About the singer: Robert Long (1943-2006) was a Dutch singer and television presenter. He was the lead singer of the Dutch band Unit Gloria before embarking upon a successful solo career in the seventies. Several of his albums, typically comprising a mixture of cabaret and ballet, topped the Dutch charts. Robert Long currently has one song in my list of about 200 best pop/rock songs of all time.
About the song: Afscheid (Farewell) is a track from his 1974 debut solo-album of Dutch songs, Vroeger of later (English translation: Sooner or later). It is a relatively simple song, with Long's voice accompanied only by piano, but the text is of literary quality - it could have been a poem. Two lovers find that they have drifted apart, and that it is necessary to say goodbye. The total effect is incredibly moving. Run time 5:35.
