Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton used to walk out in front of a live studio audience, sit at a piano, and belt out a song that changed television history. It wasn't polished. They weren't professional singers. In fact, they were often slightly off-key, which was exactly the point. If you’ve ever found yourself humming along to "Those Were the Days," you’re likely chasing a bit of nostalgia for a show that was, ironically, all about the friction between the past and the present. The lyrics to All in the Family aren't just a catchy intro; they are a manifesto of Archie Bunker’s worldview.
They’re also notoriously hard to understand.
For years, fans flooded CBS with letters asking what the heck Edith was screaming in the second-to-last line. It became a piece of American folklore. Was she talking about a car? A person? A kitchen appliance? We’ll get into the specific "mush-mouth" lyrics that confused a generation, but first, you have to understand the soul of the song. It was written by Charles Strouse and Lee Adams, the same duo behind Bye Bye Birdie. They wanted something that felt like a ragtime relic, a musical sigh for a "simpler" time that Archie felt was slipping through his fingers.
What the lyrics to All in the Family actually say
Most people know the hits. "Boy, the way Glen Miller played." "Songs that made the hit parade." These lines set the stage for a 1970s America that was grappling with the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and civil rights. Archie was the "lovable bigot"—a character meant to be the butt of the joke, though some viewers missed the satire and saw him as a hero. The song reinforces his stance. It’s a literal list of things he misses.
Here is the breakdown of the lyrics as they were performed:
Boy, the way Glen Miller played
Songs that made the hit parade
Guys like us, we had it made
Those were the days
👉 See also: Kate Moss Family Guy: What Most People Get Wrong About That Cutaway
And you knew who you were then
Girls were girls and men were men
Mister, we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again
Didn't need no welfare state
Everybody pulled his weight
Gee, our old LaSalle ran great
Those were the days!
That "LaSalle" line? That’s the one. For a solid decade, people thought Jean Stapleton was shouting "Gee, our old soul, Mary, ran great" or "Gee, our old stove, Lee, ran great." In reality, the LaSalle was a brand of luxury car manufactured by Cadillac from 1927 to 1940. For Archie, the LaSalle represented a time when American manufacturing was king and things were built to last. It was a status symbol for the working class who had "made it" before the world got complicated.
Why Herbert Hoover of all people?
It’s a weird choice, right? Herbert Hoover is rarely ranked among the greatest presidents, mostly because he had the misfortune of being in charge when the Great Depression hit. But for the lyrics to All in the Family, Hoover was a deliberate selection by Strouse and Adams.
Hoover championed "rugged individualism."
✨ Don't miss: Blink-182 Mark Hoppus: What Most People Get Wrong About His 2026 Comeback
Archie Bunker hated the idea of the "welfare state" mentioned in the next line. To him, Hoover represented an era before the New Deal, a time when he believed people took care of themselves without government "handouts." It’s a sharp, political line tucked into a sitcom theme song. Norman Lear, the show’s creator, was a staunch liberal. By putting these words in Archie’s mouth, Lear was highlighting the character’s stubborn, often misguided, yearning for a past that wasn't actually as golden as he remembered.
The song is a duet of discord. Edith, ever the peacemaker, sings along, her screeching soprano clashing with Archie’s gruff baritone. It perfectly encapsulates their marriage: he grumbles, she follows, and somehow they stay in sync.
The recording that almost didn't happen
Usually, TV themes are recorded in high-end studios with session musicians and perfect acoustics. Norman Lear wanted something raw. He decided the actors should record it right there on the set. There’s a version where you can hear the audience's reaction, but the standard version used for most of the series was recorded with just O’Connor and Stapleton at a piano.
They had to re-record it later.
Why? Because after the first couple of seasons, the producers realized nobody could understand the LaSalle line. They told the actors to enunciate. If you listen to the intro from Season 1 and compare it to Season 5, the "LaSalle" is much crisper in the later years. Even then, the "Herbert Hoover" line stayed a bit muddy because of the way Stapleton hit those high notes.
🔗 Read more: Why Grand Funk’s Bad Time is Secretly the Best Pop Song of the 1970s
The cultural weight of "Girls were girls and men were men"
In 2026, looking back at these lyrics feels different than it did in 1971. When Archie sings "Girls were girls and men were men," he’s complaining about the blurring of gender roles. He was staring at the hippies in the streets and the feminists in the workplace and feeling lost.
The brilliance of the lyrics to All in the Family is that they are entirely character-driven. They don't try to be a "good" song; they try to be Archie's song. It’s a piece of world-building that happens in 45 seconds. It tells you that the man you’re about to watch is afraid of change. He’s defensive. He’s nostalgic for a world where he felt powerful, even if that power was an illusion.
Interestingly, the show eventually outgrew its own intro. As the series progressed and Archie’s character softened (slightly), the song stayed the same—a nightly reminder of the rigid man he used to be. By the time the spin-off Archie Bunker's Place arrived, the piano was gone, replaced by a more instrumental, moody vibe. But it never had the impact of the original.
How to use this nostalgia today
If you’re a fan of classic television or a student of media, the lyrics to All in the Family offer a masterclass in how to set a tone. Most modern shows use instrumental beats or 10-second clips. We’ve lost the "prologue" song. To truly appreciate the lyrics, you have to look at them as a dialogue between the "Greatest Generation" and the Boomers who were then the "young radicals" (like Meathead).
Check out these specific ways to dive deeper:
- Listen to the 1971 vs. 1978 versions. Pay attention to the "LaSalle" line. You can hear the intentional shift in Jean Stapleton's diction as the network pressured them for clarity.
- Research the LaSalle. Look at the 1930s advertisements for the car. It helps you visualize exactly what Archie was picturing when he sang that line—chrome, curves, and a sense of "arrival."
- Read the lyrics of the closing theme. Most people don't realize there’s a closing song called "Remembering You," which Carroll O'Connor actually wrote the lyrics for. While the opening is loud and political, the closing is soft and melancholic. It’s the other side of the Archie Bunker coin.
The show remains a lightning rod for conversation. Whether you view Archie as a cautionary tale or a misunderstood relic, the song remains one of the most honest depictions of American anxiety ever broadcast. It didn't try to be pretty. It just tried to be real. And in the world of 1970s television, that was the most radical thing it could be.
To get the full experience, find a high-quality clip of the pilot episode's opening. The lighting is dimmer, the piano is slightly more out of tune, and the performances are more frantic. It captures a moment in time when TV was finally willing to stop being polite and start being honest about the divide in the American living room. Archie’s world ended a long time ago, but as long as people feel like the world is changing too fast, those lyrics will keep resonating.