Songs: Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People?

notes / gigs / releases

Why do bad things happen to good people?
And does anybody even care?
I left some tissue in my trousers
Now my laundry's all got dandruff
And that was everything I had to wear

Why do bad things happen to good people?
I guess that life just isn't fair
I went shopping and forgot
My bag for life so I had to buy another one
Now I've got a pair

And that just can't be right
When I've only got one life
And I've wasted so much time
Trying to get served in shoe shops
And although she seems quite nice
I'd rather not spend all night
Talking telephone tariffs with a lady
Who may be a robot

Why do bad things happen to good people?
And yes I know that worse things happen at sea
But how can I take any pleasure
From such naval misadventures
Just because they are not happening to me?
It feels mean
Schaudenfraude by sea

Why do bad things happen to good people?
Specifically me

Published by Wipe Out Music Publishing



This was written during a particularly stressful part of lockdown, when we'd all been sat at home for a while and things were taking on a somewhat heightened quality, so that leaving tissue in the laundry felt like the absolute worst thing that has ever happened to anyone ever. Not that it isn't awful at the best of times, but it felt particularly so when there wasn't much going on otherwise.

My favourite aspect of this song though is the fact that I finally got to shoe-horn in my opinion about the phrase "worse things happen at sea", which has always seemed daft to me. Whenever something goes wrong people are always saying that other people have it worse, as if that's going to help somehow. If something's gone wrong for somebody else, especially some theoretical someone I'm never going to meet, it has absolutely no effect whatsoever on any events that have happened to me, has it? If a ship sinks in the Indian Ocean at the same time as I lose my phone, I have still lost my phone and am no less annoyed about it, and it seems a bit selfish to try and bring in some other tragedy to make me feel better about it.

As you can tell, I feel Quite Strongly about this, so am glad to have got it into a song!