‘Good Enough’ by Michael Marcagi - Lyrics & Meaning

After a slew of social media teasers, Michael Marcagi dropped his first single since June 2024's ‘Tear It All Apart’, ‘Good Enough’. The uptempo offering was penned along The Lumineers’ Wesley Schultz in the idyllic Catskills in New York, and given the fact that Michael Marcagi is joining The Lumineers for their 2025 UK and EU tour, we're hoping they'll be teaming up to perform ‘Good Enough’ on that run.

‘Good Enough‘ is due to join previously released tracks such as Michael Marcagi's viral break-out hit, ’Scared to Start’, ‘The Other Side’ and ‘In The Light’ on his forthcoming album. Marcagi's new single combines the Ohio native's penchant for aching, intricate lyricism with a soaring, stadium-ready hook, which join together for a track that ensures the anticipation remains sky-high ahead of his debut.

‘Good Enough’ carries the same weight and atmospheric feel of other Michael Marcagi stand-outs such as ‘The Other Side’ and ‘In The Light’, while finding the ‘Scared to Start’ crooner delivering arguably his most anthemic, energising chorus to date. Wesley Schultz’s backing vocals add to the swelling sense of assurance and defiance that bleeds into the hook, as the protagonist reaches the rousing crescendo.

“Well they told me
Need to grow up
Living like you’re 17
It’s been too long going nowhere
Wake up from your fever dream

You said I wasn’t good
You said I wasn’t good enough
You said I wasn’t good
You said I wasn’t good enough”

Although Michael Marcagi always keeps a certain layer of obscurity as to the deeper meaning of his lyrics, it feels as though the narrator of this track is providing an ode to the resilience it took to keep chasing his dreams of being a singer-songwriter.

During a February 2024 conversation with Holler, Marcagi explained how he spent four years as the frontman for alt-rock group, The Heavy Hours, before going solo in 2023. The opening verse of ‘Good Enough’ could be directed at the naysayers that told him he wasn't going to make it, dismissing his optimistic ambitions as immature (“Well they told me / Need to grow up / Living like you’re 17”. Thankfully, Michael Marcagi didn't give up, and went on to score his first Billboard Hot 100 entry and 619 million global streams (at the time of writing) for ’Scared to Start’ alone.

“And it’s midnight
There was no one
I’m playing at the Motr Pub
All the drunks flood
Through the streets of Ohio’s overrun
With the lost souls through the windows
Invisible to every fucking one”

Michael Marcagi laces a level of detail and specificity into the ‘Good Enough’ lyrics, which makes the track feel all the more personal. He recalls playing for minimal crowds at small venues, such as the Motr Pub in his home-town of Cincinnati, Ohio. He paints a dismal picture of the streets being awash with drunkards, with nobody paying attention to his performance. The protagonist injects an extra dose of resentment into the line, “Invisible to every fucking one”. This atypical bitterness is used intentionally, though, to make his triumph all the more moving.

“Worrying your family and your friends
Feel your fingers touch the bitter end”

The narrator admits that he felt some guilt while struggling to make ends meet as an artist, due to his family and loved ones fearing that this path is only setting himself up for disappointment. The protagonist viscerally describes how his fingers glanced the ‘bitter end’, which could imply that he was on the verge of calling it quits.

“You said I wasn’t good
You said I wasn’t good enough
Break it like you do my heart can only beat for love”

Michael Marcagi flips the final hook, as he determinedly proclaims that his “heart can only beat for love”, despite feeling it break following the detractions and criticism endured during his ascent. This bittersweet lyric suggests that the narrator remains endearingly and inspiringly committed to being loving and kind-hearted regardless.

In the lead-up to ‘Good Enough’s release, Michael Marcagi expressed his admiration for Wesley Schultz and underlined how much he valued the experience of crafting the song, labelling it “One of my favorite experiences I’ve ever had. Grateful for this life”.

In a later post, Marcagi expanded, “Got the honor of writing this song with Wesley Schultz of The Lumineers a while back in upstate NY. I love this song so much and it means so much to me”.

“Well they told me
Need to grow up
Living like you’re 17
It’s been too long going nowhere
Wake up from your fever dream

-

You said I wasn’t good
You said I wasn’t good enough
You said I wasn’t good
You said I wasn’t good enough

-

And it’s midnight
There was no one
I’m playing at the Motr Pub
All the drunks flood
Through the streets of Ohio’s overrun
With the lost souls through the windows
Invisible to every fucking one

-

You said I wasn’t good
You said I wasn’t good enough
You said I wasn’t good
You said I wasn’t good enough

-

Worrying your family and your friends
Feel your fingers touch the bitter end

-

You said I wasn’t good
You said I wasn’t good enough
You said I wasn’t good
You said I wasn’t good enough

-

You said I wasn’t good
You said I wasn’t good enough
Break it like you do my heart can only beat for love

-

Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh”

For more on Michael Marcagi, see below: