The 'Bad Time' That Changed Everything for Grand Funk
- edgarstreetbooks
- Feb 28
- 2 min read
‘200 Greatest 70s Rock Songs’ Book Excerpt
Frank Mastropolo
“Bad Time” was a №4 hit, certified by BMI as radio’s most-played song of 1975. Written by guitarist Mark Farner, the song was a departure from the trio’s hard rock roots. “It was kind of a different song,” Farner told Songfacts.
“It was different when I wrote it. My first wife was in the kitchen. I can remember sitting at the piano — I had a little spinet in the dining room — and she’s threatening to put a 12-inch cast-iron skillet through my forehead. And I’m in there writing ‘bad time for being in love.’”
Drummer Don Brewer told Vintage Rock that “Bad Time” was “a major, major departure for Grand Funk Railroad. Still to this day, a lot of people don’t think that’s a Grand Funk song. It’s very pop, surgary, sweet, syrupy. But I think it’s a great hit pop song.”
Farner explained in Penny Black Music that “Bad Time” had a message: “That’s turning the tide. When a tough situation is on us, we feel the weight of that in our hearts and in our heads, especially when it’s on your heart, it can’t help but obstruct what’s going into your head.
“A lot of confusion and turmoil goes on, but when you determine to focus in the midst of this kind of turmoil, it’s so abstract compared to the norm of your life, that you just have to tell yourself, I’m going to use the energy from this because it’s my energy, and it’s mine to do with what I’m to do, and I’m not going to allow myself to go down in the doldrums, so as you’re circling the drain, you cool out and pull yourself out of there.
“That’s what the song did for me. It helped me get out of that place in my mind, but also to express it in a way. I believe it’s a beautiful way for someone to express a hurt or an emotional struggle that they’re having, and it seemed as if when I was writing this song, it would help me resolve, get it off my chest.
“A lot of times what we really need to do is express it, even if there is no one in the room with us. It spreads it out — we hear it back in our ears, just thinking about it. Taking those words deep within our hearts will change things. That’s the way it works. It just is.”
Frank Mastropolo is the author of 200 Greatest 70s Rock Songs, part of the Greatest Performances series. For more on our latest projects, visit Edgar Street Books.
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