Life's Been Good Album: But Seriously, Folks... (1978)
Rocky Mountain Way Album: The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get (1973)
by Joe Walsh
"Life's Been Good" is a humorous look at the spoils of fame and fortune associated with being a rock star. Walsh pokes fun at the lifestyle of wealth and fame, and the spoiled mentality - how it's not him who has changed, but everyone else.
In a 1981 interview with the BBC, Walsh explained of Life's Been Good: "I wanted to make a statement involving satire and humor, kind of poking fun at the incredibly silly lifestyle that someone in my position is faced with – in other words, I do have a really nice house, but I'm on the road so much that when I come home from a tour, it's really hard to feel that I even live here. It's not necessarily me, I think it paraphrases anyone in my position, and I think that's why a lot of people related to it, but basically, that's the story of any rock star – I say that humbly – anyone in my position. I thought that was a valid statement, because it is a strange lifestyle – I've been around the world in concerts, and people say 'What was Japan like?', but I don't know. It's got a nice airport, you know... so it was kind of an overall statement."
Walsh lived up to Life's Been Good, indulging in the hedonism he sang about long after it was released. "I started believing I was who everybody thought I was, which was a crazy rock star," he told Rolling Stone in 2017. "It took me away from my craft. Me and a lot of the guys I ran with, we were party monsters. It was a real challenge just to stay alive."
Life's Been Good is the last song on the But Seriously, Folks... album. On the original album version, the music fades away into silence, then about 30 seconds later there is a really funny secret message from Joe Walsh, who says, "Wha-oh... here comes a flock of wanh-wanhs!", followed by a chorale of "wannh," "wanh," "wahn" (collectively sounding like a bunch of ducks or sheep).
The cover of the But Seriously Folks album shows Walsh eating a meal... under water. In the same BBC interview, he said: "I had to do that a couple of times, but I did go down to the bottom of the pool, and almost drowned... but it was fun. Not at the time, but it was fun to do. We weighted everything down, but it was very involved and it took a long time, and I was real proud of it. As long as you have access to art, or visually presenting something with your record, I would like to use that, pursue it and try to make it an integral part of the music. It was hard to do, but when I look at it, I can't believe it either, I can't believe I was stupid enough to do that, but I was proud of it. I won't be repeating it, I can assure you!"
In 1979, Walsh announced his campaign for President of the United States, promising "Free gas for everyone" if he won (he didn't). Don't blame me. I was thirteen years old, so I couldn't vote.
A famous line in this song, "My Maserati does 185," was used as the text limit
