Cars – Let The Good Times Roll

This song was on The Car’s great debut album that just keeps giving. “Good Times Roll” was released as the third single from the album.

Ric Ocasek wrote and sang lead on this song. None of the songs were huge hits but 6 songs off of the album still get played on radio today. Rolling Stone also ranked the album No. 284 in its “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” list.

This song peaked at #41 in the Billboard 100 and #74 in Canada in 1979.

Ric Ocasek:  “I just remember when we did ‘Good Times Roll’ in the studio in England on the first record, and we heard back the vocals. I told Roy that I thought it was way, way too much. … But you know, it grew on me later and it sounded so smooth. It was a nice process to do it because Roy, you know, was fortunate enough to have a 40-track machine … so he could do layering of vocals a lot.”

Good Times Roll

Let the good times roll
Let them knock you around
Let the good times roll
Let them make you a clown

Let them leave you up in the air
Let them brush your rock and roll hair

Let the good times roll
Let the good times roll
Let the good times roll

Let the stories be told
They can say what they want
Let the photos be old
Let them show what they want

Let them leave you up in the air
Let them brush your rock and roll hair
Let the good times roll
Let the good times roll-oll
Won’t you let the good times roll

Good times roll

If the illusion is real
Let them give you a ride
If they got thunder appeal
Let them be on your side

Let them leave you up in the air
Let them brush your rock and roll hair
Let the good times roll
Won’t you let the good times roll-oll
Let the good times roll

Let the good times roll
Won’t you let the good times roll
Well let the good times roll
Let ’em roll (good times roll)

Let the good times roll
Let the good times roll
Ooh let the good times roll
Let ’em roll (good times roll)

Let the good times roll
(Let the good times roll)
Let the good times roll
Good times roll
(Let the good times roll)
Let the good times roll
Let ’em roll

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball fan, old movie and tv show fan... and a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

15 thoughts on “Cars – Let The Good Times Roll”

  2. I think – can’t bet money on it, but seem to recall – they actually played my hometown in the 80s… the suburb, rather than Toronto itself. That was a rarity back then. But , didn’t see them. It was a very good album… kind of think they never matched it later on, but it was an impressive introduction.

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  3. That was a great album. I used to work at a family-owned business, and one of the brothers had a band that would practice in a storage room after hours. They knew one song, “Just What I Needed.” I always think of that when I think of the songs from that album.

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    1. That is a great song also…it’s been joked that this album should be called “Car’s Greatest Hits”

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      1. When you can go 6 singles deep that’s impressive to say the least.
        Another one that comes to mind is Leppards Hysteria. The whole first side which is 6 songs were all singles which was crazy.
        And a 7th single on the second side.

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      2. That is a good example…and they don’t have to be number 1s either…but just popular and still played…which most of that album is.

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  6. While I always liked their songs on the radio, for some reason, I never followed The Cars. It’s like you said, there are five or six tunes on this album, which got a good deal of radio play. I had no idea they were all from the same record. Getting so many songs out of one album is really remarkable.

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    1. They had two very big albums…one was this one and the other was in the 80s…I tend to side to the seventies sound.
      It took me a while to really appreciate them. I wish I would have seen them

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