Everybody Have a Good Time

"Everybody Have A Good Time"
Single by The Darkness
from the album Hot Cakes
Released 26 June 2012
Format Digital download, promotional CD single
Recorded 2012
Genre Hard rock, glam metal
Length 4:47
Label Wind-Up, Play It Again Sam Recordings
Writer(s) Justin Hawkins, Dan Hawkins
Producer(s) Mike Fraser
The Darkness singles chronology
"Nothing's Gonna Stop Us"
(2012)
"Everybody Have A Good Time"
(2012)
"Every Inch of You"
(2012)

"Everybody Have A Good Time" is a song by the British rock band The Darkness, released as a promotional single from their third studio album Hot Cakes in June 2012. Justin Hawkins said of the song, "We wanted to write the world's simplest, dumbest rock song. It's harder than you might imagine. Songwriting is like catching butterflies. If a big dumb butterfly isn't flying past when you're sitting there with your net, you aren't going to catch one."[1]

Release and reception

Loudwire stated that the song "delivers a retro, rocking anthem bedazzled with big sing-a-long choruses and just enough guitar solos."[2] Spin refers to the song as "giddy glam-rock blast, all Thin Lizzy bombast and T. Rex boogie."[3] NME stated that the song "features the band's trademark 1970s rock sound, and a chorus strongly reminiscent of Queen."[4] However, despite the strong critical praise, the public were not "buying it", with the song failing to chart anywhere in Europe. It was their only single to date not to chart in the UK Top 40.

Music video

The Warren Fu-directed music video premiered two days after the official single release.[5] Despite opening with the intertitle "Hot Cakes - Episode 2", this video was actually the third video to be released from the album, following "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us" and Every Inch of You.[6]

The clip opens inside the offices of Rock Hard Financial, where the underachieving staff is trying to figure out how to make a profit, when an underling finally speaks up. After his first year with the company, he has a surprise. He pulls out his mini-boombox, turns on the Darkness' new song, "Everybody Have a Good Time", and person in a lingerie-clad bear suit enters doing a striptease to the disapproving audience. However, this is no ordinary bear. Realizing the act isn't going over, the bear notices the financial equation on the board and solves it, leading to an influx of income for Rock Hard. The corporate big wigs chain the bear to the basement, making it a slave to the profit while they all celebrate the windfall. We finally get to see the Darkness about midway into the clip, when they turn up as the talent at a corporate party. The bigwigs invite the band back to see their bear, and while they're gloating, the band members can't help but see the bear isn't having any fun and decide to free it. What ensues is a gunfight, in which Justin Hawkins escapes with the bear, while the remaining members aren't so lucky, heading off to heaven after Rock Hard's CEO guns them down. As the credits roll, we see Hawkins and the bear sharing some romantic moments.[7]

Tracklisting

  1. "Everybody Have a Good Time" - 4:47
  1. "Everybody Have a Good Time" - 4:47
  2. "Everybody Have a Good Time" (Radio Edit) - 3:45

Chart performance

Chart (2012-2013) Peak
position
Ref
Canadian Active Rock Songs Chart 33 [10]

References

External links