Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton didn't just sing a song; they staged a weekly cultural intervention. Most people remember Archie Bunker as the loudmouthed bigot from Queens, but the opening of every episode of All in the Family began with a strangely tender moment at a spinet piano. Those were the days lyrics all in the family are burned into the collective consciousness of anyone who grew up with a television in the 1970s. It wasn't a slick, studio-produced track. It was raw. It was slightly out of tune. Jean Stapleton’s Edith hit those high notes with a screech that could shatter glass, while O’Connor’s Archie leaned into a gravelly, nostalgic baritone.
It felt real.
The song, titled "Those Were the Days," was written by Lee Adams and Charles Strouse. You might know them better as the duo behind the Broadway smash Annie. They weren't writing a parody. They were writing a character study. When Archie and Edith sang about how "girls were girls and men were men," they weren't just complaining about the 70s. They were mourning a world they understood, a world that was rapidly evaporating beneath their feet.
The Story Behind the Music at 704 Hauser Street
The production of that opening sequence was surprisingly low-budget, even for 1971. Norman Lear, the show’s creator, wanted something that grounded the Bunkers in their environment. He didn't want a montage of New York City streets or a catchy pop jingle. He wanted the Bunkers in their living room.
The recording you hear during the show’s run actually changed over time. If you listen closely to the early Season 1 episodes, the mix is different. The lyrics were sometimes hard to make out because O’Connor and Stapleton were really leaning into the "old married couple" vibe. Eventually, the producers realized they needed a cleaner take because viewers were literally writing letters asking what the hell Archie was saying in the third line.
That third line—"And you knew who you were then"—is arguably the most important sentence in the whole song. It’s the "Those Were the Days" lyrics All in the Family fans argue about the most. Is it about identity? Is it about gender roles? Is it just about the simplicity of the pre-Depression era? Honestly, it’s probably all of the above. Archie Bunker was a man defined by his boundaries, and the song set the stage for a character who felt like a stranger in his own country.
What were they actually saying?
Let’s clear up the "mumbled" lyrics once and for all. Here is the breakdown of what Archie and Edith are actually belting out:
Boy, the way Glen Miller played
Songs that made the hit parade
Guys like us, we had it made
Those were the days
Didn't need no welfare state
Everybody pulled his weight
Gee, our old LaSalle ran great
Those were the days
And you knew who you were then
Girls were girls and men were men
Mister, we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again
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People seemed to be content
Fifty dollars paid the rent
Freaks were in a circus tent
Those were the days
Take a little Sunday spin
Go to watch the Dodgers win
Have a little glass of gin
Those were the days
And you knew who you were then
Girls were girls and men were men
Mister, we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again
Cherished memories of the past
Don't know why they couldn't last
But we're awfully glad we had
Those were the days!
The Herbert Hoover Controversy
The line "Mister, we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again" is wild if you think about it. Hoover is historically associated with the onset of the Great Depression. To Archie, Hoover represented a specific type of American stoicism and "rugged individualism" that he felt was missing from the Nixon and Ford eras.
For the audience, it was a joke. For Archie, it was a prayer.
This juxtaposition is exactly why the show worked. Norman Lear was a progressive, but he gave the Bunkers a theme song that was deeply conservative in its sentiment. It wasn't mocking them; it was letting them express their genuine longing. Most sitcom themes are "look at this funny situation we're in," but this was "look at how much we miss the way things used to be."
Why it was filmed at a piano
Television historians like to point out that the piano intro was a cost-saving measure that became an iconic stylistic choice. By staying in the house, the show signaled that it was a "chamber piece." It was about the domestic friction between Archie and his "meathead" son-in-law, Mike Stivic.
Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers weren't in the intro. It was just the old guard. That’s a subtle but powerful choice. It established that the house belonged to Archie and Edith, and the music was their territory. When the song ended and the cheers from the studio audience kicked in, you knew you were entering a space where the 1930s were constantly crashing into the 1970s.
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Interestingly, the piano used in the opening wasn't just a prop. It was a real spinet, and Carroll O’Connor actually knew his way around the keys, though for the recording, the heavy lifting was done by professional musicians to ensure the timing worked for the 45-second TV slot.
The LaSalle: A Specific Kind of Nostalgia
"Gee, our old LaSalle ran great."
Unless you're a car person or over the age of 80, you probably had no idea what a LaSalle was when you first heard the song. The LaSalle was a brand of luxury automobile manufactured by General Motors' Cadillac division from 1927 to 1940. It was "junior" to the Cadillac—expensive, but not unreachable.
By mentioning the LaSalle, the lyrics placed the Bunkers' peak years right in the late 1930s. It tells us Archie was likely a young man during the tail end of the Depression and the start of WWII. That car represented the last time he felt like he was moving forward. It’s a brilliant bit of writing by Adams and Strouse. They didn't just say "the old car," they named a vehicle that signaled a very specific social standing.
The Missing Verse and the Full Version
While the TV show only used a fraction of the lyrics, a longer version exists. In the full recording, there’s a line about "freaks were in a circus tent."
Yeah.
It’s jarring to modern ears. But that’s the point of Archie Bunker. The show was never about being "nice." It was about being "accurate" to a certain type of person. Archie’s nostalgia was exclusionary. His "good old days" were days when people who were different stayed out of sight.
When you look at those were the days lyrics all in the family through a 2026 lens, they serve as a historical document. They show us exactly what the "Silent Majority" was feeling while the world around them was changing with the Civil Rights movement, the sexual revolution, and the Vietnam War.
The Technical Execution of the Screech
Jean Stapleton was a classically trained singer. She had a lovely voice. The "Edith" voice was a choice.
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Stapleton intentionally sang slightly off-key and pushed her chest voice into that famous "dingbat" register to stay in character. If you listen to her recordings outside of the show, she sounds nothing like that. The fact that she could maintain that character while singing live to a pre-recorded track is a testament to her skill.
O’Connor, too, had to find a way to make Archie sound soulful but stubborn. He doesn't sing the words so much as he declares them. By the time they reach the final "Those were the daaaaaays!" they are usually screaming to be heard over each other. It’s a musical representation of their marriage: chaotic, loud, but ultimately in sync.
Cultural Impact and Parody
The song was so successful that it was released as a single. It didn't top the charts, but it became a staple of variety shows. Everyone from Lawrence Welk to high school talent shows tried to recreate the "Bunker Stance" at the piano.
But why does it still rank so high in TV history?
Probably because it’s one of the few theme songs that is actually about something. It’s not just a plot summary like The Brady Bunch or The Beverly Hillbillies. It’s a philosophy. It captures the tension of the American Dream in retreat.
Legacy of the Lyrics
Today, the song is often used in TikTok trends or YouTube retrospectives to highlight the "generation gap." But there’s a deeper irony. The "days" Archie was longing for are now roughly 90 years in the past. And yet, people today watch All in the Family and feel nostalgic for the 1970s—the very era Archie hated.
Nostalgia is a recursive loop.
Archie missed the 30s. We miss the 70s. Someone in 2050 will probably miss the 2020s. The song captures that universal human feeling that things were better "back then," regardless of whether "back then" was actually better for everyone.
Actionable Takeaways for Fans and Collectors
If you're looking to dive deeper into the history of these lyrics or the show's musical legacy, here are a few things you can actually do:
- Listen to the Season 1 vs. Season 8 intros: You can find side-by-side comparisons on YouTube. You'll notice the tempo gets slightly faster in later years and the audio mix becomes much clearer.
- Check out the "All in the Family" Cast Album: Released in 1971 by Atlantic Records, this features the full-length version of "Those Were the Days" along with several dialogue sketches. It’s a great piece of vinyl for collectors.
- Search for the Carroll O'Connor / Jean Stapleton interview on "Donahue": They discuss the filming of the intro and how they developed the specific vocal styles for the song.
- Read "Archie and Edith, Mike and Gloria": This is a great behind-the-scenes book by Donna McCrohan that details the writing process of the theme song and how Charles Strouse felt about his Broadway-style tune being "butchered" for comedic effect (spoiler: he loved it).
Those were the days lyrics all in the family aren't just a nostalgic trip. They are a window into a specific American psyche. Whether you find Archie's views offensive or his longing relatable, you can't deny that the song is one of the most effective pieces of character-building ever written for the small screen. It told you everything you needed to know about the Bunkers before a single line of dialogue was spoken. That is the power of a well-written lyric—it survives the era it was meant to mourn.