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This song is a joyful look back at the roller-disco decade when, after Nixon and Vietnam and the times of recession, better days seemed to be ahead. "It really was a great time," Nile Rodgers told Esquire. "People were fun loving, kind, generous, open to other people's philosophies, uncritical
"Good Times" is a 1979 song composed by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers. It was first recorded by their band, Chic, for their 1979 album, Risqué. In August of that year it became the band's second number one single on both the Billboard Hot 100 and soul singles chart. Along with the tracks, "My Forbidden Lover", and "My Feet Keep Dancing", "Good Times" reached number three on the disco charts. The song has become one of the most sampled tunes in music history, most notably in hip hop music. Billboard magazine named "Good Times" the number one R&B single for 1979. The song is ranked #229 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
The lyrics are largely based on Milton Ager's "Happy Days Are Here Again." It also contains lines based on lyrics featured in "About a Quarter to Nine" made famous by Al Jolson. Nile Rodgers has stated that these depression-era lyrics were used as a hidden way to comment on the then-current economic depression in the United States.
The backing track of "Good Times" was notably recreated in The Sugarhill Gang's 1979 single "Rapper's Delight", a key track in the development of hip hop. Rodgers and Edwards threatened legal action over copyright, which resulted in a settlement and their being credited as co-writers. Rodgers admitted that he was originally upset with the song, but would later declare it to be "one of his favorite songs of all time" and his favorite of all the tracks that sampled Chic (although the song did not actually use samples). He also stated that "as innovative and important as 'Good Times' was, 'Rapper's Delight' was just as much, if not more so." Traditionally, Chic's live performances of "Good Times" incorporate a portion of "Rapper's Delight" including audience participation call-and-response.
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