How to Say Goodbye

I went in search of my Stand CD from Michael W. Smith and decided to share the words to the song with you. It won't quite match what the video (which is harder to handle than Butterfly Kisses) did.

As I mentioned in my previous post, Michael wrote this song after leaving his daughter Whitney at college. Michael and Whitney are very close. He cried for over a week and was an emotional basket case. He still cries when he sings the song (when you read it, hear it, and see it, you’ll know why. It’s powerful. I can even see my daddy crying reading it as he thinks about us moving. (Ok, so what day don’t I feel that way too?!!)

Yet another side note, Amy’s son graduates this year, and Michael knew she was dealing with some of these same feelings, so he pulled her in to sing it with him.


How to Say Goodbye
(Written by Michael W. Smith, and sung with Amy Grant)

Tell me when
The time we had slipped away
Tomorrow turned to yesterday
And I don’t know how

Tell me what
Can stop this river of tears
It’s been building up for years
For this moment now

Here I stand
Arms open wide
I’ve held you close, kept you safe
Till you could fly
Tell me where
The road ahead is gonna bend
And how to harness up the wind
And how to say goodbye

Tell me why
Why does following your dreams
Take you far away from me
And I knew that it would

Tell me how
To fill the space you left behind
How to laugh instead of cry
And how to say goodbye.