Three Dog Night is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California best … Read Full Bio ↴Three Dog Night is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California best known for their music from 1968 to 1975, during which time they achieved twenty-one consecutive Billboard Top 40 Hits and 12 consecutive Gold Albums. Three Dog Night are still active in 2012, touring and recording 43 years after their first album was released. The first of the band's 7 million-selling singles was One in 1969. They scored three number one singles: Mama Told Me (Not to Come), Joy to the World and Black and White.

The original lineup included three lead vocalists — Danny Hutton, Chuck Negron, and Cory Wells — along with Michael Allsup on guitar, Jimmy Greenspoon on keyboards Floyd Sneed on drums and Joe Schermie (from the Cory Wells Blues Band) on bass.

Three Dog Night recorded some tracks with Beach Boys producer, composer, vocalist, and instrumentalist Brian Wilson before signing with Dunhill Records and at the time went under the name Redwood. The band changed their name based on an article describing how Australian Aborigines slept with their dogs for warmth on cold nights, the coldest being a "three-dog night."

Good Time Living
Three Dog Night Lyrics

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Air pollution, revolution, you know I've had my fill.
Advertisin', computerizin', don't understand it and I never will.

Got to get back to some good time livin'
Got to get out where the air is sweet.
Got to, got to get back livin'
Work with our hands, live off the land,
Feel good clean earth under your feet.

Isolation, segregation, government controls
Call it a cop out gotta drop out.
You and me we gotta save out souls.

Got to get back to some good time livin'
Got to get out where the air is sweet.
Got to, got to get back livin'
Work with our hands, live off the land,
Feel good clean earth under your feet.

You're gonna take to planting flowers everywhere.
We'll find a world of simple pleasures we can share.

Gotta, gotta, got, got, to get back living.
Gotta, gotta, got, got, to get back living.
Gotta, gotta, got, got, to get back living.
Gotta, gotta, got, got, to get back living.
Gotta, gotta, got, got, to get back living.

Gotta, gotta, got, got, to get back living.
Gotta, gotta, got, got, to get back living.
Gotta, gotta, got, got, to get back living.

Gotta, gotta, got, got, to get back living.
Gotta, gotta, got, got, to get back living.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Three Dog Night's "Good Time Living" speak to a longing for a simpler, more authentic way of life, unencumbered by the noise and complexity of modern society. The singer expresses frustration with the pollution, technology, and bureaucracy of contemporary life, and calls for a return to a more elemental existence, one in which people work with their hands, live off the land, and feel the earth beneath their feet. The song also addresses social and political issues, suggesting that isolation and segregation, as well as government control, are symptoms of a larger malaise that threatens the soul of humanity.

Overall, "Good Time Living" can be seen as a critique of modernity, a plea for a return to a more natural and sustainable way of life, and a celebration of community and shared values. The song captures a sense of restlessness and longing felt by many people in the late 1960s and early 1970s, as they struggled to find meaning in a world that seemed increasingly fragmented and alienating.

Line by Line Meaning

Air pollution, revolution, you know I've had my fill.
I'm tired of pollution and social turmoil.

Advertisin', computerizin', don't understand it and I never will.
I don't relate to modern technology and commercialism.

Got to get back to some good time livin'
I need to return to a simpler, more fulfilling lifestyle.

Got to get out where the air is sweet.
I want to escape to a natural, unpolluted environment.

Work with our hands, live off the land, Feel good clean earth under your feet.
I want to live a more self-sufficient, agrarian lifestyle.

Isolation, segregation, government controls
I'm frustrated with societal divisions and political restrictions.

Call it a cop out gotta drop out.
I'm considering leaving mainstream society behind.

You and me we gotta save out souls.
We need to prioritize spiritual and emotional fulfillment.

You're gonna take to planting flowers everywhere. We'll find a world of simple pleasures we can share.
Together, we can appreciate the beauty and simplicity of life through gardening and community.

Gotta, gotta, got, got, to get back living.
It's imperative that we return to a more fulfilling lifestyle.

Gotta, gotta, got, got, to get back living.
We need to prioritize our physical and emotional well-being.

Gotta, gotta, got, got, to get back living.
We must reject mainstream values and embrace a simpler, more fulfilling life.

Gotta, gotta, got, got, to get back living.
We need to prioritize our connection to nature and community.

Gotta, gotta, got, got, to get back living.
We must prioritize our spiritual and emotional needs over materialism and technology.

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: BARRY MANN, CYNTHIA WEIL

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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