Tag: All The Good Ones Are Taken

This title track was my first introduction to Ian Hunter. I had no clue he had been with Mott the Hoople when I heard it. In the eighties, I heard this on our local rock station, WKDF, daily, and I fell for it. It’s one of those songs I never hear now, except maybe at a grocery store, and it’s a shame. It is a nice jangly song in the synth-heavy 1980s, an underrated song. For a bonus, we have Clarence Clemmons doing the sax solo. The video, as well, got my attention with a take on the movie Arthur. 

Hunter had moved from Cleveland to New York by this point, being influenced by his new city. He later said that the recording reflected his uneasy stance in the musical landscape of that time. His longtime guitarist, Mick Ronson, wasn’t in the picture for this album (although he played on one song); Hunter instead used Robbie Alter and New York session players.

There were two versions of this song: the version most radio stations played and a slow version. What I liked about this song, too, is that the version I heard sounded out of step with 1983, and I appreciated that. Many of his fans often point to it as one of his most underrated tracks, and I totally agree. 

This song peaked at #25 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart in 1983. I had the album and the cassette that I wore out in my car tape deck. 

All Of The Good Ones Are Taken

Girl, things ain’t been goin’ too good for me
Girl, I’m living in the middle of a mystery
You’re the one that can turn me on
‘N’ now that you’re gone
I said Girl, I’m livin’ in the middle of your memory
Girl, you’re still the figure in my favorite fantasy
I know you know that’s the way it goes
And still my love grows

I said all o’ the good all o’ the good ones are taken
All o’ the good all o’ the good ones are taken

I’m hangin’ around with my head in the air
Watchin’ the lovers go by
I had a lover, but she never cared
All you could say was goodbye
Maybe I was mistaken, maybe I got it wrong
But all of the good ones are taken from now on
‘N’ girl, I’m livin’ in the middle of a broken dream
I said girl all this fallin’ in love ain’t like it seems
Out in the rain can’t you feel my pain
Again ‘n’ again ‘n’ again ‘n’ again ‘n’ again
All of the good all o’ the good ones are taken
Maybe I was mistaken, maybe I got it wrong
But all of the good ones are taken in my song