Bittersweet Goodbye

In March 2022, the Australian musician Luude uploaded to SoundCloud a drum and bass mashup of "Bitter Sweet Symphony" and the Police's "Message in a Bottle".{{Cite web |title=Luude to release DNB version of Bittersweet Symphony and The Police mashup |url=https://www.georgefm.co.nz/home/music/2022/03/luude-to-release-dnb-version-of-bittersweet-symphony-and-the-police-mashup.html |access-date=2024-03-07 |website=georgefm.co.nz |language=en}} He and Issey Cross got in touch with one another following the release of her Wilkinson track "Used to This", which had charted at No. 33 on the UK Singles Chart in 2021. They worked on "Oh My" together,{{Cite web |last=Music |title=Issey Cross {{!}} 5 Minutes With |url=https://noctismag.com/music/issey-cross-5-minutes-with/ |access-date=2024-03-06 |website=noctismag.com |language=en}} which credited Moby due to it sampling his song "Porcelain",{{Cite web |last=Varvaris |first=Mary |title=Luude On Sampling Moby's 'Porcelain': 'One Of Those Songs You'd Never Think You Could Get The Parts For' |url=https://themusic.com.au/features/luude-on-sampling-mobys-porcelain-one-of-those-songs-you-d-never-think-you-could-get-the-parts-for/-ufm7O_uERA/13-01-23 |access-date=2024-03-06 |website=themusic.com.au |language=en}} and charted at No. 98 on the UK Singles Chart;{{Cite web |date=2023-02-02 |title=LUUDE & ISSEY CROSS FT MOBY |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/64011/luude-and-issey-cross-ft-moby/ |access-date=2024-03-06 |website=Official Charts |language=en}} around this time, Luude sent Cross his "Bittersweet Symphony" remix, which she later quickly wrote over with some friends, and released without crediting Luude due to scheduling conflicts. In an interview with the Official Charts Company, she noted that she had previously intended on releasing some more songs as a featured artist, but that "this one just made sense", and that she had been prepared for the track to also be burned off on SoundCloud and was surprised by how painless the sample's clearance was.{{cite web |author=Griffiths, George |date=17 August 2023 |title=Issey Cross talks solo breakthrough and sampling The Verve on Bittersweet Goodbye |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/issey-cross-talks-solo-breakthrough-and-sampling-the-verve-on-bittersweet-goodbye/ |accessdate=3 September 2023 |publisher=Official Charts Company}}

"Bittersweet Goodbye" uses a sped-up sample of the Verve's 1997 track "Bitter Sweet Symphony", which in turn uses a sped-up sample of the Andrew Oldham Orchestra's sped-up cover version of the Rolling Stones' "The Last Time", which in turn interpolated (and took inspiration from the Staple Singers' recording of) the traditional gospel track "This May Be the Last Time";{{Cite web |title=From the Rolling Stones to Issey Cross: the Bittersweet Story of a Sample |url=https://blog.musiio.com/posts/issey-cross-bittersweet-sample |access-date=2024-03-06 |website=blog.musiio.com |language=en}} the Verve had previously been caught out by only clearing the sample from Decca Records and not the rights to use the song from Allen Klein's ABKCO Records, and the band's vocalist Richard Ashcroft later had to relinquish all rights to the song to clear its use, only reacquiring them in 2019 shortly after changing management and a full ten years after Klein died and left ABKCO to his son Jody.{{Cite web |date=2019-06-24 |title=Here's How Richard Ashcroft Won Back "Bitter Sweet Symphony" Rights From The Rolling Stones |url=https://www.stereogum.com/2048921/richard-ashcroft-bitter-sweet-symphony-rights-verve-rolling-stones/news/ |access-date=2024-03-06 |website=Stereogum |language=en}}

However, Replay Heaven claims "Bittersweet Goodbye" uses a sample replay they recorded specifically for this track, rather than the original sample.{{cite web |title=Issey Cross – Bittersweet Goodbye {{!}} Replay Heaven {{!}} sample replay |url=https://www.replayheaven.com/2024/09/issey-cross-bittersweet-goodbye/ |website=www.replayheaven.com |access-date=8 March 2025}}

"Bittersweet Goodbye" was released on 30 June 2023. TikTok promotion for the song was somewhat haphazard; in an interview with Noctismag.com, she noted that she and "some friends" had randomly decided to film videos of themselves dancing to the song during club nights with AirPods in, and that the song's music video had been filmed at a Homebass rave for no reason other than she had been asked to perform the show and that she wanted to release the track as soon as she could. A subsequent remix was released by Tiësto, which was premiered during a Tomorrowland set at which Cross performed drunk, and which was released on 18 August 2023.

"Bittersweet Goodbye" charted at No. 19 on the UK Singles Chart;{{Cite web |date=2022-01-27 |title=ISSEY CROSS |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/62708/issey-cross/ |access-date=2024-03-06 |website=Official Charts |language=en}} in September 2023, during its first week on the Top 40, the BBC ran a piece noting that "about one in four current UK Top 40 hits" made use of samples, picking out the use of Dionne Warwick's "Walk On By" in that week's number two "Paint the Town Red" by Doja Cat, and also mentioning that Bou's "Closer" sampled Robert Miles' "Children" and that Charli XCX's "Speed Drive" interpolated Toni Basil's "Mickey" and sampled Robyn's "Cobrastyle",{{cite web |author=Collins, Riyah |date=2 September 2023 |title=UK chart: One in four top 40 songs samples older track |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-66497436 |accessdate=3 September 2023 |publisher=BBC News}} the latter a cover of the Teddybears song of the same name.{{Cite news |date=2023-07-20 |title=Barbie soundtrack: Billie Eilish's song floored me, Mark Ronson says |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-66220885 |access-date=2024-03-06 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}

Digital single{{Cite web |title=Issey Cross - Discography |url=https://open.spotify.com/artist/5QrV5Vr4KdsyKtifvD6X1U/discography/all |access-date=2024-03-07 |website=Spotify |language=en}}

1. "Bittersweet Goodbye" – 2:46

Lens remix

1. "Bittersweet Goodbye – Lens Remix" – 3:21
2. "Bittersweet Goodbye" – 2:46

Tiësto's Hardcore Remix

1. "Bittersweet Goodbye – Tiësto's Hardcore Remix" – 2:38
2. "Bittersweet Goodbye" – 2:46

K Motionz Remix

1. "Bittersweet Goodbye – K Motionz Remix" – 2:57

Acoustic version

1. "Bittersweet Goodbye – Acoustic" – 2:30

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|artist=Issey Cross|title=Bittersweet Goodbye|award=Gold|type=single|relyear=2023|certyear=2025|id=19521-6578-1|access-date=25 February 2025}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|streaming=true|nosales=true|noshipments=true}}

{{reflist}}

Category:2023 songs

Category:2023 singles

Category:Atlantic Records singles

Category:Songs written by Richard Ashcroft