Good Times

Album: Last Young Renegade (2017)
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Songfacts®:

  • This was the first song that All Time Low wrote for Last Young Renegade, and it became the cornerstone of the entire record. Frontman Alex Gaskarth explained:

    "Writing this song set us on a path that would lead to this world of night drives, rain-slicked streets, and the neon hum of a small town fit for escaping."

    "Without 'Good Times', the Last Young Renegade wouldn't exist," he continued. "I'm thankful to have found this song in the creative ether, and doubly so for the reflections in the lyrics that inspired this big adventure."
  • Gaskarth explained the song's meaning:

    "It’s about moving on and letting go, acknowledging you’re ready to take an uncertain next step. You’re looking fondly back at where you’ve been, knowing it’s time to go somewhere new. There’s something both exciting and terrifying about standing at the edge of a necessary unknown."
  • The song's politically charged music video was directed by Pat Tracey and follows several high school student couples facing discrimination for their sexuality, race and religion. We see them deal with the drama of being different.

    "We are so proud of this video, of Pat who helped us bring it to life, the small glimpses into amazing lives we see within, and the beautiful, diverse people it represents," said Gaskarth in a press statement. "Always be exactly who you are, and don't live in fear of someone else's judgment. Be brave, be bold, and find your happiness in yourself and the ones you love."
  • Alex Gaskarth expanded on the inspiration for the video during an interview with Billboard. He said:

    "Well the inspiration really comes from a few different places. But, I think the biggest and most important is that we wanted to make a video that speaks for the youth. 'Good Times' as a song always felt like it was paying homage to the past, and it felt very nostalgic. We always sort of felt it was a bit of a graduation song, so to speak. So that kind of crosses the video, as far as setting it in the high school years of these kids that you see in the video. A big part of that had to do with those moments of graduating are constant throughout life and that's really what the song reflects. But we felt like kind of focusing it on one generation would be good for the context for the video.

    Then we really just wanted to speak to issues that we feel like a lot of kids are facing on an everyday basis in this country, especially right now. It was really important to us to, in the small window of time you have in a music video, to kind of convey this message that all these different kids from different walks of life are going through all sorts of different experiences, and it's a video for the downtrodden. It's a video for people who feel like they may be marginalized or categorized or held down because of that, and we just wanted to sort of leave them with a note saying 'You'll be okay. You'll find your place. You'll find your happiness.' Because I think it's something a lot of people go through, especially at that age."

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