Good times never seemed so good

[tonbei]

Re: Good times never seemed so good

I have a question about the following lyrics.

Sweet Caroline　　　
Good times never seemed so good　　　
I've been inclined　
To believe they never would　　

question: about "to believe they never would"
My own interpretation is:
"I've been inclined to believe good times would never seem so good", implying "but now I'm beginning to
stop believing that way".

[Harrison Hill]

I don't think you will find a meaning in this; in the same
way that Elton John lyrics (by Bernie Taupin) are untranslatable
into anything meaningful.

"I sat on the roof and kicked off the moss
Well a few of the verses well they've got me quite cross
But the sun's been quite kind while I wrote this song
It's for people like you that keep it turned on"...

[tonbei]

>
> Sweet Caroline　　　
> Good times never seemed so good　　　
> I've been inclined　
> To believe they never would　　
>
> question: about "to believe they never would"
> My own interpretation is:
> "I've been inclined to believe good times would never seem so good", implying "but now I'm beginning to
> stop believing that way".

So, my interpretation said above is at least grammatically valid, apart from how to take the author's thought?
The worry I feel is if I could read "believe they never would" grammatically rightly, anyway.
I took it as "believe good times would never seem so good like when I felt so once, if such times come in the future".
And I'm a little bit concerned about whether there is a difference between
"never would" and "would never".

[CDB]

As Harrison said, the lyrics are not entirely coherent. I would read
that passage, a bit loosely, as "When I was happy (good times), I never
seemed to be as happy as [I could be][I am now]. I believed that I
might never be happier than I was then." The song continues
"But now (in contrast with "then") I look at the night and it don't
[sic] seem so lonely ...". He is happier than he was before.

I left two choices in brackets above because I think "so" there can be
interpreted as "very" or "by comparison with the present", and I can't
tell which he means.