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Happy (Pharrell Williams song)

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"Happy"
Song

"Happy" is a song performed by American singer and producer Pharrell Williams, from the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack album. It also serves as the lead single from Williams' second studio album, G I R L (2014). The song was written and produced by Williams. It was released on November 21, 2013 alongside a long-form music video presented via the website 24hoursofhappy.com. The song was reissued on December 16, 2013 by Back Lot Music, under exclusive license to Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment.[1]

"Happy" has been highly successful, topping the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and charts in 19 other countries. It has sold one million copies in the United Kingdom, and has reached the summit on three separate occasions, both records in their own right.

Production

"Happy" was written and produced by Williams, with backing vocals by Rhea Dummett, Trevon Henderson, Ashley L. Lee, Shamika Hightower, Jasmine Murray and Terrence Rolle.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page). It is in the key of F minor, with Williams' vocal range spanning from F3 to C5.[3]

"Happy" is a neo soul and funk song that Williams sings in falsetto.[4] His vocals on the track have been compared to Curtis Mayfield.[4][5]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Contactmusic.com[6]
Renowned for Sound[7]
Rolling Stone[4]

The song received highly positive reviews from music critics. Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone gave it 3.5 stars and deemed it "an instant contender for 2013's Song of the Summer".[4] In a 4/5 review, Renowned for Sound's Huw Woodward said, "Happy is a rather… well… happy affair with a cheerful beat and exuberant vocal that would indicate that the former N.E.R.D singer is finding a lot of lighthearted fun to be had in both music and life. 'Because I’m happy, clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth' sings Williams as the jaunty rhythm gets your head nodding."[7] Holly Williams gave it four stars, praising it for being "unbelievably catchy" and "the kind of song that makes you want to dance and sing along".[6]

The song was nominated for Best Original Song at the 86th Academy Awards, but lost to "Let It Go" from Frozen.[8]

Chart performance

Prior to its release, in October 2013, "Happy" catapulted to number-one on the Dutch Top 40 chart in the Netherlands, partially as a result of radio station 3FM airplay and subsequent online downloads, as well as featuring in a Transavia commercial.[9] It was released worldwide on November 21, 2013.

"Happy" reached the top of the US Billboard Hot 100, giving Williams his fourth Hot 100 number-one single, but the first as lead artist. It took twelve years and a week (as the issue date is March 8, 2014) to have his first Hot 100 topper as a lead artist.[10] The single has sold 2,100,000 copies as of March 5, 2014.[11] The song remained at number one the following week, and also topped the Hot 100 Airplay chart.[12]

The song also topped the charts of other 17 countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Poland and the United Kingdom. It also reached number two in Austria and Spain. It has spent seven consecutive weeks at number one in Ireland,[13] making it the third song in less than a year to do so, after Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" (which Pharrell also featured on) and Avicii's "Wake Me Up!".

In the United Kingdom, "Happy" debuted outside the Top 70 of the UK Singles Chart on 1 December 2013. It then spent several weeks climbing before finally charting at number one on 29 December. It was Williams' third number one of 2013, making him the first artist to achieve three number-ones in a single calendar year since The Black Eyed Peas and Lady Gaga in 2009.[14] It has since spent four non-consecutive weeks at number one, reaching the peak on three separate occasions. In doing so, Williams became only the third artist ever to achieve this, and the first since Guy Mitchell did so in 1957 with "Singing the Blues".[15] Following the single's third week at number one, it spent five weeks in the top three before returning to the summit, boosted by his performance at the 2014 BRIT Awards. In the same week that "Happy" returned to number one for the third time, it sold its millionth copy in the UK, Williams' third in under a year, having previously done so with Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" in June 2013, and Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" in July 2013. This made Williams only the second artist, the first being The Beatles, to have three million-sellers in under a year.[15] He is also one of only three artists in UK chart history to have three million-selling singles, along with The Beatles (who have six) and Rihanna (who has four).[15]

Music video

To coincide with the single release, the website 24hoursofhappy.com was launched featuring a visual presentation of "Happy" advertised as being "the world's first 24 hour music video". The video consists of the four-minute song repeated with various people dancing around Los Angeles and miming along. Williams himself appears 24 times on the hour, and there are a number of celebrity cameos including Whit Hertford (1:04am), Kelly Osbourne (1:28am), Magic Johnson (5:36am), Urijah Faber (8:36am), Sérgio Mendes (10:32am) and Jimmy Kimmel (11:48am), Odd Future (1:48pm), Steve Carell (5:08pm), Jamie Foxx (5:28pm), Ana Ortiz (5:32pm), Miranda Cosgrove (5:40pm), Tyler, The Creator, JoJo (6:16pm). The minions from Despicable Me 2 make several appearances throughout the film, including one scene at 3:00am, in which Pharrell and the minions dance in a movie theatre that is playing the scene from Despicable Me 2 in which "Happy" appears. A lone, one eyed minion also appears dancing to song in its entirety at 4:40pm. The site allows users to navigate to various points in the 24-hour timeframe, including all 360 four-minute segments and each hourly segment with Pharrell. An official four-minute edit of the video was also released on YouTube. The video's creative director was Yoann Lemoine.[16]

The original video spawned many cover videos on YouTube in which people from different cities throughout the world dance along the song. Those videos are usually called "Pharrell Williams – Happy – We Are from [name of the city]".[17]

Credits and personnel

Recording[2]
Personnel[2]
  • Pharrell Williams – lead vocals, keyboards, drums, songwriter, producer
  • Rhea Dummett – backing vocals
  • Trevon Henderson – backing vocals
  • Ashley L. Lee – backing vocals
  • Shamika Hightower – backing vocals
  • Jasmine Murray – backing vocals
  • Terrence Rolle – backing vocals
  • Mike Larson – recording, digital editing, arrangement
  • Matthew Desrameaux – recording assistant
  • Andrew Coleman – digital editing, arrangement
  • Leslie Brathwaite – mixer
  • Amir Windom - A&R
  • Reuben Cohen – mastering

Charts and certifications

Release history

Region Date Format Label
Worldwide[70] May 22, 2013 Streaming
Australia[71] November 21, 2013 Digital download Back Lot Music
Austria[72]
Belgium[73]
Canada[74]
Denmark[75]
Finland[76]
France[77]
Germany[78]
Greece[79]
Italy[80]
Japan[81]
Latin America[82]
Netherlands[83]
New Zealand[84]
Norway[85]
Spain[86]
Sweden[87]
United Kingdom[88]
United States[1]
United States[89] January 13, 2014 Adult contemporary Columbia Records
United States[90] January 21, 2014 Contemporary hit radio

References

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  2. ^ a b c (Media notes). Back Lot Music, Columbia Records. 2013. {{cite AV media notes}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |name= ignored (help)
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