He first performed in a children's choir at his local Presbyterian church. Williams and his three older brothers Bob, Dick, and Don, formed a quartet, the Williams Brothers, in the late 1930s. The brothers performed on radio in the Midwest, first at WHO in Des Moines, Iowa, and later at WLS in Chicago and WLW in Cincinnati. Williams graduated from Western Hills High School in Cincinnati. They appeared with Bing Crosby on the hit record "Swinging on a Star" (1944). This led to a nightclub act with entertainer Kay Thompson from 1947 to 1951.
Williams's solo career began in 1952 after his brothers left the act. He recorded six sides for RCA's label "X," but none of them were popular hits. After landing a spot as a regular on Steve Allen's Tonight Show in 1955, he was signed to a recording contract with Cadence Records, a small label in New York run by conductor Archie Bleyer. His third single, "Canadian Sunset" (1956) hit the Top Ten, and was soon followed his only Billboard #1 hit, "Butterfly" (a cover of a Charlie Gracie record on which Williams imitated Elvis Presley). More hits followed, including "The Hawaiian Wedding Song," "Are You Sincere," "The Village of St. Bernadette," and "Lonely Street," before Williams moved to Columbia Records in 1961, having moved from New York to Los Angeles. In terms of chart popularity, the Cadence era was Williams's peak although songs he introduced on Columbia became much bigger standards. Two top ten hits from the Cadence era, "Butterfly" and "I Like Your Kind of Love" were apparently believed to not suit Williams's later style; they were not included on a Columbia reissue of his Cadence greatest hits in the 1960s.
During the 1960s, Williams became one of the most popular vocalists in the country and signed what was to that time the biggest recording contract in history. He was primarily an album artist, and at one time he had earned more gold albums than any solo performer except Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley. By 1973 he had earned as many as 17 gold album awards. Among his hit albums from this period were Moon River, Days of Wine and Roses (number one for 16 weeks in mid-1963), The Andy Williams Christmas Album, Dear Heart, The Shadow of Your Smile, Love, Andy, Get Together with Andy Williams, and Love Story. In these recordings Williams displays an incredible vocal technique along with an uncanny ability to make each song his very own, often rivaling or surpassing the version by the original artist. These attributes, along with his natural affinity for the music of the 1960s and early 1970s, combined to make him one of the premier easy listening singers of that era.
Williams forged an indirect collaborative relationship with Henry Mancini, although they never recorded together. Williams was asked to sing Mancini and Johnny Mercer's song "Moon River" at the 1962 Oscar Awards (where it won), and it quickly became Williams's theme song. This was repeated the next year with the pair's "Days of Wine and Roses" (which also won), Mancini's "Dear Heart" at the 1965 awards and "The Sweetheart Tree" (also written with Mercer) at the 1966 awards.
Williams also competed in the teenage-oriented singles market as well and had several charting hits including "Can't Get Used to Losing You," "Happy Heart," and "Where Do I Begin", the theme song from the 1970 blockbuster film, Love Story. Building on his experience with Allen and some short-term variety shows in the 1950s, he became the star of his own weekly television variety show in 1962. This series, The Andy Williams Show, won three Emmy Awards for outstanding variety program. Among his series regulars were the Osmond Brothers. He gave up the variety show in 1971 while it was still popular and retrenched to three specials per year. His Christmas specials, which appeared regularly until 1974 and intermittently from 1982 into the 1990s, were among the most popular of the genre. Williams has recorded eight Christmas albums over the years. He hosted the Grammy Awards for three consecutive years in the 1970s. He returned to television to do a syndicated half-hour series in 1976-77.
In the early 1990s, Williams gave up most of his touring schedule in order to open his own theatre in Branson, Missouri, the Andy Williams Moon River Theater. He continues to do 8 to 12 shows a week from September to December and occasionally makes tours of Europe earlier in the year.
His 1967 recording of "Music to Watch Girls By" was a surprise UK hit in 1999, when it reached number 9 after featuring in an advert (beating the original peak of number 33 in 1967). In 2002 he took part in a new duet of "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" with British actress and singer Denise van Outen. Nearly everything Williams ever recorded has now been made available on CD through a series of compilations from 1997 to 2004.
Williams met Claudine Longet when he pulled over to aid her on a Las Vegas road. She was a dancer at the time at the Folies Bergere. They married on Christmas Day, 1961, and had three children, Noelle, Christian, and Robert. They separated in 1969 and finally divorced 6 years later. In 1976 Longet was charged with fatally shooting her boyfriend, skier Vladimir "Spider" Sabich and Williams supported her. He married a second time in May 1991 to the former Debbie Haas. They make their homes at Branson, Missouri and La Quinta, California. Williams' homes have been featured in Architectural Digest, and he is a noted collector of modern art. Williams is an avid golfer. He hosted a major golf tournament in San Diego for many years, which was known as the Andy Williams San Diego Open during that time.
Williams' birthplace is a tourist attraction open most of the year.
Never Can Say Goodbye
Andy Williams Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Never can say goodbye (never can say goodbye now)
Even though the pain and heartache
Seems to follow wherever I go
Though I try and try to hide my feelings
They always seem to show
Then you try to say you're leaving me
And I always have to say no
I never can say goodbye (no no, no no I)
Never can say goodbye (never can say goodbye now)
Every time I think I've had enough
And start heading for the door
There's a very strange vibration
Piercing me right through the core
It says "turn around, you're fool
You know you love him more and more"
Tell me why (tell me why) is it so
Don't wanna let you go
I never can say goodbye girl (never can say goodbye now)
Don't wanna let you go (don't want to let you go)
I never can say goodbye, no no no
No no no, no no no, no no
I never can say goodbye girl (never can say goodbye now)
Don't wanna let it go (don't want to let you go)
I never can say goodbye, no no no
No no no, no no no, no no
I never can say goodbye (no no, no no I)
Never can say goodbye (never can say goodbye now)
I keep thinking that our problems
Soon are all gonna work out
But there's that same unhappy feeling
There's that anguish, there's that doubt
It's the same old dizzy hangup
Can't do with you or without
Tell me why (tell me why) is it so
Don't wanna let you go
I never can say goodbye girl (i never can say goodbye now)
Don't wanna let it go (don't want to let you go)
I never can say goodbye, no no no
No no no, no no no, no no
No, I never can say goodbye girl (i never can say goodbye now)
Don't wanna let it go (don't want to let you go)
I never can say goodbye, no no no
No no no, no no no, no no
No, I never can say goodbye girl (I never can say goodbye now)
Don't wanna let it go (don't want to let you go)
I never can say goodbye, no no no
No no no, no no no, no no
No, I never can say goodbye girl (I never can say goodbye now)
Don't wanna let it go
The song "Never Can Say Goodbye" by Andy Williams is a heartbreaking ballad about a person who finds it impossible to let go of their love for someone, even though they know it's hurting them. The lyrics talk about how the pain and heartache keep following the singer wherever they go, and how they try to hide their true feelings but they always end up showing. Every time they try to leave and say goodbye, there's a strange vibration that stops them and makes them doubt their decision. The singer is trapped in a dizzying cycle of love and heartbreak, unable to break free from the anguish.
The chorus repeats the phrase "Never Can Say Goodbye," emphasizing the main message of the song. The singer is torn between holding on and letting go, and it seems like they are resigned to their fate of being stuck in this painful situation forever. The song is a powerful reminder of how hard it can be to move on from a toxic relationship, even when we know it's for the best.
Line by Line Meaning
I never can say goodbye (no no, no no I)
I have a hard time letting go of things, especially you.
Never can say goodbye (never can say goodbye now)
Even though I try to move on, I can't bring myself to do it.
Even though the pain and heartache
Despite the emotional turmoil I've been through,
Seems to follow wherever I go
Those feelings haunt me and never leave me alone.
Though I try and try to hide my feelings
Although I put up a front and pretend I'm okay,
They always seem to show
My true emotions are always revealed sooner or later.
Then you try to say you're leaving me
When you tell me you're leaving,
And I always have to say no
I can't accept it and always resist the idea of letting you go.
Tell me why is it so
I don't understand why I can't move on and why I'm holding on to you.
Every time I think I've had enough
Whenever I feel like I can't take it anymore,
And start heading for the door
When I try to leave,
There's a very strange vibration
I feel a strange energy that draws me back to you,
Piercing me right through the core
It's a feeling that's so strong and intense, it goes right through me.
It says "turn around, you're fool
It's like a voice in my head telling me that I'm making a mistake,
You know you love him more and more"
And that I still have strong feelings for you.
Don't wanna let you go
I don't want to lose you,
I never can say goodbye girl (never can say goodbye now)
I can't bring myself to say goodbye to you, no matter how much I try.
Don't wanna let it go (don't want to let you go)
I don't want to let you slip away from me,
I keep thinking that our problems
I always hold on to the hope that,
Soon are all gonna work out
Things will get better between us soon.
But there's that same unhappy feeling
But I can't shake off this same feeling of sadness and uncertainty,
There's that anguish, there's that doubt
That leaves me feeling distressed and unsure.
It's the same old dizzy hangup
It's the same problem that keeps spinning me around,
Can't do with you or without
I can't seem to live with or without you, and it confuses me.
Tell me why (tell me why) is it so
I don't know why I'm stuck in this situation, and I need answers.
No, I never can say goodbye girl (I never can say goodbye now)
I'm still not ready to say goodbye to you and move on.
Don't wanna let it go (don't want to let you go)
I still want to hold on to you and our relationship.
I never can say goodbye, no no no
Leaving you behind is a difficult thing for me to do.
No no no, no no no, no no
I'm not ready to let go of you, and I can't seem to find a way to do it.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind