‘Nothin' But a Good Time’ (also known as ‘Nothing But a Good Time’) is the first single from the hard rock/glam metal group Poison's second studio album Open Up and Say... Ahh!, with the band releasing that album in May 1988. The song was released as a single in 1988 and reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #19 on the Mainstream rock charts. It also charted at number 10 on the Australian charts and number 35 on the UK Singles chart.
In a 2018 interview with AXS, Poison drummer Rikki Rockett explained how the band wrote this for everyday people: "We wrote that song around the time we were living in a warehouse in downtown LA. We didn't have any money of our own at the time, but we would convince girls into getting fast food and taking us to the beach on the weekends. We realized that song spoke to people who were just like us. People doing their best to grind it out. It was just like us when we were a band back in Pennsylvania. We all had second jobs so that we could buy PA equipment or drum heads. That's what the song is for. It's for the working class and the wish that you can have a good time among all that. Music is the way to escape. At the end of the day, that's the payoff."
The music video features a restaurant employee, played by the same actor who appeared in the video for Mötley Crüe's ‘You're All I Need’, washing dishes while listening to the Kiss hit single ‘Rock and Roll All Nite’, performed by Poison who recorded that for Less than Zero soundtrack in 1987. The manager is angry that he enters, turns off the radio, and delivers to the employee a scathing reprimand, reminding the employee that he is being paid "to wash dishes, not to listen to that... that rock 'n' roll," and accusing him of "moving in two speeds: slow, and stop." The manager exits, whereupon the employee abandons the dishes and kicks open a nearby door to reveal a concert hall stage, upon which the band then performs the song. When the song is over, the manager returns, discovering, to his surprise, that all the dishes are washed. It was played in heavy rotation on MTV in 1987.
‘Nothin' But a Good Time’ is widely regarded as one of Poison's best songs. In 2017, Billboard and OC Weekly ranked the song number nine and number four, respectively, on their lists of the ten greatest Poison tracks. Music critic Steve Huey of Allmusic has also stated that ‘Nothin' But a Good Time’ became one of the bands "most widely recognized signature songs" as well as that parent album Open Up and Say... Ahh! wound up having "solidified the group's status as hair metal's top party band."
Label – Enigma
Songwriters – Dall; Deville; Michaels; Rockett; Bombilla (Jordi Carretero)
Producer – Tom Werman
SONG LYRICS
[Intro]Woo, mm, yeah
Hahahaha
Hoo, yow
Woo, hahaha, yeah
Now listen
[Verse 1]
Not a dime, I can't pay my rent
I can barely make it through the week
Saturday night, I'd like to make my girl
But right now, I can't make ends meet, no
[Pre-Chorus]
I'm always workin', slavin' every day
Gotta get a break from the same ol', same ol'
I need a chance just to get away
If you could hear me think, this is what I'd say
[Chorus]
Don't need nothin' but a good time
How can I resist?
Ain't lookin' for nothin' but a good time
And it don't get better than this
[Verse 2]
Say I spend my money on women and wine
But I couldn't tell you where I spent last night
I'm real sorry 'bout the shape I'm in
I just like my fun every now and then
[Pre-Chorus]
I'm always workin', slavin' every day
Gotta get a break from the same ol', same ol'
I need a chance just to get away
If you could hear me think, this is what I'd say
[Chorus]
Don't need nothin' but a good time
How can I resist?
Ain't lookin' for nothin' but a good time
And it don't get better than this
[Bridge]
You see I
I raise a toast to all of us
Who are breakin' our backs every day
If wanting a good life is such a crime
Lord, then, put me away, yeah, here's to ya
[Guitar Solo]
Mm, guitar
[Chorus]
Don't need nothin' but a good time
How can I resist?
Ain't lookin' for nothin' but a good time
And it don't get better than this
Don't need nothin' but a good time
How can I resist?
Ain't lookin' for nothin' but a good time
And it don't get better than this
[Outro]
It don’t get better, baby