Toad the Wet Sprocket’s ‘Good Intentions‘ still reminds me of Friends
I was reminded of how much I used to love the Toad the Wet Sprocket song ‘Good Intentions‘ when the track was uploaded to the alternative rock band’s YouTube channel a few hours ago. So much so, I soon had it playing as my Repeat Rotation Video today.
The track is also a song you may be familiar with for two different reasons. First, ‘Good Intentions‘ made its first appearance on the band’s 1995 b-sides album Light Syrup. It also showed up on the Friends TV show back in the late 1990s, as it had a feel that suited that show perfectly.
‘Good Intentions’ is a weird song though as, when it was first written in 1991, Toad the Wet Sprocket felt as though it sounded like an obvious hit so they decided not to include it on fear their third studio album. Because, apparently, for a band to have a ‘hit’, at least according to them, was not a good thing?
To me, though, ‘Good Intentions‘ is so obviously not a hit single, as it is too laid back, mellow and not particularly catchy for that, that it made me think about how bands will often have a completely different idea about how their music sounds than what is based in reality.
That being said, when the song was eventually released, ‘Good Intentions’ did briefly make it to the number 23 spot on the Billboard US Radio chart, as well as to number 19 on both the Mainstream Rock and Adult Contemporary charts. So, while it was never a massive hit for the band, it did have its moment.
Listen to Toad the Wet Sprocket’s ‘Good Intentions‘ for your Repeat Rotation Video today to see what I mean. Because 23 years after it initially dropped, it is still a lovely song with its distinctively ‘Friends sound’.
Related: Listen to Toad the Wet Sprocket’s ‘All I Want‘ from the Netflix series The OA