The Good Life

From Weezerpedia
"The Good Life"
The Good Life cover
Single by Weezer
Album Pinkerton
Released September 24, 1996
Format CD
Recorded Spring, 1996 at Sound City Studios, Van Nuys , CA
Length 4:17
Label Geffen
Writer(s) Rivers Cuomo
RC# 215
Producer(s) Weezer
Status officially released
Live debut August 15, 1996 in Vienna, Austria
Weezer singles chronology
"El Scorcho"
(1996)		 "The Good Life"
(1996)		 "Pink Triangle"
(1996)
Pinkerton track listing
"Across the Sea"
(5)		 "The Good Life"
(6)		 "El Scorcho"
(7)
Rivers Cuomo song chronology
"Across the Sea"
(RC# 214)		 "The Good Life"
(RC# 215)		 "Falling for You"
(RC# 216)

"The Good Life" is the second single and sixth track from Pinkerton.

Appearances

Overview

"The Good Life" is the first track on the second half of Pinkerton, and was also released on an EP entitled "OZ EP". The song is about Weezer lead singer Rivers Cuomo's time at Harvard after having corrective surgery on his legs. Cuomo sings of feeling detached from everyone and his rock star life. The song makes references to the cane Cuomo had to walk around with a cane in post-recovery from this leg-lengthening surgery. The song opens with a distinct G Major to E Minor chord progression riff and then all the instruments enter for the verses. It is also about the desire Cuomo had to get back to recording, touring and groupies. It is the opposite kind of longing that "Across the Sea" (the track before it) craves. Rather than a specific girl, someone to love, etc, Cuomo simply wants to make sweet love all night.

In its review of Pinkerton around the time of the album's release, allmusic.com expected the song to be a hit, writing "Weezer can still turn out catchy, offbeat singles -- "The Good Life" has a chorus that is more memorable than "Buddy Holly".
While the single did garner a respectable amount of radio play in some regions, it wasn't enough to help the album, which was a rapidly sinking ship by late 1996.

On September 24, 2020 former Weezer member Jason Cropper performed an improvised cover of The Good Life with his band on Instagram Live in honor and appreciation for Pinkerton’s 24th anniversary.[1]

Cover art

The full Oz EP cover

The cover of all retail versions of "The Good Life" single is a crowd shot, taken at the Tower Records in-store performance (in truth, it was an outdoor, parking lot performance) the day of Pinkerton's release, September 24, 1996. The shot, credited to Gene Kirkland, was taken as the set's closer, "Surf Wax America", drew to a close, and the crowd was moshing and going crazy. This madness can be viewed, as a coda to the live/B-roll version of "El Scorcho", on Video Capture Device. In the picture, one can spot then-members of Weezer's fan club Daniel Brummel of Ozma, (though he is obscured on the Oz EP variant), as well as Allthingsweezer boardie and Weezerpedia editor BringHomeTheTurkey.

The inside cover features an X-ray of Cuomo's leg with the brace on.

Music video

Perhaps the least focused Weezer video, sort of an amalgam of John and Valerie's Pizza Girl plan, and a well-shot yet oddly contradictory performance from the band - both funny and serious.


- Karl Koch, Video Capture Device booklet, 2004


Reception

"The Good Life" is one of the most beloved Weezer songs. Somewhat unknown to mainstream audiences, "The Good Life" has found ample support from fans of Weezer's earlier work. The song's lyrics, structure, guitar solo, and percussion have been almost unanimously praised by fans. A particular drum fill after the first chorus of the song (played by Wilson in 3/2 time) is praised time and time again by fans for its quirkiness and appropriateness for the song. A Rolling Stone review claimed that "The Good Life was "catchier than syphilis." Teenage Victory Songs, a popular Weezer songblog, marked "The Good Life" in its "The Very Best" category.

Personnel

Lyrics

When I look in the mirror
I can't believe what I see
Tell me, who's that funky dude starin' back at me?
Broken, beaten-down can't even get around
Without an old-man cane I fall and hit the ground
Shivering in the cold, I'm bitter and alone

Excuse the bitchin' - I shouldn't complain
I should have no feeling, 'cuz feeling is pain
As everything I need is denied me
And everything I want is taken away from me
But who do I got to blame?
Nobody but me

I don't wanna be a old man anymore
It's been a year or two since I was out on the floor
Shakin' booty, makin' sweet love all the night
It's time I got back to the Good Life
It's time I got back, it's time I got back
'n' I don't even know how I got off the track
I wanna go back, yeah!

Screw this crap, I've had it! I ain't no Mr. Cool
I'm a pig, I'm a dog, so 'scuse me if I drool
I ain't gonna hurt nobody, ain't gonna cause a scene
I just need to admit I want sugar in my tea
Hear me? Hear me? I want sugar in my tea!

And I don't wanna be a old man anymore
It's been a year or two since I was out on the floor
Shakin' booty, makin' sweet love all the night
It's time I got back to the Good Life
It's time I got back, it's time I got back
'n' I don't even know how I got off the track
I wanna go back, yeah!

I wanna go back, I wanna go back
and I don't even know how I got off the track
It's time I got back, it's time I got back
'n' I don't even know how I got off the track
I wanna go back, yeah!

And I don't wanna be a old man anymore
It's been a year or two since I was out on the floor
Shakin' booty, makin' sweet love all the night
It's time I got back to the Good Life
It's time I got back, it's time I got back
'n' I don't even know how I got off the track
It's time I got back, it's time I got back
'n' I don't even know how I got off the track
I wanna go back

See also

External links



Weezerpedia's Physical Release Catalog has an entry for "The Good Life".

More from the Physical Release Catalog

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