Songwriter: Daryl Dragon Toni Tennille

Keep a song of joy inside your heart
Even though the time has come for us to part
We'll be together soon and time will fly
Because we never really say goodbye

Don't forget the love we shared today
Sweet memories to keep us warm along the way
I'll hold you in my heart so don't you cry
'Cause we never really say goodbye

Time may come between us
But it doesn't mean a thing
You know we'll be together in our dreams
And so tonight, my friend, sleep tight

And keep a song of joy inside your heart
Even though the time has come for us to part
We'll be together soon and time will fly
'Cause we never really say goodbye
We never really say goodbye

Captain & Tennille

In 1972, Toni Tennille was a co-writer of the musical Mother Earth. Daryl “Captain Keyboard” Dragon, who got his nickname while touring with the Beach Boys from his signature skipper’s cap, took a job as the keyboardist for Mother Earth and the two hit it off romantically and musically, forming a nightclub act that charged $70 a night.

When two radio DJs urged the duo to record their cover of the Beach Boys song “Disney Girls” in 1974, they also recorded an original song “The Way I Want to Touch You” which attracted interest from several record labels. A&M Records, home to the platinum-selling male/female duo The Carpenters who had scored ten top 5 hits in the US from 1970-1974, signed them.

Captain & Tennille’s 1975 debut album featured seven originals, three Beach Boys covers and – at the suggestion of A&M’s A&R man – a cover of Neil Sedaka’s “Love Will Keep Us Together”. The latter was released as their first single and found massive success in North America. It reached #1 in the US & Canada, won a Grammy for Record Of The Year, and was the biggest song of of the year in the US. Even their Spanish version of the song “Por Amor Viviremos” reached #49 in the US. A&M followed it up with “The Way I Want to Touch You” and it reached #4 in both the US and Canada. Both songs also found success in New Zealand and the UK. The two married in November 1975.