"Foolish Lullaby" is a song by Laura Branigan from her fourth studio album, Hold Me (1985). It was written by Jack White and Mark Spiro, and produced by White. It was later covered by Paul Anka and titled "It's Hard to Say Goodbye".

Paul Anka versions

"It's Hard to Say Goodbye"
Promotional single by Paul Anka and Celine Dion
from the album A Body of Work
Released	January 1999 (1999-01)
Genre	Pop
Length	4:31
Label	Epic
Songwriter(s)	Paul Anka Mark Spiro Jack White
Producer(s)	David Foster Humberto Gatica
Audio
"It's Hard to Say Goodbye" on YouTube

Paul Anka 1993 versions

In 1993, Paul Anka rewrote "Foolish Lullaby" and recorded it as "It's Hard to Say Goodbye". It was produced by C+C Music Factory. This solo version was included on his 1993 album, Face in the Mirror. He also recorded it as a duet with Filipino singer Regine Velasquez, which was featured on the Asian edition of Face in the Mirror and also on Velasquez's 1993 album, Reason Enough.^[1]

Paul Anka and Celine Dion versions

In 1996, Anka and Celine Dion recorded a bilingual version of "It's Hard to Say Goodbye", in which Dion sings in Spanish and Anka in English. The Spanish lyrics were written by Adrian Posse and Humberto Gatica, and the track was produced by David Foster. Entitled "Mejor Decir Adiós", the song was included on Anka's Amigos album, released on July 30, 1996.

In 1998, Anka and Dion recorded "It's Hard to Say Goodbye" as a duet in English. This version was produced by Foster and Gatica, and included on Anka's A Body of Work album, issued on September 22, 1998. "It's Hard to Say Goodbye" was released as a promotional single for US adult contemporary radio stations in January 1999.^[2] It included a short radio version of the song lasting four minutes and sixteen seconds.^[3]

Critical reception

Chuck Taylor from Billboard magazine praised the track in his review and compared it to Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond's duet "You Don't Bring Me Flowers".^[3]

Commercial performance

In March 1999, Fred Bronson from Billboard wondered if with "It's Hard to Say Goodbye" Dion could soon have three duets on the Adult Contempotrary chart, as she was already charting with "I'm Your Angel" and "The Prayer".^[4] Eventually, "It's Hard to Say Goodbye" did not enter Billboard's Adult Contemporary top 25 chart, but it reached number 26 on the Radio & Records' Adult Contemporary top 30 chart.^[5]

Charts