That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy

Album: That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy (2008)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • AOL asked Keith whether this song, about a guy who thinks he's basically misunderstood, was semi-autobiographical. He replied: "You ask any guy's wife or girlfriend, and she can find some things she don't like about him, but that don't make him a bad guy. When me and Bobby Pinson wrote the song together, we wanted to be as clever as we could in saying, 'Yeah, so what? I drink whiskey from a cheap paper cup.' And then, I'll drink a pot of joe after I sober up kind of stuff. So there's little things that you're probably not going to like about me, honey, but that don't make me a bad guy. We just wanted to be as clever as we could and really hook a great melody that sounds like me. My favorite line that seals it up is, 'I'm only good as I gotta be.'"
  • In the album's press release Keith explained: "We had an idea about a guy who lives a party lifestyle, and it's kind of a tongue-in-cheek, 'Hey, this is all the stuff I do. So what?' Works great as the first song on the album, and the title track."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: '80s Edition

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: '80s EditionMusic Quiz

You know the scenes - Tom Cruise in his own pants-off dance off, Molly Ringwald celebrating her birthday - but do you remember what song is playing?

History Of Rock

History Of RockSong Writing

An interview with Dr. John Covach, music professor at the University of Rochester whose free online courses have become wildly popular.

Don Brewer of Grand Funk

Don Brewer of Grand FunkSongwriter Interviews

The drummer and one of the primary songwriters in Grand Funk talks rock stardom and Todd Rundgren.

Tim Butler of The Psychedelic Furs

Tim Butler of The Psychedelic FursSongwriter Interviews

Tim and his brother Richard are the Furs' foundation; Tim explains how they write and tells the story of "Pretty In Pink."

Paul Williams

Paul WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

He's a singer and an actor, but as a songwriter Paul helped make Kermit a cultured frog, turned a bank commercial into a huge hit and made love both "exciting and new" and "soft as an easy chair."

Experience Nirvana with Sub Pop Founder Bruce Pavitt

Experience Nirvana with Sub Pop Founder Bruce PavittSong Writing

The man who ran Nirvana's first label gets beyond the sensationalism (drugs, Courtney) to discuss their musical and cultural triumphs in the years before Nevermind.