We sometimes play a "ballad" game with this song. You can take the first quatrain (or any four-line verse, for that matter) of most classic (Child) ballads and use it as a verse for "All the Good Times are Past and Gone." It helps, of course, if your song circle is familiar with the sources. For instance:

In Scarlet Town, where I was born,
There was a fair maid dwellin'
Made ever youth cry "Well-a-day,"
And her name was Barbara Allen.

One day, one day, one holy day,
The very first day of the year,
The little Matthy Groves to the church did go,
Some holy words to hear.

Then you can switch to nursery rhymes like Old King Cole, or old autograph book quatrains, such as

I asked my love what her lips were for
As we lay beside the hedge.
She told me they were to keep her mouth
From fraying around the edge.

Or some general trivia:

I've never seen a purple cow;
My eyes with tears are full.
I've never seen a purple cow
And I'm a purple bull.

Okay, okay, I'm sorry. Folk song games can be fun, though.

Sandy