Closure is underrated in music. 

It was that awful year, 2016, when Bowie and Prince vanished from the earth so suddenly that made me first really think about it. But it's when artists announce they are calling it quits – like Archie Roach did this week – that it really hits home.

I think there's great romance to 'going out doing what you love', like when Solomon Burke died on the tarmac after flying to Europe for yet another tour. 

But there's something more special about giving your fans one last chance to say goodbye; maybe to you, maybe to your songs, maybe to a part of their life that will never quite be the same once going to see you perform is no longer part of it. 

Sure, we should treat every day like it's our last. But we don't. A little reminder of the fleetingness of all the things we hold dear can help us appreciate them more.

Next time you hear of a farewell tour that you don't really care about, skip the John Farnham jokes – they haven't been funny for years – and think about what it means to say goodbye to someone that means a lot to you.