"The Good Life" is a song by Canadian
rock band
Three Days Grace. It was released as the second single from their third studio album, Life Starts Now and was serviced to radio airplay on February 9, 2010.[1] It charted at number 85 on the
Canadian Hot 100 before becoming a single. The song hit number one on the
Mainstream Rock Tracks[2] and
Rock Songs chart and number four on the
Alternative Songs chart matching "
Break".[3] It was the second most played song on the Active Rock format in 2010.[4]
Background and composition
"The Good Life" was written by
Adam Gontier and was produced by
Howard Benson. Gontier described the track as a "simple song" and stated, "It's a grass greener kinda thing. You look at somebody else's life and wanting what they have, which again brings you back to the ego - it doesn't matter how good your life looks from the outside, there's always things you want."[5]
The song was also performed during a concert of Three Days Grace along series of concerts during the
2010 Winter Olympics in
Vancouver on February 15, 2010.
Critical reception
AXS.com listed "The Good Life" as one of the "top 10 best Three Days Grace songs." Patricia Jones of AXS praised the song for its "incredibly bouncy" and "infectious" sound. She stated, "The springy chords and compelling drums make it an easy choice for listening, jamming, and dancing."[6]
Music video
The band shot the video with director Michael Maxxis on March 23, 2010.[7] The video was released on April 27, 2010.[8] The video consists of the band performing in a garage, with Adam Gontier wearing a
Citizen Cope outfit, with clips of people performing activities, both recreational and with violent overtones. The video ends with a man kissing his wife and leaving for work. In contrast to the clean and professionally shot look of previous music video for "
Break", this video is filmed with a handheld camera in a messy, real world environment and makes heavy use of video editing effects and
colour grading to look rough and visually vibrant.
