In the fifties after many failed attempts to sell his songs, he finally was signed up with Capitol Records and recorded a few rock and roll songs without much chart success. Just before he was drafted into the Army, he wrote a song called 'The All American Boy' and did a demo for his friend, Bill Parsons, to learn and record it. Instead of using the version Bill Parsons did later, the record company, Fraternity Records, decided to use the original demo done by Bobby Bare. The record reached number 2 on the Billboard Top 100, but it was wrongly credited to Bill Parsons.
His real big break came when RCA boss and guitarist Chet Atkins signed him to the RCA label. The first song he released on this label, 'Shame On Me', sold nearly a million copies and pushed Bobby Bare to fame overnight. His second RCA release, 'Detroit City' won him a Grammy for the best song of the year. Then a surge of hits followed, including '500 Miles Away From Home', 'Four Strong Winds' and others. He has also recorded two very successful albums with Skeeter Davis and has also dueted with Lacy J. Dalton and Rosanne Cash and additionally had a major hit as part of a trio with Norma Jean (singer) and Liz Anderson in 1967 titled 'The Game of Triangles'.
He moved to Mercury label in 1970 and had two big hits from early Kris Kristofferson compositions, 'Come Sundown' and 'Please Don't Tell Me How The Story Ends' before returning to RCA label where he produced his own records. Later Bare moved to CBS label and in 1979, he helped establish Rosanne Cash's career by singing with her on "No Memories Hangin' Round". Bare's singles for Columbia Records included 'The Jogger', 'Tequila Sheila', 'Gotta Get Rid Of This Band', 'When Hippies Get Older' and 'Numbers'. He later recorded for EMI with little success.
Bobby Bare is a versatile singer, and in the 70s started to release novelty songs recorded live with selected audiences. One of such songs, 'Marie Laveau' about a witch, reached the number one position on the country chart. This song was written by his friend, a very talented song writer, poet, author and cartoonist Shel Silverstein. He also penned many other songs for Bobby Bare including a Grammy nominated hit called 'Daddy What If' which he recorded with his five year old son, Bobby Bare Jr, who later became a star on his own. Bobby Bare later recorded a very successful album with his family and penned mainly by Shel called 'Singing in The Kitchen'. It was nominated for best group category in Grammy Awards but was declined by Bobby himself.
He later took chances recording strange, controversial material as 'Dropkick Me Jesus (Through The Goalposts Of Life)' (a 1976 Grammy nominee) and the expletive-driven 'Redneck Hippie Romance' with much success.
Bobby Bare is also the first to come up with a concept album called 'Bird Named Yesterday' which was very successful. His most successful concept album is 'Lullaby Legends and Lies'.
Bobby Bare was also given an opportunity to star in the movies. He did a Western with Troy Donahue called A Distant Trumpet, and a few episodes of a TV series called No Time for Sergeants. He turned his back on Hollywood to pursue his career in Country Music.
In 1998 he formed the band Old Dogs together with his friends Jerry Reed, Mel Tillis and Waylon Jennings.
In addition to the above, Bobby Bare is credited for introducing Waylon Jennings to RCA. He is also one of the first to record from many well known song writers such as Jack Clement, Harlan Howard, Billy Joe Shaver, Mickey Newberry, Tom T. Hall, Kris Kristofferson, and many others. He later had a TV series called 'Bobby Bare & Friends, A Song Writer Showcase'. Recently, he has recorded a new album after over 20 years called 'The Moon Was Blue' produced by his son. His son, Bobby Bare, Jr., is also a musician.
All the good times are past and gone
Bobby Bare Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
All the good times are past and gone what's left for a poor boy to do
I can still see my mama bend over that ol' washpot
And it's so doggone cold you could nearly freeze on the spot
My pa eatin' them flapjacks and yellin' for more
And the kids makin' tracks across mama's clean floor
But all them good times are past and gone now all the good times are gone
Well you could look for miles down a winding railroad track
And see train a leavin' and hear one comin' back
And with a cloud of blue up over your head
It's like something from a storybook that you once read
But all them good times are past and gone now all the good times are gone
All the good times are past and gone what's left for a poor boy to do
And go down on that river when the big boats make their run
And the cane poles grow so thick they block up the sun
Just smell that coffee boilin' in an old tin can
And that hot grease poppin' in the fryin' pan
But all them good times are past and gone now all them good times are gone
All the good times are past and gone what's left for a poor boy to do
The song "All the good times are past and gone" by Bobby Bare is a lamentation of the passing of a time long gone. The chorus repeats the lines "All the good times are past and gone" to emphasize the finality of the situation. The singer reminisces about his childhood and how his parents and siblings used to spend time together. He remembers his mother washing clothes in a pot, his father eating flapjacks, and his siblings playing and making tracks on the floor. The nostalgia and sense of loss are palpable throughout the song.
The singer's memories then take him beyond his family and into the wider world. He recalls watching trains come and go, seeing their smoke and hearing their whistles. This experience is something he describes almost as if it's a storybook fantasy, highlighting the distance between what was and what is now. Similarly, he describes going down to the river to see the big boats make their run, fishing with cane poles and smelling the coffee and hot grease. All of these experiences and memories are now gone, leaving the poor boy in question to wonder what's left for him to do.
Line by Line Meaning
All the good times are past and gone all the good times are past and gone
There used to be good times, but they are gone now and will never come back.
All the good times are past and gone what's left for a poor boy to do
The singer, a poor boy, wonders what he can do now that the good times are gone.
I can still see my mama bend over that ol' washpot
The singer remembers his mother doing the laundry and can still see her doing it in his mind.
And it's so doggone cold you could nearly freeze on the spot
The weather was so cold that it was almost unbearable.
My pa eatin' them flapjacks and yellin' for more
The artist's father was eating pancakes and asking for more.
And the kids makin' tracks across mama's clean floor
The children were running around on the clean floor, leaving dirty footprints.
But all them good times are past and gone now all the good times are gone
The good times of the singer's childhood are gone and will never return.
Well you could look for miles down a winding railroad track
From a distance, someone could see the train tracks stretch for miles.
And see train a leavin' and hear one comin' back
Someone could see a train leaving and hear another one coming back in the distance.
And with a cloud of blue up over your head
When a train passed by, a cloud of blue smoke would rise up over the artist's head.
It's like something from a storybook that you once read
The sight of a train passing by was so magical that it felt like something out of a storybook.
And go down on that river when the big boats make their run
The artist used to go down to the river to watch the big boats go by.
And the cane poles grow so thick they block up the sun
The cane poles were so thick that they would block the sun.
Just smell that coffee boilin' in an old tin can
The singer remembers the smell of coffee boiling in an old tin can.
And that hot grease poppin' in the fryin' pan
The singer remembers the sound of hot grease popping in a frying pan.
But all them good times are past and gone now all them good times are gone
The good times associated with the river and the smell of coffee and hot grease are gone and will never return.
All the good times are past and gone what's left for a poor boy to do
The artist, a poor boy, is left wondering what there is to do now that the good times are gone.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Howard Hausey
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@hqztonners
Thank YOU!!!!!!!
This is awesome and my old man is gonna love it!!!!
@BeMisty
You're very welcome, Michael!
@DustyRusty81
Never heard this but I like it
@BeMisty
+DustyRusty81 Glad you like it =)