Sarah Brightman & Andrea Bocelli -- Time to say goodbye

This page contains:: = introduction to the duet; = lyrics of the duet; = info on the lyrics and Andrea Bocelli; = translations into English; = lyrics in other languages

Introduction to the duet

In November 1996 the duet Time to say goodbye by Sarah Brightman & Andrea Bocelli became in a few weeks time a big hit in Germany and later on also in several other countries of continental of Europe. And after it was performed on a T.V. programme of the National Lottery on 10 May 1997 it also become very swiftly successful in the Great Britain.

On 19 May 1997 there was an article in The Independent about the success and the background of this song and Andrea Bocelli.

Around that time, Sarah's CD Timeless, which includes this song, was released.
For the USA and other parts of the World, the order of the songs on that CD were changed and the CD was released under the title Time to say goodbye -- probably to get sell more CDs, as the duet had become famous by then in the USA too.

The song is a new version of a song originally sung by Andrea Bocelli in Italian (see the article from The Independent). The given lyrics below are the lyrics of the duet; where the original has Italian in stead of English, this Italian is given in italics.

Personally, I think this is a nice, romantic song, but not an exceptionally good song. Both Sarah's and Andrea's voice are very good though! And it is pleasant to listen to.
Later I heard Sarah sing a solo version of this song and I have to say that I prefer the solo version (Bocelli fans: sorry 'bout that): Sarah's voice is more to my liking.

The Lyrics:

Sarah:: Quando sono sola
sogno all'orizzonte
e mancan le parole,
si lo so che non c'è luce
in una stanza quando manca il sole,
se non ci sei tu con me, con me.
Su le finestre
mostra a tutti il mio cuore
che hai accesso,
chiudi dentro me
la luce che
hai incontrato per strada.
: Time to say goodbye. -- Con te partirò.
Paesi che non ho mai
veduto e vissuto con te,
adesso sì li vivrò.
Con te partirò
su navi per mari
che, io lo so,
no, no, non esistono più,
it's time to say goodbye. -- con te io li vivrò.

Andrea:: Quando sei lontana
sogno all'orizzonte
e mancan le parole,
e io si lo so
che sei con me, con me,
tu mia luna tu sei qui con me,
mio sole tu sei qui con me,
con me, con me, con me.
: Time to say goodbye. -- Con te partirò.
Paesi che non ho mai
veduto e vissuto con te,
adesso sì li vivrò.
Con te partirò
su navi per mari
che, io lo so,
no, no, non esistono più,

Both:: con te io li rivivrò.
Con te partirò
su navi per mari
che, io lo so,
no, no, non esistono più,
con te io li rivivrò.
Con te partirò
: Io con te.

Music and lyrics: L. Quarantotto, F. Sartori, F. Peterson

From: Timeless and Time to say goodbye -- the single (1997); also on Fly (re-released version (1998) and The very best of 1990-2000 (2001).
Also on Classics - European release (2006).

A solo version appears on the mentioned single and on the Japanese version of Eden (1998/99) and on Classics (2001) and on Live from Las Vegas (2004) and on Symphony: Live in Vienna (2008) and on Amalfi: Sarah Brightman love songs (2010).
At concerts Sarah generally sings the solo version.
There is also a fully English version sung by Sarah; for the link for for info. I do not know how/where this version is released, but it can be found on YouTube.

Source of the lyrics: from a web site by Gregg de Winter (http://titan.glo.be/~bocelli/) which no longer exists.

Carlos Pineda pointed out that the last word of the first line Quando sono sola as sung by Sarah is "sola", since she is a woman, and not "solo", which is what Andrea sings when he sings the song alone. Luis Artola added that something similar is the case with the first line of the third stanza Quando sei lontana, which ends with "lontana" since Andrea is a man; when Sarah sings the song solo, she sings instead "lontano", since she is a woman.

Other Bocelli sites [thanks to Angie Garrison and Harry]:

The Bocelli Network -- The Andrea Bocelli Fan Club.
Andrea Bocelli lyrics archive, including translations

People have sent me emails asking for the sheet music of this song. I do not have it, but you can order it on line from http://www.sheet-music.com/, which has the sheet music for solo, duet and SATB (=soprano, alto, tenor and bass) -- thanks to Arianna Conseur for this info.

Translations

The translation that appears in the booklet of Andrea's CD Romanza (which contains the original Italian song) [thanks to Angie Garrison], is as follows. I have added the names of who sings which part and replaced the translation where they sing the English lines, and I've changed the very last line (it was "I with you", which is bad English, though "I with you" is the exact translation and perhaps indicates better the will to make the trip).

Time to say goodbye     --     I'll go with you
Sarah
When I'm alone
I dream of the horizon
and words fail;
yes, I know there is no light
in a room where the sun is absent,
if you are not here with me.
At the windows
show everyone my heart
which you set alight;
enclose within me
the light you
encountered on the street.

Time to say goodbye.     --     I'll go with you
to countries I never
saw and shared with you,
now, yes, I shall experience them.
I'll go with you
on ships across seas
which, I know,
no, no, exist no longer;
it's time to say goodbye.     --     with you I shall experience them.

Andrea
When you are far away
I dream of the horizon
and words fail,
and, yes, I know
that you are with me;
you, my moon, are here with me,
my sun, you are here with me
with me, with me, with me.

Time to say goodbye.     --     I'll go with you
to countries I never
saw and shared with you,
now, yes, I shall experience them.
I'll go with you
on ships across seas
which, I know,
no, no, exist no longer,

Both
with you I shall experience them again.
I'll go with you
on ships across seas
which, I know,
no, no, exist no longer,
with you I shall experience them again.
I'll go with you.

You and me.

It is this translation that I will regard as the "official" one and use on the "all lyrics and translations" pages.
David Parker suggested to change the word "exist" in the line no, no, exist no longer of the "chorus" into "stay" or "remain", which would give a different feel to that part of the song: no, no, stay no longer, is said when they are parting. I am not sure what to do: neither "exist" nor "stay" or "remain" is making complete sense to me. Since both the above translation and the one below have "exist" I will keep that word.

Tim from the USA send me the translation of the song as it appears onthe inlay to the "Time To Say Goodbye" single he has got. This translation is different at several places from the above one, and seems to be giving some things double. I changed a thing or two near the end to get the translation right for this version, and I added some interpuction.

Time to say goodbye
Sarah:
When I'm alone I dream of the horizon and words fail me.
There is no light in a room where there is no sun
and there is no sun if you're not here with me, with me.
From every window unfurls my heart the heart that you have won.
Into me you've poured the light,
the light that you found by the side of the road.

Time to say goodbye.
Places that I've never seen or experienced with you.
Now I shall, I'll sail with you upon ships across the seas,
seas that exist no more,
it's time to say goodbye.

Andrea:
When you're far away I dream of the horizon and words fail me.
And of course I know that you're with me, with me.
You, my moon, you are with me.
My sun, you're here with me with me, with me, with me.

Time to say goodbye.
Places that I've never seen or experienced with you.
Now I shall, I'll sail with you upon ships across the seas,
seas that exist no more,

Both:
I'll revive them with you.
I'll go with you upon ships across the seas,
seas that exist no more,
I'll revive them with you.
I'll go with you.

You and me.

Translations & versions in other languages

===> Translation in French

===> Translation in Gaelic (the Scottish form)

===> Translation in Portuguese

===> Spanish version of this song

===> English version, sung by Sarah

<=== The Sarah Brightman main page / CD index / lyrics index

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