Happy (Danny Elfman song)

Last updated
"Happy"
Single by Danny Elfman
from the album Big Mess
ReleasedOctober 29, 2020 (2020-10-29)
Genre Industrial [1]
Length4:35 [2]
Label
Songwriter(s) Danny Elfman [2]
Producer(s)
[2]
Danny Elfman singles chronology
"Happy"
(2020)
"Sorry [3] "
(2021)

"Happy" is a song written and performed by American singer, musician, and composer Danny Elfman. It was released by Anti- on October 29, 2020. [2] [4] The single is Elfman's first solo pop release since the 1984 album So-Lo . [5]

Contents

In a statement, Elfman said, "I originally wrote 'Happy' to perform at Coachella 2020. It was written to be an absurd anti-pop song, designed to begin as a very simple pop tune that degrades into something more subversive. The cynical nature of the lyrics echo how I feel about living in a semi-dystopian world turned upside down." [6]

This should not be confused with Elfman's 1987 song of the same name, which was included on the soundtrack to the film Summer School . [7]

Credits

Adapted from Bandcamp: [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danny Elfman</span> American composer (born 1953)

Daniel Robert Elfman is an American film composer, singer, songwriter, and musician. He came to prominence as the lead vocalist and primary songwriter for the new wave band Oingo Boingo in the early 1980s. Since scoring his first studio film in 1985, Elfman has garnered international recognition for composing over 100 feature film scores, as well as compositions for television, stage productions, and the concert hall.

Synth-pop is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic, art rock, disco, and particularly the Krautrock of bands like Kraftwerk. It arose as a distinct genre in Japan and the United Kingdom in the post-punk era as part of the new wave movement of the late 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oingo Boingo</span> American new wave band

Oingo Boingo was an American new wave band formed by songwriter Danny Elfman in 1979. The band emerged from a surrealist musical theatre troupe, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, that Elfman had led and written material for in the years previous. Their highest-charting song, "Weird Science", reached No. 45 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mountains (Prince song)</span> 1986 single by Prince and The Revolution

"Mountains" is a 1986 song by American musician Prince and The Revolution, from his eighth album, Parade (1986), and the soundtrack to the film Under the Cherry Moon. It was written by The Revolution members Wendy & Lisa together with Prince. The extended 12" single version of the song runs nearly ten minutes. It reached number 23 in the US but only 45 in the UK. The B-side was the instrumental "Alexa de Paris", one of the few tracks from this project featuring a guitar solo. Both songs appear in the film Under the Cherry Moon, with the video for "Mountains" playing as the credits roll. The version shown on MTV to promote the single was in color as opposed to the film's black-and-white version.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Body Language (Queen song)</span> 1982 single by Queen

"Body Language" is a 1982 song by British rock band Queen. It was written by the band's lead singer Freddie Mercury and was a hit in North America, where it received extensive radio play. However, the single only received a lukewarm response in the United Kingdom. The track was the second single released from their 1982 album Hot Space. The music video for the song was the first one to be banned from MTV for its nudity, despite the members of Queen being fully clothed.

<i>Nothing to Fear</i> (Oingo Boingo album) 1982 studio album by Oingo Boingo

Nothing to Fear is the second studio album by American new wave band Oingo Boingo, released in 1982 by A&M Records.

<i>So-Lo</i> 1984 studio album by Danny Elfman

So-Lo is the debut studio album by American musician Danny Elfman, released in 1984 by MCA Records. Recorded primarily by Elfman, but also featuring the members of his band, Oingo Boingo, it was recorded when Elfman was offered a solo contract with MCA after the band had been dropped from I.R.S. Records. The album marked the band's last release to feature bassist Kerry Hatch and keyboardist Richard Gibbs.

"This Is Halloween" is a song from the 1993 film The Nightmare Before Christmas composed and written by Danny Elfman. In the film it is performed by the residents of the fictional "Halloween Town", which is the film's main setting, and introduces the town's Halloween-centered lifestyle.

<i>The Works</i> (Queen album) 1984 studio album by Queen

The Works is the eleventh studio album by the British rock band Queen. It was released on 27 February 1984 by EMI Records just shortly after recording for the album had been completed in the United Kingdom and it is the band's first studio album to be released by Capitol Records in the United States. After the synth-heavy Hot Space (1982), the album saw the re-emergence of Brian May and Roger Taylor's rock sound, while still incorporating the early 80s retro futuristic electronic music and New York funk scenes. Recorded at the Record Plant Studios in Los Angeles, California, and Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany, from August 1983 to January 1984, the album's title comes from a comment Taylor made as recording began – "Let's give them the works!".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Young Hearts Run Free</span> 1976 single by Candi Staton

"Young Hearts Run Free" is a disco song written by David Crawford and originally recorded by American soul singer Candi Staton in 1976.

Ghostbusters II is the soundtrack album for the film of the same name, released by MCA Records in 1989. The soundtrack includes the Billboard Hot 100 number two hit "On Our Own" performed by Bobby Brown, as well as Run-D.M.C.'s rendition of "Ghostbusters". The film score, Ghostbusters II: Original Motion Picture Score is composed by Randy Edelman. Since the release of the film in 1989, the complete film score was unreleased, until it was finally released on August 13, 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nili Brosh</span> Israeli-American guitarist

Nili Brosh is an Israeli-American guitarist. She has performed and/or recorded with Danny Elfman, Cirque du Soleil, Dethklok, Steve Vai, Tony MacAlpine, Paul Gilbert, Andy Timmons, Guthrie Govan/The Aristocrats, Stu Hamm, DragonForce, Jennifer Batten, Gretchen Menn, Alphonso Johnson, Jeff Loomis, Bryan Beller, and The Iron Maidens.

Select commercially released recordings of Danny Elfman's music for film, television, stage and the concert hall. For a full list of Elfman's compositions, see List of compositions by Danny Elfman. For Elfman's recordings as lead singer/songwriter for Oingo Boingo, see the Oingo Boingo discography page.

Parekh & Singh are an Indian dream pop duo from the city of Kolkata in West Bengal. The duo consists of Nischay Parekh and Jivraj Singh. To date, the band has released three studio albums: Ocean (2013), Science City (2018) and The Night is Clear (2022).

<i>Western Stars</i> 2019 studio album by Bruce Springsteen

Western Stars is the nineteenth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen, released on June 14, 2019, by Columbia Records. It was produced by Ron Aniello, who worked with Springsteen on his two previous albums: Wrecking Ball (2012) and High Hopes (2014).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caution (The Killers song)</span> 2020 single by the Killers

"Caution" is a song by American rock band the Killers from their sixth studio album, Imploding the Mirage (2020). It was released on March 12, 2020, as the lead single from the album, and features a guitar solo by former Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham. The track topped the Billboard Rock Airplay and Alternative Airplay charts.

<i>Big Mess</i> (Danny Elfman album) 2021 studio album by Danny Elfman

Big Mess is the second solo studio album by American singer, musician, and composer Danny Elfman. It was released by Anti- and Epitaph Records on June 11, 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nomi Abadi</span> American composer

Nomi Abadi is an American-born Syrian-Egyptian pianist, vocalist, actor and activist. In November 2019, she played piano on the Grammy Award nominated album Sekou Andrews & The String Theory nominated in 2020 in the category of Best Spoken Word Album.

<i>Oz the Great and Powerful</i> (soundtrack) 2013 film score by Danny Elfman

Oz the Great and Powerful (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album to the 2013 film of the same name, produced by Walt Disney Pictures. The film is directed by Sam Raimi, and featured musical score composed by Danny Elfman. The score was recorded at Sony Scoring Stage and the album featured 27 tracks with a promotional single titled "Almost Home" performed by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. The soundtrack was released by Walt Disney Records on March 5, 2013, followed by a physical CD release in association with Intrada Records on March 26.

References

  1. "DANNY ELFMAN's New Song "Happy" is Unsettling Industrial Madness". 30 October 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Happy | Danny Elfman". Bandcamp. October 29, 2020. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  3. "See Danny Elfman's Creepy Video for Self-Described 'Alien Orchestral Chamber Punk' Song 'Sorry'". Rolling Stone . 11 January 2021.
  4. "Happy - Single by Danny Elfman on Apple Music". October 29, 2020. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  5. "Hear Danny Elfman's First Solo Pop Song in Nearly 40 Years, 'Happy'". Rolling Stone . October 29, 2020. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  6. Anti- Records (October 29, 2020). "Halloween Is Almost Here: Is Danny Elfman "Happy"?" (Press release). Archived from the original on October 30, 2020.
  7. "Original Soundtrack - Summer School review". AllMusic . Rovi Corporation . Retrieved November 12, 2020.