Songfacts®:

• Here, Charli XCX beats herself up because she can't keep hold of healthy relationships, instead endlessly falling for men who are dysfunctional and toxic. She told Tom Grennan on BBC Radio 1's Future Sounds, "This song is about being a little bit self-destructive and I think that's definitely something that I've done a lot in my past."
• Charli XCX wrote the song with:
  
  Robin Fredrikson and Mattias Larsson of the Swedish production team Mattman & Robin.
  
  Norwegian songwriter Caroline Ailin, who has contributed towards several of Dua Lipa's hit songs, including "New Rules" and "Don't Start Now."
  
  Swedish songwriters and producers Oscar Holter and Noonie Bao, who also co-penned Charli XCX's "1999."
• Oscar Holter is part of Max Martin's Wolf Cousins production company. He teamed up with his boss to co-produce five tracks on The Weeknd's After Hours album, including the singles "Blinding Lights," "In Your Eyes," and "Save Your Tears."
• "Good Ones" has a similar '80s electro-disco sound to Holter's After Hours contributions. Charli XCX released the song as the first single from her fifth album on September 2, 2021, telling Apple Music it marked the first chapter of a new era for her. "It's very indicative of what's to come," she said. "'80s-leaning, powerful and defiant, but still emotionally bruised and vulnerable. It's me turned up to pop-demon level."
• Charli XCX co-directed the video with Hannah Lux Davis. Filmed in Mexico, it finds the singer dancing at her fallen lover's funeral. According to Charli, the visual finds her "dramatically mourning the untimely loss of my partner as I battle with the realization that once again I've abandoned the goodness in my life, in favor of the sinister."