Cerys Matthews MBE (born Cerys Elizabeth Matthews on 11 April 1969 in Cardi… Read Full Bio ↴Cerys Matthews MBE (born Cerys Elizabeth Matthews on 11 April 1969 in Cardiff) is a Welsh singer, songwriter, author, and broadcaster. She was a founding member of Welsh rock band Catatonia and a leading figure in the "Cool Cymru" movement of the late 1990s.

Matthews learnt to play guitar at the age of nine, sang Welsh folk songs and taught herself traditional songs from all over the globe including blues and Irish folk songs. She was a member of the West Glamorgan Youth Orchestra. The band Catatonia formed in 1992 after Matthews and guitarist Mark Roberts began dating, as well as writing songs together, at the end of 1991. Catatonia split in mid-2001, and Matthews released her first solo album , Cockahoop, in May 2003. Her second album Never Said Goodbye was released in August 2006. In November 2007 she released a mini-album of Welsh language songs Awyren=Aeroplane.

At the 2013 Sony Radio Academy Awards, Matthews won Gold for her popular BBC 6 music Sunday morning show, which she programmes and hosts. She is the One Show’s cultural reporter and writes and presents radio and television documentaries on subjects as diverse as Cuba, early classical composers, shark fishing and early female blues players. A collector of songs for over thirty years, Matthews is a columnist for the world music magazine ‘Songlines’, and her sing-along book, ‘Hook, Line and Singer’, published by Penguin was a Sunday Times bestseller. She is the author of children’s stories ‘Tales from the Deep’ and ‘Gelert: A Man’s Best Friend’.

Matthews has curated for theatres and the Tate Modern and was artistic director for the opening ceremony of the World Music Expo 2013. She was awarded an inaugural St David Award for her services to culture this year from the First Minister of Wales.

Also in 2013, Matthews wrote and presented a six-part television series looking into the history of centuries old folk songs in her native Wales. In October 2014 Matthews releases an album of music and poetry by Dylan Thomas as well as an Archive Hour programme for BBC Radio 4 looking into her uncle Colin Edward’s role in amassing a huge archive on this great lyrical poet. Matthews has created a cultural festival, 'The Good Life Experience'. She is a judge for the Dylan Thomas Prize for young writers, and for the Forward Prizes for poetry.

Her 2010 self-produced album of traditional Welsh songs, ‘Tir’, is the biggest selling Welsh language album of the decade; the second volume, ‘Hullabaloo’ followed in 2013.

Matthews dueted with Sir Tom Jones on the perennial winter favourite, ‘Baby it’s Cold Outside’. She is Vice President for the homeless charity, Shelter, Vice President of the Hay Festival of Literature and the Arts, is patron of the Dylan Thomas Society and Ballet Cymru, and is Arts Ambassador for the Linden Lodge School - a specialist school for sensory impairment.

Matthews lives in West London with her husband and children.

The Good in Goodbye
Cerys Matthews Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

You took the wind from my sails
And left me there to drift away

I woke up in the morning
Stripped of everything
Oh sweet lord its time its time
We moved along
Tonight I'll put the good

Back in goodbye

If the boat don't float and she don't go
This girls gonna blow the morning
I'll turn to face the cold cold sea
And will this ship around
And I'll swallow level tears
Of broken promises

But the calm prevailed with
No whistle to her name
And I could see whose name
Was on your mind
I heard sighs from a million muted
Turncoats at attention
And tonight I'll put the good
Back in goodbye

If the boat don't float and she don't go
This girls gonna blow the morning
I'll turn to face the cold cold sea
And will this ship around
And swallow level tears
Of broken promises

What freedom owes the devil
To the devil I'll be due
I'll walk right down to hell before
I fall in love with you
I'll take this broken heart of mine
And pin it to the floor
And tonight ill put the good
Back in goodbye

If the boat don't float and she don't go
This vessels gonna blow the morning
I'll turn to face the cold cold sea

And will this ship around
And tonight I'll put the good in goodbye

Overall Meaning

In Cerys Matthews's song "The Good in Goodbye," she sings about a lover who has left her feeling adrift and stripped of everything. She wakes up in the morning with a resolve to move on and put the good back in goodbye, even though it may bring broken promises and tears. She uses imagery of a boat unable to float and a cold sea to convey the sense of loss and uncertainty she feels.

The lyrics also suggest a sense of independence and not being willing to compromise her freedom or to fall in love with someone who does not have her best interests at heart. The line "What freedom owes the devil, to the devil I'll be due" is particularly poignant in this regard. Overall, the song conveys a bittersweet sense of letting go and moving on while acknowledging the pain that comes with it.

Line by Line Meaning

You took the wind from my sails
You have taken away my motivation and excitement towards something I wanted to do.

And left me there to drift away
After taking away my motivation, you left me directionless and aimless.

I woke up in the morning Stripped of everything
I woke up to face the harsh reality that I have lost everything that mattered to me.

Oh sweet lord its time its time We moved along
I now realize it's time for me to let go and move on from the situation.

Tonight I'll put the good Back in goodbye
I will try to find a positive aspect to this goodbye and make it good for me.

If the boat don't float and she don't go This girls gonna blow the morning
If things don't work out, it's going to have a negative impact on me and my morning/day.

I'll turn to face the cold cold sea And will this ship around And I'll swallow level tears Of broken promises
I will face my struggles head-on and try to fix the situation with all my heart, even if it hurts me.

But the calm prevailed with No whistle to her name And I could see whose name Was on your mind I heard sighs from a million muted Turncoats at attention
Despite the chaos in my life, I found a moment of peace and realized who you were thinking about, and heard people gossiping behind my back.

And tonight I'll put the good Back in goodbye
I will again try to find a positive aspect of the situation and make this goodbye good for me.

What freedom owes the devil To the devil I'll be due I'll walk right down to hell before I fall in love with you I'll take this broken heart of mine And pin it to the floor And tonight ill put the good Back in goodbye
I would rather face a terrible fate than fall in love with someone who caused me pain, and I will try to move on and find the good in the goodbye.

If the boat don't float and she don't go This vessels gonna blow the morning I'll turn to face the cold cold sea And will this ship around And tonight I'll put the good in goodbye
Again, if things don't work out, the morning will be terrible for me, but I will try my best to fix the situation and find a positive outcome out of this goodbye.

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: CERYS ELIZABETH PHILLIPS MATTHEWS

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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