Chicago – Old Days Lyrics | Genius Lyrics

Old Days Lyrics

[Verse 1: Peter Cetera]
Old days
Good times, I remember
Fun days
Filled with simple pleasure
Drive-in movies
Comic books and blue jeans
Howdy Doody
Baseball cards and birthdays

[Chorus: Peter Cetera]
Take me back
To a world gone away
Memories
Seem like yesterday

[Instrumental]

[Verse 2: Peter Cetera]
Old days
Good times, I remember
Gold days
Days I'll always treasure
Funny faces
Full of love and laughter
Funny places
Summer nights and streetcars
[Chorus: Peter Cetera]
Take me back
To the world gone away
Boyhood memories
Seem like yesterday

[Outro: Peter Cetera, All, (Bandmates)]
Old days
On my mind and in my heart to stay (Ah)
Old days
Darkened dreams of good times gone away (Ah)
Old days
Days of love and feeling fancy free (Ah)
Old days
Days of magic still so close to me (Ah)
Old days
On my mind and in my heart to stay (Ah)
Old days
Darkened dreams of good times gone away (Ah)
Old days
Days of love and feeling fancy free (Ah)
Old days

How to Format Lyrics:

  • Type out all lyrics, even repeating song parts like the chorus
  • Lyrics should be broken down into individual lines
  • Use section headers above different song parts like [Verse], [Chorus], etc.
  • Use italics (<i>lyric</i>) and bold (<b>lyric</b>) to distinguish between different vocalists in the same song part
  • If you don’t understand a lyric, use [?]

To learn more, check out our transcription guide or visit our transcribers forum

About

Genius Annotation

“Old Days” is a single for Chicago VIII, written by the band’s trombonist James Pankow and sung by their bassist Peter Cetera. The lyrics reminisce on Pankow’s childhood as a boy in the 1950’s, filled with imagery of common items he possessed at the time.

In 2019, now-retired YouTuber Toki Wo Tomato, known for his JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure memes, uploaded a video of the audio file on the Wikipedia article for cock and ball torture with a low-quality version of “Old Days” blaring in the background. The phrase “cock and ball torture” was a popular meme at the time, and before Toki Wo Tomato’s video was taken down due to copyright infringement, it propelled “Old Days” into a new audience. The reuploaded versions of the video have garnered hundreds of thousands of views.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

Are there alternative cover arts for this song?
Genius Answer

Dutch, German versions

Japanese, Portuguese versions
What did Chicago say about "Old Days"?
Genius Answer

James Pankow said:

It’s a memorabilia song, it’s about my childhood […] It touches on key phrases that, although they date me, are pretty right-on in terms of images of my childhood. ‘The Howdy Doody Show’ on television and collecting baseball cards and comic books

Comments