| "Late Goodbye" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Poets of the Fall | ||||
| from the album Signs of Life | ||||
| Released | June 30, 2004 | |||
| Length | 3:46 | |||
| Label | Insomniac | |||
| BPM | 180 148 (instrumental) | |||
| Key | E | |||
| Producer(s) | Poets of the Fall | |||
| Poets of the Fall singles chronology | ||||
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The first song released under the name Poets of the Fall as part of the game Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne on 11th October 2003, Late Goodbye was the catalyst that led to the formation of the band, at that point comprising of Marko Saaresto and Olli Tukiainen who had already been performing together in FUSS as well as Remedy Entertainment sound engineer Markus "Captain" Kaarlonen.
Earlier that year, Saaresto's friend Sami Järvi, a script-writer working at Remedy handed Saaresto a poem he had written, asking him to turn it into a song to use in Remedy's upcoming video game Max Payne 2. The song, entitled Late Goodbye, was used as the ending-theme of the game as well as a recurring motif, being sung and whistled by multiple characters. It was produced by Kaarlonen, who joined the band shortly after due to Saaresto and Tukiainen liking his work.
Following good reception to the song and requests for it to be released, on 30th June 2004 Late Goodbye was released as a CD Single, reaching #14 on the Finnish single charts. The single also reached #2 in YleX's 2004 voting for "Best Finnish song." The single's artwork was created by Marko Saaresto and Pertti Kainulainen.[1]
Late Goodbye was included as the third track on Signs of Life, the band's 2005 debut album and received a music video directed by Alan Smithee (a pseudonym used when someone disowns a work).
The founding trio performed a special version of Late Goodbye at the Slush Video Game Concert 2015, with orchestral accompaniment.
Julie Elven, Aaron Grimes and Daniel Oats performed a cover of Late Goodbye at the BAFTA Game Awards 2024 as a tribute to the late James McCaffrey who voiced the eponymous Max Payne as well as Director Trench in Control and Alex Casey in Alan Wake II.
Single track listing
All tracks are written by Markus Kaarlonen, Marko Saaresto and Olli Tukiainen
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Late Goodbye - Theme From Max Payne 2 (Radio Edit)" | 3:18 |
| 2. | "Late Goodbye - Theme From Max Payne 2" | 3:43 |
| 3. | "Late Goodbye - Theme From Max Payne 2 (Unplugged)" | 3:31 |
| 4. | "Late Goodbye - Theme From Max Payne 2 (Instrumental)" | 3:19 |
| 5. | "Everything Fades" | 3:10 |
Lyrics
In our headlights, staring, bleak, beer cans, deer's eyes
On the asphalt underneath, our crushed plans and my lies
Lonely street signs, power lines, they keep on flashing, flashing by
And we keep driving into the night
It's a late goodbye, such a late goodbye
And we keep driving into the night
It's a late goodbye
Your breath hot upon my cheek, and we crossed, that line
You made me strong when I was feeling weak, and we crossed, that one time
Screaming stop signs, staring wild eyes, keep on flashing, flashing by
And we keep driving into the night
It's a late goodbye, such a late goodbye
And we keep driving into the night
It's a late goodbye
The devil grins from ear to ear when he sees the hand he's dealt us
Points at your flaming hair, and then we're playing hide and seek
I can't breathe easy here, less our trail's gone cold behind us
Till' in the john mirror you stare at yourself grown old and weak
And we keep driving into the night
It's a late goodbye, such a late goodbye...Interviews
"The guys from Remedy had heard our music before and asked us to write a song for the game. Happily we complied. Sam Lake sent me a poem he'd written some time ago, and said I could use whatever images the poem conjured up in my head, to write the lyrics. This was great since it really worked to inspire me. I sat on my kitchen floor that night, with my guitar, and wrote the song." - from PotF Website, 2004[2]
<@POTF_Captain> we were supposed to do only one song (late goodbye) together, but things worked out so well that, well, here we are now[3]Trivia
- The version listed as "instrumental" on the single is not the instrumental backing track but a completely different piano rendition.
- The single insert features the sentiment "Without silence, there can be no music.", which also appeared on the official website at the time. This sentiment was later echoed in the lyrics booklet for Rogue on Jealous Gods, saying "Silence can be a message."
- The track used to be used frequently as a closing (or pre-encore) track, with Marko 'signing off' by singing the location of the venue, followed by "goodbye", leading into an Olli, Jaska and/or Jari solo.
- "the john mirror" is a reference to John Mirra from the in-fiction tv show Address Unknown from Max Payne 2. This is later meta-referenced in Alan Wake with graffiti saying "Mirra was here" in the police station toilets.
- The yellow/orange wallpaper seen in the motel behind the band in the MV is later used in the lyrics booklet for the Carnival of Rust album and in Alan Wake II's Oceanview Hotel.
- The lyrics foreshadow the events of the official Alan Wake prequel film Bright Falls, in which the main character runs over a deer. This was the next thing released by Remedy following Late Goodbye's usage in Max Payne 2.