Songfacts®:

• The speaker in this song disparages herself and her peers for their general inaction ("Standing here on this frozen lake"). Her guilt over this is so great she's afraid of going to the doctor because she fears an MRI will reveal all the things she should have done. The general theme of the song is the cyclical nature of depression, sloth, and guilt. >>>

  Suggestion credit:
  Alden - College Park, MD
• Lewis isn't the same person who co-wrote the perennially angsty "The Good That Won't Come Out."
  
  You say I choose sadness
  That it never once has chosen me
  Maybe you're right
  
  "Those were my emo days! You could only write that in your 20s," she shuddered to The Independent in a 2023 interview. "But yes, I do think choosing sadness is a thing."
  
  "Well, sometimes you can't help it," Lewis added. "I wake up at three in the morning and I'm like, 'Oh God, what have I done with my life?' Sadness is the default, and you have to work your way out a bit. Exercise helps."
• "The Good That Won't Come Out" is the opening track of The Execution of All Things, the second full-length album released by Rilo Kiley. Bright Eyes guitarist Mike Mogis produced the record, which Rilo Kiley recorded at Mogis' Presto! Recording Studios in Lincoln, Nebraska.
• Rilo Kiley band member Blake Sennett plays guitar on "The Good That Won't Come Out," with Jenny Lewis on organ, guitar and keyboards; Pierre de Reeder on bass and guitar; and Jason Boesel on drums and orchestra bells.
  
  Mike Mogis plays pedal steel, guitar, vibraphone and glockenspiel.
  
  Ryan Fox of the indie rock band The Good Life guests on saxophone.