| "As If We Never Said Goodbye" | |
|---|---|
| Song byAndrew Lloyd Webber | |
| from the albumSunset Boulevard | |
| Released | 1993 |
| Songwriters | |
"As If We Never Said Goodbye" is a show tune from the musicalSunset Boulevard. It was written byDon Black,Christopher Hampton (with additional lyrics byAmy Powers), andAndrew Lloyd Webber. Ben Rimalower on Playbill calls it Andrew Lloyd Webber's greatest song.[1]
InSunset Boulevard, the main character,Norma Desmond, reveals her longing to return to the spotlight of fame.[2]
The song has been performed byBarbra Streisand. It is featured on her albumBack to Broadway and the live albumsThe Concert andBack to Brooklyn.
Elaine Paige recorded the song for her albumEncore.
CountertenorChris Colfer (asKurt Hummel) sings the song in theGlee season 2 episode "Born This Way". A review inSalon describes Colfer's performance as turning the song "into a valentine to self-knowledge and self-improvement—and a young, gay singer's dream of treating the world as a stage and commanding it like a star."[3]
English tenorAlfie Boe, recorded his version on his album “Bring Him Home” in 2010.
Jason Manford recorded the song for his 2017 albumA Different Stage which was later used to open the 2020Royal Variety Performance.
| "As If We Never Said Goodbye" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byBarbra Streisand | ||||
| from the albumBack to Broadway | ||||
| Released | January 14, 1994 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 4:45 | |||
| Label | Columbia Records | |||
| Songwriters | ||||
| Barbra Streisand singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "As If We Never Said Goodbye" onYouTube | ||||
In 1994, American singer, songwriter, actress and directorBarbra Streisand released her cover version of "As If We Never Said Goodbye". It is taken from Streisands twenty-sixth studio album,Back to Broadway (1993), and peaked at number 20 on theUK Singles Chart. The song is also featured on the live albumsThe Concert andBack to Brooklyn.
Sam Wood fromPhiladelphia Inquirer found that after premiering the song, taken fromAndrew Lloyd Webber'sBroadway adaptation ofSunset Boulevard, Streisand takes the opportunity to place "a proprietary stamp" on it.[4] Richard Harrington fromThe Washington Post named "As If We Never Said Goodbye" the "standout" ofBack to Broadway, writing, "Like many Lloyd Webber songs, it's maudlin, sentimental and faintly familiar - an assemblage of nostalgic reflections cannily crafted into a major statement through a melody that sweeps steadily toward its bravado finale. Streisand-as-Desmond sings "This world's waited long enough/ I've come home at last," and it's hard not to make a connection to commercial expectations for this album."[5]
| Chart (1994) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Europe (European Hot 100 Singles)[6] | 48 |
| UK Singles (OCC) | 20 |
