I Don't Know" (UK 7")
  • "Let Me Be" (US 7")
  • "Big Mama", "Well I Don't Know" (UK 12")
Released24 September 1984 (1984-09-24) (UK)
January 1985 (US)
RecordedFebruary – August 1984
StudioBearTracks Studios (Suffern, New York)
GenreNew wave
Length3:30
LabelCharisma (UK)
Atlantic (US)
Songwriter(s)Julian Lennon
Producer(s)Phil Ramone
Julian Lennon singles chronology
"Too Late for Goodbyes"
(1984) 		"Valotte"
(1984)
Music video
"Too Late for Goodbyes on YouTube

"Too Late for Goodbyes" is the first single (second in the US) from Julian Lennon's debut studio album Valotte (1984). It featured the harmonica of Jean "Toots" Thielemans, and it was a top-10 hit, reaching No. 6 in the UK Singles Chart in November 1984,[1] and No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in late March 1985.[2] B-side "Big Mama" has been described by Lennon as "semi-hard rock".[3][4]

Cash Box said that "a galloping reggae backbeat and some exquisite Muscle Shoals guitar work back up Lennon’s spare lyric phrasing and lend the song a strong ride."[5]

"Too Late for Goodbyes" peaked at #1 on 16 March 1985 at the US Adult Contemporary chart,[2] spending two weeks at the top of this chart. The music video for the song was directed by Sam Peckinpah,[6] and produced by Martin Lewis.[7] To date, it is the most successful song of Lennon's career.

  1. ^ Julian Lennon's UK chart positions Chart Stats. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
  2. ^ a b "Billboard chart history for Too Late for Goodbyes" Billboard.com. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
  3. ^ Burianek, CJ. "Valotte: Big Mama". Heyjules.com. Archived from the original on 1 September 2017. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  4. ^ Harvey, Phil (Host); Lennon, Julian (Star) (23–28 May 1985). Too Late For Goodbyes The Julian Lennon Radio Special (Radio). Radio International. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  5. ^ "Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 19 January 1985. p. 8. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
  6. ^ Burianek, CJ. "1984 – The Debut Release Valotte". Heyjules.com. Archived from the original on 26 October 2018. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  7. ^ Encyclopedia of American Cinema (illustrated ed.). Boston: MobileReference.com. 2007. ISBN 9781605011455.