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The song was written by Serge Gainsbourg, Arnold Goland & Jack Gold. It’s a French adaptation of the song “It Hurts to Say Goodbye“ and means “How to Say Goodbye to You“. It was recorded at Studio Pye, London, England by Françoise Hardy and release as a single in November 1968. Françoise Hardy heard an “American instrumental version“ of the song and her manager asked Serge Gainsbourg to provide suitable lyrics for it. The resultant “Comment te dire adieu“ was included in Hardy's 1968 album. Hardy also recorded the song in Italian (“Il pretesto“, 1968) and German (“Was mach' ich ohne dich“, 1970; collected in the album Träume, 1970.) The French lyrics are notable for their uncommon rhymes in “ex“, within the subject of the song having a sense of “ex“ as in “ex-boyfriend“.
