“There Goes My Everything” wasn’t written for the audience — it was for someone he never dared to name.
Engelbert Humperdinck built a career singing about heartbreak, longing, and lost love — but one story was never told. Behind the timeless ballad “There Goes My Everything” lies a woman who was once the center of his world. A first love so real, so deeply felt, that he carried her memory through decades — in silence.
The first love who faded into silence
And the handwritten letter he never had the courage to send.
Before the lights, before the tuxedos and world tours, Engelbert was a young man in Leicester with a voice and a dream. At his side was a girl who believed in him — who listened to him sing in tiny rooms before anyone else did. She wasn’t in showbiz. She didn’t chase the spotlight. She just loved him as he was.
But when fame arrived too fast, so did distance. Their lives split quietly. She walked away without drama. One night, Engelbert wrote her a letter — but tore it up before mailing it. He once confessed:
“If she ever wrote back, I wouldn’t have had the strength to choose music over her.”
“There Goes My Everything” – A farewell no one recognized
Sometimes, the only way to hold on to someone is through song.
When recording “There Goes My Everything,” Engelbert chose to sing it with breathy restraint — as if speaking to a ghost from his past. It’s not a theatrical ballad. It’s intimate. Gentle. Like a goodbye whispered too late.
Those close to him say he would grow emotional during performances — especially in Europe, where it’s believed she eventually settled. But he never acknowledged her publicly.
After all these years, her name remains untold
When asked in interviews, Engelbert always smiled and deflected:
“Some songs are not just for singing. They’re for remembering.”
🎵 Suggested listening: There Goes My Everything – Engelbert Humperdinck
A song that feels like a letter — one that was never sent, but always meant.
Lyrics:
I hear footsteps slowly walking,As they gently walk across a lonely floor,And a voice is softly saying,Darling, this will be good-bye for ever more.There goes my reason for living,There goes the one of my dreams,There goes my only possession,There goes my everything.As my memory turns back the pages,I can see the happy years we had before,Now the love that kept this old heart beating,Has been shattered by the closing of the door.