For anyone out there who still thinks Post Malone‘s boot scoot into country is just a lark, check out “I Don’t Know How to Say Goodbye (Bang Bang Boom Boom).” The western swinging tune is the first new single from county icon Dwight Yoakam in nine years and, of course, he has country music’s current brightest light on it.
“I don’t know how we lost our way/ I don’t know where these two hearts both went astray,” Malone croons over the song’s shuffling guitars and pedal steel arrangement. The two men trade vocals on the country waltz’s catchy chorus, singing, “Bang, bang, boom, boom/ There’s nothing left here now but sadness/ Bang, bang, boom, boom/ And the emptiness of all that’s gone/ Bang, bang, boom, boom/ No sounds but just sorrow and madness/ And bang, bang, boom, boom/ It’s how a broken heart beats on.” The song will appear on Yoakam’s upcoming album, Brighter Days (Nov. 15), the follow-up to 2016’s Swimmin’ Pools, Movie Stars…
According to a release on Friday (Sept. 6) announcing Yoakam’s album, the singer intentionally wrote “I Don’t Know How to Say Goodbye” as a duet with Malone for the LP that features 12 new songs written or co-written by Yoakam; the collection also features two covers, the Carter Family’s staple “Keeping on the Sunny Side” and Cake’s “Bound Away.” Malone is the only guest vocalist on the album that features the originals “Wide Open Heart,” “I’ll Pay the Price,” “California Sky,” “If Only,” “Time Between” and “Every Night,” among others.
Malone sounds perfectly comfortable alongside his old pal Yoakam, who he’s collaborated with and covered several times over the past few years. Back in 2018, Posty popped up on Yoakam’s Bakersfield Beat SiriusXM channel when they teamed up on the host’s 1993 single “A Thousand Miles From Nowhere,” as well as a cover of Merle Haggard’s “The Bottle Let Me Down,” and earlier this year at the Stagecoach Festival Malone dueted with Dwight on the country icon’s “Little Ways.” In July, Posty jumped on stage at Yoakam’s show at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles to duet on a number of songs, including “Little Things” again, as well as Yoakam’s signature tune “Guitars and Cadillacs,” “Fast As You” and “It Won’t Hurt.”
According to a recent TMZ TikTok, the pair were spotted riding horses on the streets of Hollywood while wearing glittering Western suits during what appeared to be the video shoot for the new song’s video.
Malone is currently riding high with his debut full-length solo album, F-1 Trillion, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and the Top Country Albums chart, as well as topping the Top Streaming Albums and Top Album Sales charts. The collection features Malone singing duets with a galaxy of country stars, including Hank Williams Jr., Tim McGraw, Dolly Parton, Brad Paisley, Lainey Wilson, Jelly Roll, Luke Combs, Chris Stapleton, HARDY and Morgan Wallen.
Listen to Malone and Yoakam on “I Don’t Know How to Say Goodbye (Bang Bang Boom Boom)” below.