"Foolish Lullaby" is a song by Laura Branigan from her fourth studio album, '' Hold Me'' (1985). It was written by

Jack White John Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975) is an American musician who achieved international fame as the guitarist and lead singer of the rock duo the White Stripes. As the White Stripes disbanded, he sought success with his solo career, subse ...

and Mark Spiro, and produced by White. It was later covered by

Paul Anka Paul Albert Anka (born July 30, 1941) is a Canadian and American singer, songwriter and actor. His songs include " Diana", “ You Are My Destiny", “Lonely Boy", " Put Your Head on My Shoulder", and " (You're) Having My Baby". Anka also wr ...

and titled "It's Hard to Say Goodbye".

Paul Anka versions

Paul Anka 1993 versions

In 1993,

rewrote "Foolish Lullaby" and recorded it as "It's Hard to Say Goodbye". It was produced by

C+C Music Factory C+C Music Factory was an American musical group formed in 1989 by David Cole and Robert Clivillés. The group is best known for their five hit singles: " Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)", " Here We Go (Let's Rock & Roll)", " Things ...

. This solo version was included on his 1993 album, ''Face in the Mirror''. He also recorded it as a duet with Filipino singer Regine Velasquez, which was featured on the Asian edition of ''Face in the Mirror'' and also on Velasquez's 1993 album, ''Reason Enough''.

Paul Anka and Celine Dion versions

In 1996, Anka and

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Power Ballads", Dion's powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works have had ...

recorded a bilingual version of "It's Hard to Say Goodbye", in which Dion sings in Spanish and Anka in English. The Spanish lyrics were written by Adrian Posse and

Humberto Gatica Humberto Gatica is a Chilean and American recording engineer, mixing engineer and record producer, best known for his work with Celine Dion, Chicago, Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand, Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban, Cher and Michael Bublé. Gatic ...

, and the track was produced by David Foster. Entitled "Mejor Decir Adiós", the song was included on Anka's ''Amigos'' album, released on July 30, 1996. In 1998, Anka and Dion recorded "It's Hard to Say Goodbye" as a duet in English. This version was produced by Foster and Gatica, and included on Anka's ''A Body of Work'' album, issued on September 22, 1998. "It's Hard to Say Goodbye" was released as a

promotional single A promotional recording, promo, or plug copy is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as mu ...

for US adult contemporary radio stations in January 1999. It included a short radio version of the song lasting four minutes and sixteen seconds.

Critical reception

Chuck Taylor from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine praised the track in his review and compared it to

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand ( ; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress, songwriter, producer, and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success across multiple fields of entertainment, being the ...

and

Neil Diamond Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling musicians of all time. He has written and ...

's duet " You Don't Bring Me Flowers".

Commercial performance

In March 1999, Fred Bronson from ''Billboard'' wondered if with "It's Hard to Say Goodbye" Dion could soon have three duets on the Adult Contempotrary chart, as she was already charting with " I'm Your Angel" and " The Prayer". Eventually, "It's Hard to Say Goodbye" did not enter ''Billboards Adult Contemporary top 25 chart, but it reached number 26 on the ''

Radio & Records ''Radio & Records'' (''R&R'') was a trade publication providing news and airplay information for the radio and music industries. It started as an independent trade from 1973 to 2006 until VNU Media took over in 2006 and became a relaunched sister ...

'' Adult Contemporary top 30 chart.

Charts

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Foolish Lullaby 1985 songs 1999 singles Celine Dion songs Laura Branigan songs Pop ballads Songs about heartache Songs written by Jack White (music producer) Songs written by Mark Spiro Songs written by Paul Anka Male–female vocal duets