songbook

Good Times, Bad Times

Good Times, Bad Times by Led Zeppelin

Written by: Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, John Bonham

Released On: March 10, 1969

Track 1 on Led Zeppelin (1969)

Lyrics:

In the days of my youth
I was told what it was to be a man
Now I've reached the age
I've tried to do all those things the best I can
No matter how I try
I find my way to do the same old jam

Good times, bad times
You know I had my share
When my woman left home
With a brown eyed man
Well, I still don't seem to care

Sixteen I fell in love
With a girl as sweet as could be
Only took a couple of days
Till she was rid of me
She swore that she would be all mine
And love me till the end
When I whispered in her ear
I lost another friend

Good times, bad times
You know I had my share
When my woman left home
With a brown eyed man
Well, I still don't seem to care

Good times, bad times
You know I had my share
When my woman left home
With a brown eyed man
Well, I still don't seem to care

I know what it means to be alone
I sure do wish I was at home
I don't care what the neighbors say
I'm gonna love you each and every day
You can feel the beat within my heart
Realize, sweet babe, we ain't ever gonna part

Facts:

The song lyrics deal with the theme of love and loss. The lyrics are about a man coming of age, falling in love at 16 , losing his woman, and ends with him asking for him woman to coming home, telling her they will never part. 

The opening track off of Led Zeppelin's debut self titled album. The song was released as a single in the US and reached #80 on the Billboard Hot 100. 

Jimmy passed his guitar through a Leslie Speaker to create a swirling effect for the guitar solo in the song. 

Jones wrote the riff and has said that it was one of the hardest to write. 

Bonham wrote the drum bass pattern and used a device called "Triplet"  on his bass drum to get double bass drum sound, and he used the tip of his toe to flick the bass pedal back fast. Most drummers have tried to copy this before but fail to do so. Only one bass drum is used, not two. 

This song didn't plagiarize or cover a previously made song. It's one of the only two songs on the album that was originally written by the band. 

This should not be mistaken by The Rolling Stones song of the same name.