"It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" is an R&B song written by Motown husband-and-wife songwriting team Freddie Perren and Christine Yarian for the 1975 film Cooley High. In the film, the song is performed by Motown artist G.C. Cameron, whose rendition peaked at number 38 on the Billboard R&B singles chart that same year. Perren also composed the instrumental score for Cooley High, and the B-side to "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" features two of his score compositions from the film.

Boyz II Men cover

The contemporary R&B Motown group Boyz II Men recorded the song in an a cappella rendition 16 years later. Released as a single, Boyz II Men's recording peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached number one on the Hot R&B Singles chart in December 1991. The track was included on Boyz II Men's first album, Cooleyhighharmony, its name a reference to the film from which the song originated. The music video for the song is dedicated to rapper MC Trouble, who died a few months after the album's release, and it featured archive footage of Jim Henson, Sammy Davis Jr. and Gilda Radner, and several others who had died recently. The song was used in the 1992 action film Lethal Weapon 3, in the funeral scene for Daryl, a 15-year-old gangbanger shot down by Murtaugh.

Track listings

US cassette single Europe Maxi-CD

Other versions

The Flex covered "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" for the House Party 2 soundtrack album, released in October 1991. A Cantonese version of "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" was covered by Jacky Cheung. The song is titled "偷閒加油站" and it is featured on the 1992 album 真情流露. In Lucifer series 5 episode 15, a version is sung by Ella Lopez (Aimee Garcia) and Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Ellis). It begins with Ella singing in Spanish before Lucifer joins in and the continue in English. Latin pop group Barrio Boyzz performed the song acapella in Spanish at the Premio Lo Nuestro awards in May 1995 in honor of the late Tejano singer Selena, who was murdered two months prior.

Charts and certifications

G.C. Cameron version

Boyz II Men version

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications