Of course, it's easy for Pharrell to be happy. After all, he is a rapper, producer, singer, and songwriter raking in the dough for that damn happy song every radio station in the world is overplaying. The man's life is hitting on all cylinders. Shoot, why not sing about life being happy. The song is catchy. He has regular people singing, dancing, and placing their acts on YouTube, displaying how glad they are! Want to make Pharrell even happier? Add the song to a movie soundtrack, like Despicable Me II. Rumor has it that he danced around his house for twenty minutes, celebrating his happiness when the producers accepted the Happy song after ten other unsuccessful attempts. I'm sure he's no longer happy but freaking ecstatic when the royalties come rolling in!
When I was a child in the 1980s, we had a song called Don't Worry Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin. I would sing that song with all my friends. It was so fun to sing. And I was, honestly, happy. But then again, I was twelve at the time. Who wouldn't be happy as a pre-teen? Bobby McFerrin sure was happy. His song saturated everything, just like Pharrell's Happy song. He also had Robin Williams in his Don't Worry Be Happy music video. Holy crap! That would make me happy!
I'm coming across as a hater; however, I don't see myself being so happy lately. Sometimes, I feel as crazy happy as Chevy Chase's loveable character Clark W. Griswald in National Lampoons Vacation, who was on his way to see Marty Moose.
"You're gonna have fun, and I'm gonna have fun… we're gonna have so much fucking fun we're gonna need plastic surgery to remove our goddamn smiles!" – Clark Griswald.
I look for new and ingenious ways to find happiness besides going to the same old places like the happiest place on earth, Disney World, or finding the same happiness always there for me when traveling on my boat. But relying on your old happy spots is drab when you're relying on the exact source of happiness over and over. So now, I have begun looking for other alternatives to enjoy to find even greater happiness. Still, I find myself thinking about old, happy times.
The gym was once a source of happiness for me. I was a gym rat because I was in the gym daily. Working out was the one thing I looked forward to after a long, stressful week of playing cops and robbers. But the desire is gone. It died with my wife. The movies are also that way now. That was our thing to do. Popcorn, drinks, and a good flick right after dinner. Now it's, eh, who cares? I'm not happy.
I enjoy spending time with my sons. I would gladly leave my job to spend more time with my children. That would make me happiest, almost. However, that dream is the same as most people who have kids. If you re-read that second to last sentence, I said "almost." Trust me, I find some sanctuary at work after I spend day in and day out with my two toddler kids.
I've been told happiness is a state of mind. Well, no shit. If I could place my mind in that state of happiness, then I wouldn't find the need to rant and rave to you about my search for happiness. Damn it, how can happiness, the thing that brings me joy, be so damn elusive?
Pharrell. I'm clapping my hands because I think it's the truth.
Pharrell: If you read my blogs, you will see that I'm giving everything I have truthfully. That's my way of clapping.
Bobby McFerrin, I know we all have trouble. If I worry, I make it double, so don't worry, be happy. But who the hell cannot afford to worry? There is global warming. Kidnapped women in Africa. A shaky economy. My kids are growing fast and will soon think independently. My two dogs are now up in age. I still think of my wife and her death. I still wonder what my twins would be like as they would have been eight years old. I'm hard on myself. Life could be better. Things could be better. I could be better. Damn, I need to be happy.
But happiness is just more than having a fake smile. It's laughing again without feeling guilty that others may never laugh again. Happiness can be nullified if you smile at someone, knowing that you can't make things better in their life when you hear about their tragedy and that they're dealing with tragic events of their own. All I really want to tell them is, "Man, I'm sorry your father is sick with cancer. That just fucking sucks." What else can someone say?
Happiness for some is just being brave when people know they are against incredible odds that life has stacked against them. Is God the answer to happiness? Allow all your burdens to weigh on him because that's what he's there for? If that can make your worries less, it'll make you happy. At least, that's what Bobby McFerrin is saying. Maybe good ole Bobby is carrying a message from God?
I can listen to Bobby's little song he wrote. I could read it note by note. Don't worry; be happy. His note may be lost in translation somewhere before Happy Land and reality. Yes, Pharrell, nothing can bring you down. Your level's too high because you're happy. But as happy as you both are to sing it to the world about your joy, I have yet to subscribe to your way of musical thinking. And that's my fault.
Maybe if I write my own Happy song:
Sometimes I feel regret and sorrow. My troubles sometimes fell double. I need to feel like I'm no longer in trouble. I want to see life for what I have and not worry about what I haven't. I'll be grateful for today because there may not be a tomorrow. And just learn to be happy.
Live life for today. No more sorrow the next day. Be happy.
Love your kids because it can all be taken away. Be happy.
When you look up while lying on the ground, See the roof over your head? Be happy.
Get in your car and drive to work. You have a working car and a job. Be happy.
Be true to yourself without worrying about being judged, live your life, and above all else, be happy.
© Copyright 2012- 2024 Captain Imperfecto, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be republished, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Please contact if you would like to re-publish in film, television or print.
Lyrics by Pharrell Williams
Columbia Records
Don't Worry, Be Happy
Lyrics by: Bobby McFerrin
EMI Records Ltd.
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