Josh Kelley is a singer-songwriter who was born and raised in Augusta, Geor… Read Full Bio ↴Josh Kelley is a singer-songwriter who was born and raised in Augusta, Georgia. He began his musical odyssey at the age of 11 with a guitar. He later formed a band with his younger brother, Charles, during his teenage years called Inside Blue. At 14, the band released a five-song CD that struck the attention of a major label and led him to meeting James Brown on more than a few occasions.

Arriving at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi, he had initial aspirations of being an art major, while also being a very capable golfer and a member of Kappa Sigma Fraternity.

Kelley released his indie album Changing Faces in 2001, signing with Hollywood in 2002. Working with John Alagia as his producer, Kelley released For The Ride Home in 2003. He also made an appearance at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in 2003. The song "Everybody Wants You" was recommended to be written by a friend to not forget who he is, while "Amazing" was possibly his first critically acclaimed hit.

Josh Kelley's 2011 record, Georgia Clay, was his first Country album; his previous work was more pop. Speaking with Songfacts in a 2011 interview, Kelley explained that Gone Like That was the song that actually started his journey into Country music. He said: "I had written and presented it to my music publisher to pitch to other artists, but they liked my demo so much they encouraged me to cut it. It was the first song I wrote that gave me the confidence to pursue a career as a Country singer."

His musical guise can be recognized akin to Jack Johnson, John Mayer, or Ben Harper.

Kelley remains a supporter of Napster-like sharing peer to peer applications for independent artists who have a difficult time receiving an audience. In fact, Kelley was "found" after accidentally targeting Eric Clinger at Hollywood Records with private spam messages using the Napster program.

Beautiful Goodbye
Josh Kelley Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

It's hard to say goodbye
When I'm holding out my hands
Holding out my hands for love
That opened my eyes
Filled with tears that never dry
For you the angels cry

Goodnight, goodnight, my sweet love, you're beautiful

Goodnight, goodnight, the stars up above will be bright
Despite a love bound and broken from the start
Goodnight, my beautiful, goodbye

It's hard to comprehend
Our beginning is the end of a love
That never had a chance to dance with you
So I choose to take this pain
And wish for more to say than

Goodnight, goodnight, my sweet love, you're beautiful
Goodnight, goodnight, the stars up above will be bright
Despite a love bound and broken from the start
Goodnight, my beautiful, goodbye

Oh, sweet angel of mine
Gone to sail through the night
In my heart you'll always be
I hope that you'll remember me wherever you are

Goodnight, goodnight, sweet love, you're beautiful
Goodnight, goodnight, stars up above will be bright
Despite a love bound and broken from the start
Goodnight, goodbye

Oh, goodnight, goodnight, my sweet love, you're beautiful
Goodnight, goodnight, the stars up above will be bright

Despite a love bound and broken from the start
Goodnight, my beautiful, goodbye

Overall Meaning

The song "Beautiful Goodbye" by Josh Kelley captures the emotions felt when one is forced to say goodbye to someone they love. The first verse of the song talks about how hard it is to part ways with someone who has opened up your eyes to love. The tears never dry, and the angels cry because they know true love is being lost. The chorus then follows with the words "Goodnight, goodnight, my sweet love, you're beautiful." These words express the pain of saying goodbye to someone you deeply love, but you cannot hold onto them any longer. The stars up above will be bright despite the love bound and broken from the start. This means that despite the broken love, hope still remains that everything will be alright.

The second verse of the song is about the pain of realizing that the beginning of the love story is also its end. The imagery of never having a chance to dance with the loved one illustrates how brief and fragile the love story was. The pain is acknowledged, yet it is chosen to be embraced, so as to have more to say than just goodbye. The last part of the song is a tribute to the loved one who has passed away. The words "sweet angel of mine gone to sail through the night" demonstrate how the loved one has become a memory, but there is still hope that they will remember the singer wherever they are.

Line by Line Meaning

It's hard to say goodbye
Parting ways is a difficult experience

When I'm holding out my hands
I'm reaching out for love

Holding out my hands for love
I'm in search for a loving connection

That opened my eyes
You taught me how to see and love again

Filled with tears that never dry
I'm constantly emotional after losing you

For you the angels cry
Your beauty is so divine, even the angels mourn your loss

Despite a love bound and broken from the start
Our love was doomed from the beginning, but it was still real

It's hard to comprehend
It's difficult to understand why our love didn't work out

Our beginning is the end of a love
Our relationship has come to a bittersweet conclusion

That never had a chance to dance with you
We never had the opportunity to fully experience love together

So I choose to take this pain
I'm choosing to embrace my emotional turmoil