"The Good Life" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backing v ...

, released on October 29, 1996 as the second single from their second studio album, '' Pinkerton'' (1996), as well as an EP in Australia. "The Good Life" was rush-released by the record company to try to save the commercially failing album, but was not successful.

Content

In 1995, Weezer frontman

Rivers Cuomo Rivers Cuomo ( ; born June 13, 1970) is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, pianist, and songwriter of the rock band Weezer. Cuomo was raised in a number of Buddhist communities in the Northeast U.S. until the age of 10, wh ...

underwent a corrective operation for his leg and was in a leg brace. The brace was debilitatingly painful and inspired the lyrics to the title song. The inside picture in the CD's booklet is an X-ray of Rivers' leg brace. The B-sides include "I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams" (featuring

Rachel Haden Rachel Haden (born October 11, 1971 in New York City) is an American musician and one of the triplet daughters of jazz bassist Charlie Haden. In the early 1990s, Haden played bass guitar for That Dog, a band that also included her sister Petra. ...

That Dog That Dog (styled as that dog.) is a Los Angeles-based rock band that formed in 1992 and dissolved in 1997, reuniting in 2011. The band originally consisted of Anna Waronker on lead vocals and guitar, Rachel Haden on bass guitar and vocals, her s ...

on vocals), a song once intended for Weezer's unreleased album ''

Songs from the Black Hole ''Songs from the Black Hole'' is an unfinished album by American rock band Weezer recorded between 1994 and 1996. Intended to follow Weezer's 1994 self-titled debut album, it was to be a rock opera that expressed songwriter Rivers Cuomo's mix ...

''. The live songs were taken from a set played by the band at Shorecrest High School near Seattle. The school had won a contest and got Weezer to play during lunch in 1997. A very young Daniel Brummel of Ozma can be seen in the upper right side of the EP's cover.

Music video

The song's

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

, directed by

Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris Jonathan Dayton (born July 7, 1957) and Valerie Faris (born October 20, 1958) are a team of American film and music video directors who received critical acclaim for their feature film directorial debut, ''Little Miss Sunshine'' (2006). Later the ...

, features a pizza delivery girl (played by

Mary Lynn Rajskub Mary Lynn Rajskub (; born June 22, 1971) is an American actress and comedian who is best known for portraying Chloe O'Brian in the action thriller series '' 24'', and the character Gail the Snail in ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia''. Rajskub ...

) on her route, highlighting the monotony of her job. The music video is noted for its use of simultaneous camera angles appearing on screen as a fractured full image in a techniqueLuerssen D., John, 2004 p. 221 jokingly described by Weezer bassist

Scott Shriner Scott Gardner Shriner (born July 11, 1965) is an American musician best known as a member of the rock band Weezer, with whom he has recorded twelve studio albums. Joining the band in 2001, Shriner is the band's longest serving bass guitarist. Prio ...

on the band's March 2004 DVD ''

Video Capture Device Video capture is the process of converting an analog video signal—such as that produced by a video camera, DVD player, or television tuner—to digital video and sending it to local storage or to external circuitry. The resulting digital data a ...

'' as being "so innovative, I've never seen it since."

Blink-182 Blink-182 (stylized as blink-182) is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Poway, California in 1992. Their current lineup consists of bassist/vocalist Mark Hoppus, guitarist/vocalist Tom DeLonge, and drummer Travis Barker. Though their ...

's video for their November 2004 single "

Always Always may refer to: Film and television * ''Always'', a 1985 film directed by Henry Jaglom * ''Always'' (1989 film), a 1989 romantic comedy-drama directed by Steven Spielberg * ''Always'' (2011 film), a 2011 South Korean film, also known as '' ...

" used a similar technique. The video's directors would go on to cast Mary Lynn Rajskub as ''Pageant Assistant Pam'' in their first feature-length motion picture ''

Little Miss Sunshine ''Little Miss Sunshine'' is a 2006 American tragicomedy road film and the feature film directorial debut of the husband–wife team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. The screenplay was written by first-time writer Michael Arndt. The film sta ...

''.

Release

"The Good Life" single and EP was released in the spring of 1997 at the behest of the band's label DGC. '' Pinkerton'' had not received the same response that the group's first eponymous album did, and the single/EP was issued in an attempt to score a hit, but was not successful. The single version was remixed with a more prominent bass track and panned vocals, and was included on the deluxe edition of ''Pinkerton''.

Track listing

Europe and Japan

CD single A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any si ...

# "The Good Life" – 4:19 # "Waiting on You" – 4:13 # "I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams" – 2:39 Australia EP # "The Good Life" – 4:19 # "Waiting on You" – 4:13 # "I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams" – 2:39 # "The Good Life" (Live Acoustic) – 4:40 # "

Pink Triangle A pink triangle has been a symbol for the LGBTQ+ community, initially intended as a badge of shame, but later reclaimed as a positive symbol of self-identity and love for queerness. In Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, it began as one of the Na ...

" (Live Acoustic) – 4:26

Personnel

Brian Bell Brian Lane Bell (born December 9, 1968) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the rhythm guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist, and occasional lead vocalist of the rock band Weezer, with whom he has recorded fi ...

– rhythm guitar, backing vocals *

– lead vocals, lead guitar, piano, glockenspiel *

Matt Sharp Matthew Kelly Sharp (born September 22, 1969) is an American songwriter and musician. Until 1998, he was the bassist for the alternative rock band Weezer, which he cofounded in 1992. He appears on their first two albums, the ''Weezer (Blue Album ...

– bass guitar, backing vocals *

Patrick Wilson Patrick Joseph Wilson (born July 3, 1973) is an American actor and director. He began his career in 1995, starring in Broadway musicals. He received nominations for two Tony Awards for his roles in ''The Full Monty'' (2000–2001) and ''Oklahoma ...

– drums, percussion

Charts

References

External links

*
Lyrics for "The Good Life"
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Good Life, The Weezer songs 1996 singles 1996 songs Songs written by Rivers Cuomo Music videos directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris DGC Records singles