Good Time

Album: The Midsummer Station (2012)
Charted: 5 8
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Songfacts®:

  • This feel-good summer track by Synthpop act Owl City, aka Adam Young, is a duet with Canadian pop singer Carly Rae Jepsen. The Minnesota native wrote the song in the early months of 2011, when it was anything but summer outside. He told MTV News that he wanted to craft a tune that "anybody from any walk of life can sing."
  • Apparently the "Fireflies" singer had a good time collaborating with the "Call Me Maybe" star. Young told MTV News: "I feel like every artist is inherently granted one shot to sing about having a good time in his or her life, and six months ago, I realized I hadn't cashed in my chips yet. So I thought, 'I'm gonna sit down and I'm gonna give this a shot... and get my friend Carly to sing on it'. The final product rarely exceeds your expectations, and this thing just kind of happened."
  • When asked about working with Jepsen, Young replied, "I love Carly's song 'Call Me Maybe.' I remember hearing it for the first time and immediately became a huge fan of hers – it is absolutely contagious. A bit later, I actually found out that she had known of my music for a while and even went to a couple of shows of mine in Vancouver so I definitely knew I wanted to collaborate with her."
  • Young and Jepsen hadn't met before the recording of "Good Time." Owl City manager Steve Bursky and Scooter Braun, who is the head of Jepsen's U.S. label, Schoolboy Records, introduced the pair. The two impresarios were childhood pals, growing up together just outside of New York City and they later reconnected in 2009.
  • The song's music video was shot in early July 2012 at a lakeside spot in upstate New York. It follows Carly Rae and her friends heading to a camping spot in the woods just as Young and his pals happen to be driving to the same location.
  • The song features additional vocals by The Minneapolis Youth Choir and Young's friend Matthew Thiessen, who is the frontman of Christian rock band Relient K. Thiessen has collaborated on a number of other Owl City tracks, including the #1 single "Fireflies."
  • Regarding the The Midsummer Station album title, Young told AOL Music that it is, "Purely imagery." He explained: "To me it's like, I have this place in my head that is ambiguous and safe. It's this idealist, surreal, perfect world. I think everyone needs that."
  • Alabama singer/songwriter Ally Burnett sued the song's writers Young, Matt Thiessen and Brian Lee, claiming that that copied a prominent motif of her 2010 recording, "Ah, It's a Love Song," from her album The Takeover. Burnett's lawsuits alleges that a "unique vocal motif" from her song is repeated throughout "Good Time," and "has a catchy pop vibe that both draws people in and sticks in people's heads."

    Burnett also claimed that she has "suffered emotional and psychological damage" as fans accused her of copying "Good Time."
    The lawsuit then becomes particularly arcane on points of musicology and composing regarding the alleged similarities of the two songs, claiming they share "identical pitch sequence ... melodic contour ... rhythmic construction ... [and] timbre."

    The Hollywood Reporter reported in June 2014 that Allyson Burnett eventually dropped the copyright infringement lawsuit after "extensive investigation" confirmed the song to be an original composition.
  • The song topped the singles charts in several countries including New Zealand, South Korea and Jepsen's native Canada.

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