I was a little late discovering this song since I listen mostly to music in my collection that I have amassed since the 70’s. I’ve become that old fart that plays his music from back in the day and wonders what kind of crap the kids are listening to (autotune for instance).
Since I stumbled across “Happy” by Pharrell Williams I just can’t get enough of it. Go ahead you cynics roll your eyes and make a snarky comment, I don’t care. There’s something about the song that touches me so deeply that I can hardly explain it. It’s my belief that life at it’s core is inherently simple and we as humans make it more difficult to make ourselves seem smarter. Be nice to others, share, love, be happy. Sounds pretty good. But somehow us humans come along and fuck that up.
When you get right down to it it’s happiness we are all after. It shouldn’t come from money, success or at the expense of others but from within. If you’re a miserable fucker before you get rich when you get rich you’ll just be a miserable fucker with money. The people in the video are a cross section of America, just walking or dancing down the street. They could be on their way to work, at work or just out kickin’ it. There are celebrity cameos but hey, they’re just people too.
In an interview Pharrell said writing this song was just a “halfcourt shot”. It’ll probably be the biggest swish of his career. The best things start simple.