What Makes a Song Happy?
What makes a song happy is a positive message or story. The lyrical content will be uplifting, inspirational, loving, or just happy words put together in such a way where it makes the listener feel good when they hear the song. Happy songs can change your mood and they can make your day better. Researchers have published articles that promote how music can help you heal both physically and emotionally.
Let’s go over a few happy songs that we mentioned in our blog, Tap into Your Emotions. We offered four examples of happy songs. Let’s take a look at how you can break down a song to find its core components.
Sample 1:
Happy by Pharrell Williams
Happy was released in November of 2013. It was written and produced by Pharrell Williams. His original intention was to have the artist Cee Lo Green to record, but Cee Lo’s management didn’t think it was the right fit, so Pharrell recorded it instead. If we look at the lyrics, the theme is basically, I’m happy, and there is nothing you are going to do to take that happy feeling away from me. Let’s take a look at some parts of Happy and break it down a bit.
Let’s look at the chorus:
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you know what happiness is to you
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like that’s what you wanna do
Let’s check out a few lines of a verse:
Here come bad news talking this and that
Yeah, give me all you got and don’t hold back
Yeah, well I should probably warn you that I’ll be just fine
Yeah, no offense to you, don’t waste your time
Pharrell is saying, I’m happy, don’t waste your time in trying to bring me down. It’s very positive and he’s putting out feel good phrases to help you feel the emotion he is trying to convey with the song. He’s also asking you to be involved. Do you feel like a room without a roof? Do you feel like happiness is the truth? What is happiness to you? Clap if you feel happy enough and it’s what you want to do. He’s telling you how good it feels to be happy.
Sample 2:
Shine by Dennis R. and YourSongmaker
Shine was released in 2017. It was written by Dennis R. and produced by YourSongmaker. The song is about being in a loving relationship. The lyricist takes the listener on a journey and tells the story about how a loving relationship looks from a particular angle. This particular lyricist enjoys writing from many different vantage points.
To hear the song and see the full lyrics, click here
Let’s check out a few lines of a verse:
My heart had wear and tear and scars that I could not conceal
But your love gave a luster to the person now revealed
Let’s look at the chorus:
Cause now I just shine
Looking forward in time
Finally, joyful inside
Now I just shine
Oh, you help me shine
How great do you feel if you feel like you are “shining”? Along with the uplifting, consonant, chord progressions and sound effects of these songs, the music is just as happy sounding as the lyrics read. A recipe for a great song. You can see/hear how the lyricist starts out with the sadder side of the story, but then how they triumphed over it and began to “shine” or be happy.
Now it’s time for you to start writing your happy song lyrics!