"Goodbye Marie" is a country-pop song written by Mel McDaniel

Mel McDaniel

Mel McDaniel was an American country music artist. His chart making years were mainly the 1980s and his hits from that era include "Louisiana Saturday Night", "Big Ole Brew", "Stand Up", the Number One "Baby's Got Her Blue Jeans On", "I Call It Love", "Stand on It", and a remake of Chuck Berry's...

 and Dennis Linde

Dennis Linde

Dennis Linde was an American singer and songwriter whose work was primarily in country musicHe is best known for writing the 1972 Elvis Presley hit, "Burning Love"...

. The song is about a man who has to leave his lover to head for "the lonesome highway" back to his home in Houston, Texas

Houston, Texas

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

.

Bobby Goldsboro

Bobby Goldsboro

Bobby Goldsboro is an American country and pop singer-songwriter. He had a string of Pop and Country hits during the 1960s and 1970s, including his signature #1 classic "Honey," which sold well over one million copies in the United States.-Early life:Goldsboro was born in Marianna, Florida...

 took a version of the song to #17 on the Billboard Country chart

Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...

 in 1981. Kenny Rogers

Kenny Rogers

Kenneth Donald "Kenny" Rogers is an American singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur...

 later covered the song on his 1979 #1 album Kenny

Kenny (album)

Kenny is the seventh studio album by Kenny Rogers, released in 1979. It includes the singles "Coward of the County" and "You Decorated My Life.""Tulsa Turnaround" is a reworking of an earlier song Rogers recorded with The First Edition....

. Although the song was not issued as a single at the time, after Kenny Rogers signed to RCA Records

RCA Records

RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...

 his former label Liberty Records

Liberty Records

Liberty Records was a United States-based record label. It was started by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revivals.-1950s:...

 issued a newly overdubbed version as a single that went to #47 in 1986.

McDaniel also released the song on his I'm Countryfied

I'm Countryfied

I'm Countryfied is the name of a 1980 country album by Mel McDaniel. The album peaked at number 24 on the Top Country Albums charts. The biggest hit on the album, and also one of McDaniel's biggest hits, was "Louisiana Saturday Night," which reached number 7 on the Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts...

album in 1981, and as the B-side of his single "I Call It Love."

Bobby Goldsboro

Chart (1980)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles	17

Kenny Rogers

Chart (1986)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles	47