Good Time (Alan Jackson song)

Infobox Single
Name = Good Time


Cover size =
Border =
Caption = Cover for the "dance mix"
Artist = Alan Jackson
Album = Good Time
Released = April 21, 2008 [Song charted before its official release date.]
Format = CD Single
Recorded =
Genre = Country
Length = 5:06 (album version)
3:39 (radio edit)
Label = Arista Nashville
Writer = Alan Jackson
Producer = Keith Stegall
Audio sample? =
Certification =
Last single = "Small Town Southern Man"
(2007)
This single = "Good Time"
(2008)
Next single = "Country Boy"
(2008)
Misc =

"Good Time" is the name of a song recorded and written by American country music singer Alan Jackson. It is the title track and second single from his 2008 studio album "Good Time", having been released in April 2008. Overall, it is his forty-eighth Top Ten hit on the "Billboard" Hot Country Songs charts and his twenty-fourth Number One hit.

Content

"Good Time" is an up-tempo song in which the narrator claims that he is tired after a week of working, and wants to have a party because "all the conditions are right". [cite web |url=http://www.gactv.com/gac/ar_az_alan_jackson/article/0,,GAC_26112_4702862,00.html |title= Alan Jackson Biography (page 1 of 3) |accessdate=2008-06-26 |work=Great American Country] This sentiment is stated in the last lines of each verse:

:"I've been workin' all week and I'm tired, and I don't wanna sleep, I just want to have fun:"It's time for a good time"

After the first verse, the lyrics list off the various happenings at the party, such as "a shot of tequila, beer on tap / Sweet Southern woman to sit on my lap". The lyrics also contain references to Brooks & Dunn's "Boot Scootin' Boogie" and Hank Williams, Jr.'s "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight;" the song is written in the exact same key and tempo as "Boot Scootin' Boogie" and features a similar bass line; however, it appears not to have been sampled. The radio edit omits two verses. A dance mix, entitled the "Too Hot to Fish" mix, was also released to radio.

As with all the other songs on the album, Alan Jackson wrote "Good Time" himself. Describing the song in an article for "Country Weekly" magazine, he said, "I've just always written things that are simpler… just things that I like and my fans still like… [Fans] would just rather have something that makes their day easier."cite journal |last=Horner |first=Alanna |date=2008-09-22 |title=Story Behind the Song: Song for Summer |journal=Country Weekly |volume=15 |issue=19 |pages=16 |accessdate=2008-09-07]

Music video

The music video for "Good Time" showed Jackson and his band playing the song, as hundreds of people formed a huge line dance. Local television coverage clips showing that Jackson was attempting to set the record for longest line dance were included. [ [http://blog.cmt.com/2008-06-06/choreographing-the-worlds-longest-line-dance/ "Choreographing the World's Longest Line Dance"] ]

Reception

Reviewer Matt C. of The 9513, a country music blog, gave "Good Time" a "thumbs down" review, as he felt that its list-format lyrics were a "crutch" that Jackson was using. Although he commended Jackson's "classy and genuine" vocal performance, he nonetheless considered the song lacking in "the kind of sentiment that characterized 'Small Town Southern Man'". [cite web |url=http://www.the9513.com/alan-jackson-good-time/ |title=Alan Jackson - "Good Time" |accessdate=2008-07-21 |last=C. |first=Matt |date=2008-05-07 |work=The 9513] Adam Tamburin from the same site, however, gave the song a more positive review in his review of the album, stating that the song " [shook] the cobwebs from Jackson's lighthearted side", which he felt had been downplayed on Jackson's more somber offerings (such as "Precious Memories", his gospel album). [cite web |url=http://www.the9513.com/album-review-alan-jackson-good-time/ |title=Alan Jackson - "Good Time" |accessdate=2008-07-21 |last=Tamburin |first=Adam |date=2008-03-20 |work=The 9513]

Initially, Jackson had wanted "Good Time" to be the first single from the album, because he had largely avoided up-tempo songs for the past several years, and wanted to put out "somethin' a little more fun [and] up-tempo". However, the staff at his label decided to release "Small Town Southern Man" first, as it was "more typical of what people expect" of him. "Good Time" was then chosen as the second single, because it was thought that an up-tempo song would work well for the summertime.

Chart performance

"Good Time" debuted at #42 on the Hot Country Songs chart dated April 18, 2008. On the chart week of August 2, 2008, it reached Number One, giving Jackson the twenty-fourth Number One country hit of his career.

Charts

References