Time to Say Goodbye: What are the lyrics, who sings it, and what do the Italian lyrics mean?

13 July 2023, 17:05 | Updated: 18 September 2023, 16:26

Andrea Bocelli - ‘Time To Say Goodbye’ LIVE | The Global Awards 2018 | Classic FM

We explore the history of one of the best-selling singles of all time, most famously recorded by Andrea Bocelli.

‘Time to Say Goodbye’, or Con te partirò is an Italian song which has topped the charts over and over since it was first released in 1995.

Made famous by Italian tenor, Andrea Bocelli, after he debuted the song at the 1995 Sanremo Music Festival, the work has become one of the musician’s best-known.

Released on Bocelli’s second studio album, the song has become one of the best-selling singles of all time.

It was written by Francesco Sartori, an Italian trumpet player, pianist and composer, and its lyrics were by songwriter, Lucio Quarantotto.

Due to the international acclaim Bocelli found with the song, he went on to release further versions of the song in other languages.

Read more: When the world saw a young Andrea Bocelli sing ‘Con te partirò’ for the very first time

What language is ‘Time to Say Goodbye’ in?

Whilst the original 1995 song was written in Italian, Bocelli went on to release both an English and Spanish version.

In 1996 Bocelli released a second version of the song as a duet with English soprano, Sarah Brightman.

Sung partly in English, the song went on to sell more than 12 million copies worldwide. It became the biggest-selling single in Germany of all time, and the duo would go on to record a version sung in German and Italian.

Bocelli’s Spanish version of the song released a year later in 1997, titled, Por ti volaré (in English – For You I Will Fly).

Read more: ‘Time to Say Goodbye’ by Andrea Bocelli named a funeral favourite

What do the lyrics of ‘Time to Say Goodbye’ mean?

In a 2019 study by Co-op Funeralcare, Bocelli and Brightman’s performance of ‘Time to Say Goodbye’ was ranked as the nation’s second favourite choice of music for a funeral, due to its farewell theme.

But, despite the seemingly lyrical ‘goodbye’, there are conflicting thoughts as to what the lyrics of ‘Time to Say Goodbye’ are actually trying to say.

In English, the lyrics seem to tell the story of a protagonist who is saying goodbye to countries they never saw or shared with his lover. But then halfway through the song, it seems the lovers will in fact go to those countries... except they’ll be travelling on ships that don’t exist anymore. So it’s time to say goodbye again.

Not the clearest of translations. However, due to the romantic and hopeful nature of the melody, many have interpreted the song as not being on the theme of ‘goodbyes’ but rather, new chapters.

The literal translation of the Italian tune, Con te partirò is I will leave with you, suggesting instead that no matter where the lovers in the song are going, they will be going together.

What are the Italian lyrics for ‘Time to Say Goodbye’?

Quando sono solo
Sogno all’orizzonte
E mancan le parole
Sì 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 acceso
Chiudi dentro me
La luce che
Hai incontrato per strada

Time to say goodbye
Paesi che non ho mai
Veduto e vissuto con te
Adesso si li vivrò
Con te partirò
Su navi per mari
Che, io lo so
No, no, non esistono più
It’s time to say goodbye

Andrea Bocelli - Con Te Partirò - Live From Piazza Dei Cavalieri, Italy / 1997

What are the English lyrics for ‘Time to Say Goodbye’?

When I am alone I sit and dream
And when I dream the words are missing
Yes I know that in a room so full of light
That all the light is missing
But I don’t see you with me, with me

Close up the windows, bring the sun to my room
Through the door you’ve opened
Close inside of me the light you see
That you met in the darkness

Time to say goodbye
Horizons are never far
Would I have to find them alone
Without true light of my own with you
I will go on ships overseas
That I now know
No, they don’t exist anymore
It’s time to say goodbye

Sarah Brightman & Andrea Bocelli - Time to Say Goodbye (1997) [720p]

What are the Spanish lyrics for ‘Time to Say Goodbye’?

Cuando vivo solo, sueño un horizonte, falto de palabras
En la sombra y entre luces, todo es negro para mi mirada
Si tú no estás junto a mí aquí

Tú en tu mundo
Separado del mío por un abismo
Oye, llámame
Yo volaré a tu mundo lejano

Por ti, volaré
Espera, que llegaré
Mi fin de trayecto eres tú
Para vivirlo los dos
Por ti, volaré
Por cielos y mares, hasta tu amor
Abriendo los ojos por fin
Contigo viviré