Right from the first tunes, Pharrell’s song Happy became the top international hit. The song grabbed the hearts of millions people worldwide due to its simplicity and inner appeal. This megahit appeals to people of all ages and in this terms resembles the effect the Beatles songs had on people. The song has already sold more than 650,000 items and tops UK charts. British radio stations played it over 5,500 times weekly, let alone YouTube where the hit made a breaking record.
Simplicity of words and easy perception are the key features of the song’s appealing charisma. Just as McFerrin’s famous Don’t worry be happy, the melody and easy-to-recall lyrics deeply settled in our minds. Now everyone can dance, exercise, or drive with its accompaniment and feel happy indeed.
Given such a tremendous popularity of his super megahit, William Pharrell and his team should beware of the threats surrounding the destinies of rather popular hits. Too much listening all the time and everywhere may turn the hit into a boring entertainment. Therefore, Pharrell should back its popularity with new hits and then slow down a bit to make listeners adjust to his works.
If the hit’s popularity much prevails over other Pharrell’s hits, in a decade the public will recall Pharrell only because of this hit’s authorship only. Thus, such tremendous overnight popularity assumes great risks and challenges in both artistic and marketing terms. High positioning of the hit is not eternal and things will soon change. The market will demand the same-class hits from the author, or otherwise he will lose top positions before the rivals. This is how the market works, and entertainment industry is not an exception from the rule.
For the time being, Happy has sufficient potential to sustain leading positions in tp harts as the mainstream hit. Interestingly, the song was never released as a single. Rather than artistic piece of art, its phenomenon lies in over-marketing through which it revitalized and created an unprecedented appeal to the listeners of all generations.
The official release took place in June 2014 when Pharrell signed the contract with Sony Music after which the track appeared on his new album. The first radio station that turned the hit on air was Capital Xtra. At that, nobody promoted the hit; it took to life itself because people liked it. There is even the 24HoursOfHappy.com website featuring a 24-hour long song’s video. The initial feedback received from various possible sources ranked the hit among top iTunes singles. At the end of December 2014, Happy became UK’s number one hit and had sold 107,000 copies only during its first week. RCA’s confidence in its success was unshakable, and the hit’s popularity prove those anticipations right.
Still, regardless of marketing success, the hit has its inner value. The text appeals one of the crucial things everyone dreams of. It is as simple as happiness. The word ‘happy’ itself has powerful and positive connotation. The word is one of those we use every day in various occasions and situations. Just like love, the word happy is what most of us lack, and therefore the song’s appeal to something what being happy is has made the song rather appealing to everyone; and there is no failure, the author chose the right message and forwarded directly to our hearts. In turn, the melody is a mix of Brit pop and folk chants that altogether turned into a splendid combination (Pop Crush 1-2).
Does this song make us happier? Yes, indeed, and this is its main competitive edge over other hits. Constant repletion of the word ‘happy’ throughout he song serves like the mantra making us challenge the harsher reality we live in. This powerful word empowers us with additional impulses and motivations to work harder and achieve more on the way to happiness. Being happy is easy, the author claims, and he is right to the extent that most of us make things rather complicated and therefore are not capable of enjoying the pleasures of life that are so close to us.
Technically, a rather poppy tune of the song compiles various genres that make people open to it. The song immediately burrows into our brain and then we cannot dislodge it. This quality of popular songs serves as addicts making us obsessed with them and wanting to listen to them on and on. Musical reiteration aligned with instructional nature of the lyrics make the song rather repetitive. Its catchy bit is inviting to move and clap along. The same is true with “If You’re Happy and You Know It (Clap Your Hands)”, as well as with the abovementioned “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” (Forde 3).
Constant repetition throughout the song immediately embraces the brain’s motor circuitry while the sense of music pulls us along. Mostly, the song really makes us happy. Look at the positive reactions people reflect while listening to it. The song simply makes us feel good!
