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Good old days – commonly stylized as "good ol' days" – is acliché inpopular culture used to reference a time considered by the speaker to be better than the current era. It is a form ofnostalgia that can reflecthomesickness oryearning for long-gone moments.[1]
There is a predisposition, caused bycognitive biases such asrosy retrospection, a form ofsurvivorship bias, for people to view the past more favourably and future more negatively.[2][3][4]
InEcclesiastes 7:10 of theHebrew Bible, the belief in a better, past age is criticized. In theNew International Version translation, it reads, "Do not say, 'Why were the old days better than these?' For it is not wise to ask such questions."[5]
In 1726,John Henley used this phrase in his bookThe Primitive Liturgy: "to all honest Admirers of the good old Days of their best and wisest Fore-fathers, this first Part of the Primitive Liturgy Is most humbly dedicated".[6]
In 1727,Daniel Defoe wrote inThe Complete English Tradesman: "In the good old days of Trade, which our Fore-fathers plodded on in."[7] In this part of his book, Defoe talks about how in 'the good old days'tradesmen were better off than in Defoe's time.
In 2015, musical duoTwenty One Pilots released "Stressed Out", a song that pinpointed the return to the 'good old days'. It won the Grammy forBest Pop Duo/Group Performance in February 2017.[8] As of August 2025, the officialmusic video onYouTube has been viewed 3.1 billion times.[9]
In 2022,The Reklaws released the studio albumGood Ol' Days.[10]
PopularBluegrass music songs such as "Blue Railroad Train" and "Blue Ridge Cabin Home" use phrases like 'good old days' and 'days gone by' to evoke nostalgic ideas of the past.
In his 1983 song "Keeping the Faith",Billy Joel appears to subtly caution against this view, reminding the listener that "[T]he good ol' days weren't always good/And tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems".
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