‘Wouldn't It Be Good’ is a song by the English singer-songwriter Nik Kershaw, released on 20 January 1984 as the second single from his debut studio album, Human Racing (1984). It spent three weeks at No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart and was successful throughout Europe, as well as a top-10 entry in Canada and Australia. In the United States, it narrowly missed the top 40. Kershaw performed it at Live Aid in London's Wembley Stadium in July 1985.
Kershaw's first single from this album had failed to be a major hit, and it was on the strength of this recording's success that the earlier single, ‘I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me’, was promoted for a re-release. This time the single went all the way to No. 2 in the UK, becoming his highest-charting single there to date.
Kershaw remembers that this was one of the last songs he wrote for the Human Racing album, mapping out the chords first on a keyboard. He decided to create a kind of "guitar orchestra", inspired by work of Queen's Brian May, where the notes were separated into single lines and harmonies. Kershaw elaborates on the layering of the guitar lines: “I think I'm playing fifths in one go. But some of the more subtle notes just didn't work, so I think I did about four takes of each note, so there were a lot of takes, and this was all on analogue tape, obviously. We then bounced them all together to make that one sound.” According to Kershaw, there were about 20 guitars on this song alone.
Kershaw says that the song was about "always wanting it better than everyone else", a concept which the director of the video further developed and integrated into the video plot of Kershaw being the alien who steps into other people's shoes. But in the end the alien realises that it was not such a good idea at all, and decides to return to his home planet.
n the music video for ‘Wouldn't It Be Good’, Kershaw is an extraterrestrial visitor who observes the characteristics of the people around him. It was directed by graphic designer Storm Thorgerson, was released in 1984 and received heavy rotation on MTV, which helped the song reach No. 46 on the US charts. It used chroma key technology to achieve the alien suit's special effects. The music video was filmed in mid-January 1984 over a period of three days, primarily in and around St. James' Court Hotel, London.
Label – MCA
Songwriter – Nik Kershaw
Producer – Peter Collins
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]I got it bad
You don't know how bad I got it
You got it easy
You don't know when you've got it good
It's getting harder
Just keeping life and soul together
I'm sick of fighting
Even though I know I should
The cold is biting
Through each and every nerve and fiber
My broken spirit
Is frozen to the core
I don't want to be here no more
[Chorus]
Wouldn't it be good to be in your shoes
Even if it was for just one day?
Wouldn't it be good if we could wish ourselves away?
Wouldn't it be good to be on your side?
The grass is always greener over there
Wouldn't it be good if we could live without a care?
[Verse 2]
You must be joking
You don't know a thing about it
You've got no problem
I'd stay right there if I were you
I got it harder
You couldn't dream how hard I got it
Stay out of my shoes
If you know what's good for you
The heat is stifling
Burning me up from the inside
The sweat is coming
Through each and every pore
I don't want to be here no more
I don't want to be here no more
I don't want to be here no more
[Horns/Keyboards]
[Chorus]
Wouldn't it be good to be in your shoes
Even if it was for just one day?
Wouldn't it be good if we could wish ourselves away? Ooh
Wouldn't it be good to be on your side?
The grass is always greener over there
Wouldn't it be good if we could live without a care?
[Outro]
I got it bad
You don't know how bad I got it
You got it easy
You don't know when you've got it good
It's getting harder
Just keeping life and soul together
I'm sick of fighting
Even though I know I should
I don't want to be here no more
I don't want to be here no more