Introduction
A goodbye you can dance to—a hillbilly shuffle about holding on while letting go, sung by two voices from different rooms that meet in the same midnight kitchen.
First, the essentials. Song: “I Don’t Know How To Say Goodbye (Bang Bang Boom Boom)”. Artists: Dwight Yoakam with Post Malone. Writer: Dwight Yoakam. Release: issued as the lead single on September 6, 2024, ahead of Yoakam’s studio album Brighter Days (released November 15, 2024). The cut arrived with an official video and marked Yoakam’s first new studio single in nine years.
Chart note and credits worth knowing up front: while the duet didn’t post a major Billboard peak at release, it did make a brief splash on the U.S. iTunes Songs chart (#79 on Sept 8, 2024). The official video—directed by Gregory Alosio—features Yoakam and Malone (with cameo appearances noted by industry listings) and has lived on Yoakam’s official channel since the single dropped. Album-wise, Brighter Days was released via Thirty Tigers/Via, with Yoakam producing and Chris Lord-Alge on the album mix.
How it came to be is a story older listeners will appreciate for its plain serendipity. Yoakam had essentially finished Brighter Days when Malone—fresh off his own country turn—asked to be on the record. Rather than “duct-taping” a new voice onto an old track, Yoakam wrote a fresh song for the two of them, between stoplights: first the “I Don’t Know How to Say Goodbye” hook, then the “Bang Bang Boom Boom” refrain, imagined as a ’86–’87 hillbilly shuffle. They cut it quickly with Yoakam’s road-tested band; the pair then rode rhinestone jackets and horses down Sunset Boulevard to film the video. It’s a modern release with an old-school origin: write it, cut it live, tell the truth.
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What it sounds like: a barroom shuffle that keeps its shoulders square and its heart showing. Reviews heard a bright, three-minute waltz/shuffle powered by driving strums, wailing steel, buoyant beat, and a mid-song break where organ and fiddle wink through the smoke. Yoakam’s long-time unit—Eugene Edwards (guitar), Jonathan Clark (bass), Mitch Marine (drums), Jamison Hollister (steel/fiddle), with additional keys and strings from familiar collaborators—plays with economy, letting the two voices tell the story. The mix is clean but not glossy, the pocket steady, the chorus built for a slow two-step on a sticky floor.
And the story? Two men admitting the hardest part isn’t leaving—it’s finding the words. The lyric traces that stuck place where endings won’t sit still, then turns the hook into a heartbeat: bang, bang, boom, boom—the sound a broken heart makes when it’s still going. There’s no grand speechifying, just grown-up feeling carried in plain language, the way the best country records do it. If you’ve ever stood in a doorway and wished you’d learned how to say goodbye earlier in life, you’ll hear yourself in the chorus. (Commentators read the song as denial shading toward acceptance; a small grief set to a friendly rhythm.)
Placed in the longer arc of Dwight Yoakam’s catalog, the single functions like a bridge between eras. Brighter Days is his first studio album of new material since 2016, and critics have noted its tilt toward California country—a little less Bakersfield bite, a little more melodic shimmer—without losing the swing that made his early records last. Inviting Post Malone isn’t a novelty move; it’s Yoakam doing what he’s always done: joining rooms (roadhouse and pop radio, Okie twang and West-coast jangle) while letting the song call the shots.
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For older ears, the magic is how familiar it feels. The instruments are voiced like they used to be—steel answering the lead, drums keeping time instead of stealing it—and the singers trade lines like brothers in the same confession. Yoakam’s vowels ride just behind the beat; Malone’s harmony tucks in close, respectful, present. It’s not about star power; it’s about company. Two voices, one message: we’re all still learning how to say goodbye, and until we do, we dance.
Quick facts, right up top for collectors: Song: “I Don’t Know How To Say Goodbye (Bang Bang Boom Boom)”. Artists: Dwight Yoakam & Post Malone. Release date: Sept 6, 2024 (lead single). Album: Brighter Days (Nov 15, 2024; produced by Dwight Yoakam; mixed by Chris Lord-Alge). Video director: Gregory Alosio. Notable chart note: brief U.S. iTunes Songs high at #79 (Sept 8, 2024).