'My Life Is A Succession Of People Saying Goodbye' is thought to have been initially recorded at Cherokee Studio in Los Angeles in 2002 in the course of the audition of drummer Dean ‘Deano’ Butterworth1. However, the final version may not have been recorded until the sessions for what would be the You Are The Quarry album were done at Hookend Manor (Berkshire, England) in the autumn of 2003, with final mixing of the song at Conway Studios in Los Angeles, California.
The song was produced by Jerry Finn2, with musicians Boz Boorer (guitar), Alain Whyte (guitar, and co-writer on the song), Gary Day (bass) and the aforementioned Dean Butterworth on drums. If in fact the song was recording during the You Are The Quarry sessions, then Roger Manning3 should have been credited for keyboards4.
'My Life Is A Succession Of People Saying Goodbye' appears on the B-side of Morrissey's 28th single, 'First of the Gang to Die', which was released in Europe in July 2004. On the US release of the 7-Inch vinyl the song shared the A-side with 'First of the Gang to Die', while the US single’s B-side consisted of 'Teenage Dad On His Estate' and 'Mexico'.
'My Life Is A Succession Of People Saying Goodbye' was included on the deluxe edition of the You Are The Quarry album, as well as Morrissey's Swords compilation album (the latter released in 2009).
The single reached the number six spot in the UK Singles Chart, giving Morrissey two top ten hits in a row for the first time since 'The Last of the Famous International Playboys' and 'Interesting Drug' both reached the top ten 15 years prior (back in 1989). The single failed to chart in the US.
Mellotron and harp (the latter being a rarity in a pop song) heard on the song evoke a sense of ethereal transcendence, which belies the stark import of its lyrics5. Moreover, Morrissey utilizes an economy of words, yet with a voice that brims with heart-worn tenderness coupled with a delivery that undoubtedly speaks directly from his heart (something that cannot be faked), and succeeds in defining the indefinable - the passage of time and attendant loss of friends and family along the way, with the grim visage of mortality staring one in the face. It is a powerful testament to Morrissey's unique (and unparalleled) standing far above and beyond what passes for most of today's pop music.
Listen to the song here:
Though likely written in 2002 (possibly earlier), the lyrics of 'My Life Is A Succession Of People Saying Goodbye' - specifically, "What's left for me/At one time the future it stretched out before me/But now it stretches behind" - are remarkably prescient in light of Morrissey's comments in 2021 (nearly two decades after the song's release) about his mother's passing the prior year:
"It was the first feeling of being alone… in the true sense of the word. It brings something that you cannot cope with … the final stage of growing up, perhaps. And apart from your own nervous breakdown you realize that there remains only one more important event in your life and that is your own death. When you give that unimaginable final hug, you also die. How can you not? I haven’t recovered, I’ve simply adjusted to the pain. It doesn’t get better."6
A 2002 Cherokee studio outtake of 'My Life Is A Succession Of People Saying Goodbye' was leaked on the internet in 2009. Listen to this outtake here:
Dean Butterworth (born September 27, 1966 in Lancashire, England) is an English-born American drummer. He moved to America aged 10 and started learning to play the drums at age 13. Butterworth worked with Morrissey from 2002 through 2004, and subsequently joined the band Good Charlotte.
In a 2004 interview (source unknown), Butterworth described his method of drumming on Morrissey’s music catalogue:
"When playing Morrissey songs live that I didn't record on, I never play the recorded drummer's part note for note. I put my own spin on the song but I am always aware of the structure laid down by the recoded drummer. I use a combo of his parts and mine."
In an Internet statement in June 2005, Morrissey blasted his soon-to-be former record label - Sanctuary Records - for suggesting that he had fallen out with Dean Butterworth, who at that time had recently joined Good Charlotte. Morrissey said that "I am annoyed that Sanctuary have thrown this in without consulting either Deano or myself."
Jerry Finn (1969 - 2008) was a producer who alternative rock artists. While working on a Morrissey release in July of 2008, Finn suffered a massive brain hemmorage. Never regaining consciousness, he was taken off life support on August 9th and passed away twelve days later. He was just 39.
According to Stephane at PassionsJustLikeMine.com.
My life is an endless succession
Of people saying goodbye
My life is an endless succession
Of people saying goodbye
And what's left for me?
What's left for me?
At one time the future
Did stretch out before me
But now it stretches behind
And all of the best things
In life are behind glass
Money, jewelry, and flesh
And what's left for me?
What's left for me?
Turning The Inside Out interview, MorrisseyCentral.com, July 5, 2021