For My Sunday Song #59, I have to go with Joe Walsh’s classic song “Life’s Been Good”. The song is off his 1978 album ‘But Seriously, Folks…” and was released as a single in May of that year. The song has two versions, the album cut which is an epic 8:56 and the radio edit which is only 4:35. The radio edit is great, but the full version is where all the magic happens.
“Life’s Been Good” is song that speaks to the excess of the rock gods of the 70’s. Lyrically, it paints a beautiful picture of how everyone thinks the huge Rock Stars live and probably resonated because everyone wants to be that Rock Star. The song hits all the high points, the mansion, the exotic sports car, the hit records, the fans and the money. What’s not to like.
The song is a mid-tempo beat with almost a reggae feel to it. It has a great guitar riff throughout and includes a bizarre little inside joke about 10 seconds after the song ends. Walsh very humorously goes “uh-oh, here comes a flock of wah wahs” followed by a chorus of duck or geese noises. I have no idea what the inside joke was, but it is quite funny regardless. I wonder what they were smoking?????
Give the song a listen and definitely check out the creativity with the lyrics…BRILLIANT!!
“Life’s Been Good”
Ain’t never been there, they tell me it’s nice
I live in hotels, tear out the walls
I have accountants pay for it allThey say I’m crazy but I have a good time
I’m just looking for clues at the scene of the crime
Life’s been good to me so far
My Maserati does one-eighty-five
I lost my license, now I don’t drive
I have a limo, ride in the back
I lock the doors in case I’m attacked
I make hit records, my fans they can’t wait
They write me letters, tell me I’m great
So I got me an office, gold records on the wall
Just leave a message, maybe I’ll call
Lucky I’m sane after all I’ve been through
(Everybody say I’m cool) (He’s cool)
I can’t complain but sometimes I still do
Life’s been good to me so far
I go to parties, sometimes until four
It’s hard to leave when you can’t find the door
It’s tough to handle this fortune and fame
Everybody’s so different, I haven’t changed
They say I’m lazy but it takes all my time
(Everybody say oh, yeah) (Oh, yeah)
I keep on going, guess I’ll never know why
Life’s been good to me so far
Yeah, yeah, yeah
I’ve always loved this song. Great lyrics & epic guitar work, and Walsh’s tongue-in-cheek vocal delivery is perfection. And WTF was up with that weird shit after the song ended?
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The ending is great. So bizarre and not something we wet meant to understand.
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Everybody’s so different, I haven’t changed
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This song is epic for its lyrics.
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Always loved the Maserati verse.
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The best!!!
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Love it. Great song.
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Thanks. It is a classic.
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My favorite Walsh song. I like the Confessor, too.
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I love this tune! Was always aware of it, but never knew who it was until I discovered Joe Walsh a few years ago. I don’t hold a stint as an Eagle against him when he has tunes this good!
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Yes, you can’t hold the Eagles against him. Joe did some fine solo work.
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