Song Analysis Too Good at Goodbyes

Song Analysis-Too Good at Goodbyes 1. The song is about the singer talking about how he and someone else greatly love each other. However, he knows that this relationship won’t work out, and he hopes that every time she shows hate to him, that it will comfort him. The song addresses a social message about how people would feel when they know love doesn’t work out. 2. The singer, Sam Smith, is the one that narrates the entire plot of the song. The song is addressed to someone that he appears to have loved, but knows their relationship would fail. The mood is very dark and somber. The setting also seems pretty dark 3. The song is mainly composed of denotated words. The words have direct meaning to them, but there are some phrases that have secondary meanings to them. For example, in the first line, the singer says, “You must think that I’m stupid”. This has a secondary meaning that he’s the one that’s causing problems for the relationship. The words are also mostly concrete. None of the words are used in different formats. There are no clichés; when someone first listens to this song, most would think that the way the lyrics are used is different. The diction helps to add rhythm and enhances the mood of the general song. 4. The poem is very serious and somber. We can see that the singer has some heartbroken tone in his voice when he sings. The title itself instigates a mood that most people would not like to be in. Words like ‘stupid’, ‘fool’, ‘heartless’, and ‘cold’ set a very quiet and sorrowful tone. The tone and mood is consistently kept throughout the entire song. 5. Generally, the song is done in either trimeter or tetrameter metrical format. Most verses are four lines long, but the pre-chorus is six lines long. There is rhyming to it, done in the format of end rhyming. The rhyme scheme is variated by the parts of the song. In the verses, there is an ABAB rhyme scheme. The pre-chorus has an AABCCB rhyme scheme, and the chorus has an AABB rhyme scheme. It is not entirely easy to identify any metrical devices. The singer normally adds emphasis to his words towards the end of lines and whenever he has a high note to sing, which is typical. The song is in the format of a closed poem. 6. The song is very literal, therefore does not have many figurative poetic devices. There are some lines like “In case you go and leave me in the dirt” that may have dual meanings. It may mean that the singer is worrying that his partner may leave him alone, by himself without him knowing, or that he may be internally hurt if he were to meet his partner again. Punctuation isn’t really a big thing as this is a song and punctuation cannot be heard or emphasized, especially in this song. The title seems to be very appropriate. When people see the title “Too Good at Goodbyes”, it immediately sets a tone that isn’t exactly cheery and ecstatic. It gets the listener thinking and wondering before they listen to the actual song. They may develop questions such as “What would this song be about?” or “What does it mean to be good at goodbyes?”. However, it does give away a bit too much information. If the producer had chosen a song that may hide the content of the song more, it may intrigue the listener even more. 7. The singer, using the appropriate tone, was able to express the desired emotions to the listener. In most cases, the listener would be able to visualize what is happening in the song. The song may also be able to strike the listener with what may happen if you are part of failed love. They can see the few examples of what may happen and the consequences that may follow.