G.O.D. (Good Old Days)

Album: All The Pain Money Can Buy (1998)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Fastball's career took some curves in the '90s. Signed to the major label Hollywood Records, it looked like they blew their shot when their 1996 debut album fell flat. The label was in transition, which worked in their favor because there was nobody to drop them, so they got to make another album. That ended up being All the Pain Money Can Buy, which sold a million copies and contained the monster hit "The Way."

    "G.O.D. (Good Old Days)," is another track from that album; it reflects this time of ambition and uncertainty, when the band was working and playing at a breakneck pace. "It has to do with moving so fast and running," Tony Scalzo, who wrote the song and sang lead said in a Songfacts interview. "When I wrote that, we were well on our way to burnout because we were in a van every day, sharing hotel rooms and just going, going, going. We did that for two years until this particular album [All the Pain Money Can Buy] came out. So, we were all over the place.

    It's all about the party every night, too. It's not like we were the most hardcore partiers, but I feel like we did party pretty good at those times."
  • Fastball had just three members at the time, so they used a number of outside musicians on this track, which includes a horn section. Here's the outside instrumentation:

    Organ – Kim Bullard
    Baritone Saxophone – Greg Smith
    Tenor Saxophone – Doug Norwine
    Trombone – Nick Lane
    Trumpet – Dennis Farias, Rick Braun
  • In the line, "We'll get together and ride around in the black and white," the "black and white" could be a police car, but that doesn't make much sense. Scalzo recalls it being about monochrome memories. "Memories are sometimes in that black-and-white look," he said.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

James Williamson of Iggy & the Stooges

James Williamson of Iggy & the StoogesSongwriter Interviews

The Stooges guitarist (and producer of the Kill City album) talks about those early recordings and what really happened with David Bowie.

Roger McGuinn of The Byrds

Roger McGuinn of The ByrdsSongwriter Interviews

Roger reveals the songwriting formula Clive Davis told him, and if "Eight Miles High" is really about drugs.

Ian Gillan of Deep Purple

Ian Gillan of Deep PurpleSongwriter Interviews

Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan explains the "few red lights" in "Smoke On The Water" and talks about songs from their 2020 album Whoosh!

Gary Lewis

Gary LewisSongwriter Interviews

Gary Lewis and the Playboys had seven Top 10 hits despite competition from The Beatles. Gary talks about the hits, his famous father, and getting drafted.

Dick Wagner (Alice Cooper/Lou Reed)

Dick Wagner (Alice Cooper/Lou Reed)Songwriter Interviews

The co-writer/guitarist on many Alice Cooper hits, Dick was also Lou Reed's axeman on the Rock n' Roll Animal album.

Little Richard

Little RichardFact or Fiction

Was Long Tall Sally a cross-dresser? Did he really set his piano on fire? See if you know the real stories about one of rock's greatest innovators.