"I Will Not Say Goodbye" is a song written by

Lari White Lari Michele White Cannon (, ; May 13, 1965 – January 23, 2018) was an American country music singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her debut in 1988 after winning ''You Can Be a Star'', a televised talent competition ...

Chuck Cannon Marion Cletus Cannon Jr., known professionally as Chuck Cannon, is an American country music songwriter. His compositions include hit singles for Toby Keith and John Michael Montgomery. Cannon has also received awards for Broadcast Music Incorp ...

and

Vicky McGehee Vicky Lynn McGehee is an American country music songwriter. Among the songs that McGehee has written are "Heart Hold On" by The Buffalo Club, " All Jacked Up" by Gretchen Wilson, " Holy Water" by Big & Rich, " Why" by Jason Aldean, " Like ...

, and recorded by ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to A ...

'' season 8 finalist

Danny Gokey Daniel Jay Gokey (born April 24, 1980) is an American singer and former church music director from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was the third-place finalist on the eighth season of ''American Idol''.

. It was released in June 2010 as the second single from his debut album ''

My Best Days ''My Best Days'' is the debut studio album from ''American Idol'' season eight finalist Danny Gokey. The album was released on March 2, 2010, by RCA Records Nashville. The track "It's Only" was originally scheduled to be the first single, but it ...

'', which was released on March 2, 2010 via

RCA Nashville RCA Nashville is an American country music record label based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is distributed by Sony Music Nashville which is part of Sony Music. Current artists *Kane Brown *Andrew Jannakos *Miranda Lambert *Niko Moon (RCA/River Hou ...

. The song garnered positive reviews from critics who called it the best song off ''My Best Days''. "I Will Not Say Goodbye" had minor success in the US, peaking at number 32 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart. The accompanying music video was directed by

Wes Edwards Wes Edwards is a music video and commercial director. He has directed over 150 official music videos in various genres from country to EDM. He has created multiple videos for Brothers Osborne, Dierks Bentley, Dash Berlin, and Emma Hewitt. In 202 ...

and tells stories of people who've lost loved ones in life, while including live performances of Gokey performing the song.

Critical reception

Matt Bjorke of Roughstock described the song positively in his review of the album, saying that it "is a definite show stopper".

Brian Mansfield Brian Mansfield (born September 24, 1963) is an American writer and journalist. Early life and education Mansfield grew up in Nashville, Tennessee. He graduated from David Lipscomb High School. In 1984, Mansfield received a bachelor's degre ...

of ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virg ...

'' also said that "It'll be a showstopper live". Jon Caramanica of

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

gave a positive review of the song by calling it "devastating" and "by far the album’s best song."

Music video

The music video was directed by

. It tells the stories of people who have lost a husband, a mother, and a son, including footage of Gokey performing the song in a theatre and house in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

. The video is almost 7 minutes in length and ends with a dedication to Gokey's late wife, Sophia.

Commercial performance

"I Will Not Say Goodbye" debuted at number 53 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs charts dated for the week ending July 3, 2010. The single peaked at number 32 in August after eleven weeks.

Charts

References

{{authority control 2010 singles Danny Gokey songs Music videos directed by Wes Edwards Songs written by Chuck Cannon RCA Records singles Song recordings produced by Mark Bright (record producer) Songs written by Vicky McGehee Songs written by Lari White 19 Recordings singles 2010 songs