Robert Pattinson is at it again. The British heartthrob dropped a new song called “Good Time” on Tuesday, Dec. 4th, and it’s already received positive feedback from fans and critics alike.
“Good Time” was one of the first songs that Robert Pattinson released after his split from longtime girlfriend Bella Hadid last year. It was written and recorded in a few days during the height of his heartbreak, and it comes across as a heartfelt tribute to the lost love of his life. In the song, Pattinson sings about how good it would’ve been if their break-up hadn’t occurred, and how he would’ve been able to spend more time with her, treating their encounter as if it were a good time rather than a bad experience.
“I wrote ‘Good Time’ while battling my ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend,” Pattinson said in a statement. “It was an extremely toxic relationship and it ended really badly. But I learned a lot from those few intense months; I became a better man and a better songwriter because of it. ‘Good Time’ is a song about learning to enjoy the good times, even if they’re not perfect, and not being afraid to express your true feelings to the people you love.”
The 25-year-old singer/songwriter also cited John Lennon as an influence, saying that his music helped him through a difficult time in his life. Lennon, who was gunned down on Dec. 8th 1980, would’ve turned 83 this year.
“I feel a bit like John Lennon as a songwriter and performer,” Robert Pattinson said. “He was such an important figure in the Beatles’ oeuvre, and his songs are incredible. They helped me to understand my relationship with Bella, which was really unhealthy, and inspired this song.”
Critical Reception So Far
The initial response to “Good Time” has been overwhelmingly positive. On the popular review website Genius, editor Sam Prichard called it one of the best pop songs of 2020 so far and said: “‘Good Time’ is everything you could want in a single song: incredible production values, a massive beat, a memorable hook, and an emotional narrative about unrequited love. It would be a great track for a night out, if you’re into really upbeat songs or want to drown out the din of the surrounding city.”
PopCrush reviewer Jessica Sidi said that the song’s “driving beat and emotional lyrics make this an addictive song.”
While critics were praising the new song, fans of Robert Pattinson were expressing their delight at the heartbreak that the song is dedicated to, tweeting their appreciation for the song and longing for the return of their “beloved”.
Chart Position
On the Billboard chart dated Dec. 7th, “Good Time” reached #92 on the Top 100 Albums chart and #1 on the Top Digital Albums chart. The song also received a large amount of airplay, appearing on several radio stations’ playlists around the country.
The week that “Good Time” entered the Billboard Top 100, it reached #85 on the Top 100 Albums chart, becoming Robert Pattinson’s highest-charting album yet. It also reached #3 on the Top Digital Albums chart.
Listen Here
In addition to appearing on several radio stations’ playlists across the U.S., “Good Time” was also added to the playlist of XXXXXXXCH, an online radio station that focuses on British music.
While no official confirmation has been made, it would seem that “Good Time” is already available online. Spotify users in the U.S. have been able to stream the song since Tuesday night, Dec. 4th.
Tidbits
Bella Hadid and the rest of the cast of the CBS crime drama Extant were among those who heard “Good Time” and left comments on the song’s Genius page. They said they loved the song and were looking forward to hearing more from Robert Pattinson. Actor John Lithgow, who plays a key role in the series, also left a comment on the page, saying that he and his wife, Miriam, had been to a John Lennon tribute concert in New York City in August and had been touched by the performance.
Another interesting fact about “Good Time” is that its title is a play on words. The song is about enjoying life, even if things aren’t perfect, and the meaning of the title reflects that. Similarly, the song’s lyrics discuss “good times,” but they are also an acknowledgement of the bad times that come with learning to love and enjoy life.
Written and recorded in just a few days, “Good Time” was inspired by John Lennon and the breakup of Robert Pattinson’s relationship with Bella Hadid. The song is a tribute to the ex-girlfriend that he credits with helping him learn to “enjoy the good times.”
The 25-year-old singer/songwriter’s break-up with Bella Hadid was an extremely contentious one. The two had been dating for almost two years and were very much in love, but according to their publicist, things had started to shift in favor of the Scarsdale, New York native in the months leading up to their split. The most talked about subject surrounding their relationship was money. And it wasn’t just about finances: Robert Pattinson insisted that he didn’t want to settle down with Bella Hadid and preferred to remain a free agent. That change in attitude didn’t exactly endear him to her camp, who felt that he was acting like a toddler who has just learned how to walk. This led to a series of highly publicized fights between the two. The most recent of which took place in New York City in October, with security guards having to intervene. Since then, their on-again, off-again relationship has been the subject of much speculation. The most recent sighting of the two together was in early November when they were photographed leaving a London nightclub together.
While no concrete information has leaked out about their relationship, many signs point to the fact that Robert Pattinson is still deeply in love with Bella. On the day that their breakup was made public, he took to Twitter to share an intimate photograph of the two of them together. The picture, which Pattinson captioned “Forever & ever,” was taken just days after their engagement in December 2018 and was one of the first pictures to emerge after the breakup. It didn’t take long for the photo to go viral, with more than 4.7 million people having viewed it as of this writing.
Since then, he hasn’t stopped posting about her. In fact, while some of his previous posts have been about other women, most of his content since the breakup has been about Bella. In the months since their split, he has shared multiple pictures of her as well as other revealing photos of himself, always with captions that mention her. He also made a highly publicized (and controversial) appearance at a nightclub in Hollywood in October, performing songs from one of his most recent albums, an acoustic version of “Good Time,” which is dedicated to her. (A representative for Robert Pattinson said at the time that the appearance was a tribute to his “idol” and that he was simply “feeling very grateful to [Bella] for all she’s done for [him].)
Trivia
“Good Time” is the first song that Robert Pattinson has written and recorded with a full band, featuring members of Future bassist Marc Jacobs’ band The Voidz and the New York City band Little Lion. The track was produced by Jacobs, with additional recording by the band. Other musicians who played on the track include keyboardist Anna Sussman and drummer Joe Zawada.