David Ford: You’ve Never Had It So Good

December 1, 2022

I came across David Ford on Spotify, and got hooked on his album “May You Live in Interesting Times.” In particular, his song “You’ve Never Had It So Good” is what I’ve been looping an awful lot, lately.

The tune is incredibly catchy, which is what got me interested in the first place. But after several listens, I dug into the words a little more. And as upbeat and peppy as the song is, the lyrics are unassumingly dark.

From the video description, written by Ford:

You’ve Never Had it So Good is a song about the way small compromises of a person’s values can lead to a complete dereliction of integrity. The caricature of the dishonest politician is a common one. This is an attempt at a human back story for such a character…

What drew me in (beyond the tempo and pop of the song) were the lyrics. Specifically, his use of multi-syllabic rhymes is a delight – and almost pulls you along, from verse to verse.

I truly meant it at the start
Cross my cold and empty heart
I never thought that this would happen to me
I came with virtuous intentions
And offered honest interventions
And I believed it all so innocently

It’s a super fun, energetic song to listen to. And if you decide to delve into the lyrics, well… it’s still super fun and energetic, but with a darker twist. It may be a song of pessimism, but at least you’ll be tapping your toe.

As a bonus, here’s Ford performing the song by looping the various instruments together. I was pretty impressed on seeing this, and wonder how much of this he does for all his other songs.