Talk:Shiny Happy People

Confusing/clumsy analysis

The paragraph that begins "The song is supposedly an ironic reference..." is so confusing that I'm not sure what it means. Maybe it could be cleaned up? Alexbook (talk) 16:35, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

doth R.E.M. protest too much?

"a thorn in the flesh of the band, all of whom seem to hate it violently." I'd like to see a source for this assertion. R.E.M. isn't as deadly serious as U2 (for example). The song is chirpy and they did play it on Saturday Night Live; it ain't no bovine excrement like Afternoon Delight. One could argue that Radio Song, also from Out of Time and Pop Song 89 and Stand from Green are equally dumb, so what's prob? – Fantailfan 12:08, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

Think it was Buck that said they liked Stand for its silliness, but Shiny Happy People was too far. --Dandelions 14:20, 8 July 2006 (UTC)

I think Mr. Buck is subject to changes of opinions about his/their work, and expresses all of them freely. Perhaps we could get a source. --Fantailfan 14:22, 8 July 2006 (UTC)

Also, I think they don't have it on In Time (as they don't have Radio Song) because the songs had Kate Pierson and KRS-One on them respectively, and they wanted only 100% pure R.E.M. on it. I don't know that, just my opinion (which I removed from the OOT article). --Fantailfan 14:24, 8 July 2006 (UTC)

Why I removed "Wussiest" and Tianamen Square Refs

On 'Wussism': It may be properly referenced, but it is silly (non-notable). It is trivial in its most ephemeral sense and does not belong on the page.
On Tiananmen Square: no source was ever cited. Fantailfan 00:45, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

I've got to disagree. It shows a differing opinion of the song. 67.71.76.2 23:51, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

about Prozac

A programme on UK telly last night said the song is said by the artists/fans to be about Prozac. It didn't mention Tianamen Square at all. But I can't seem to find a source for that.Merkinsmum 14:45, 30 September 2007 (UTC)

I just saw that programme, interesting. Gavin (talk) 22:28, 13 September 2008 (UTC)

Tony Sidaway's recent edits here

I've done a Wikipedia job on this article.

These are the bits I removed totally:

1. Although a top ten hit, it was excluded from the band's 2003 'Best Of' album In Time; this was reportedly a deliberate decision by Michael Stipe, who once mentioned his dislike of the song in an episode of Space Ghost Coast to Coast.
2. Shiny Happy People is supposedly an ironic reference to a piece of roughly translated Chinese propaganda regarding the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, two years before the song was released.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://music.aol.com/feature/111-wussiest-songs-number-1 |title=The 111 Wussiest Songs of All Time (No. 1) – AOL Music |publisher=Music.aol.com |date= |accessdate=8 March 2010}}</ref>{{not in citation given|date=August 2010}}''

If you see an unsourced sentence on Wikipedia using weasel words like "supposedly", "allegedly", "reportedly", and whatnot, remove it. This is an encyclopedia, not a gossip tank where we collect together our personal opinions and things we read somewhere on the internet.

This is a bit I moved from the lede to its own section:

The song appeared in Michael Moore's anti-war/Bush film Fahrenheit 9/11 during footage of George H. W. Bush visiting the Saud family. Moore had previously directed the video to "All the Way to Reno (You're Gonna Be a Star)" for R.E.M. The song also appeared in the movie Tropa de Elite, released in August 2007, and in the movie Marley & Me, released in December 2008. The song was also originally going to be the opening theme song for the hit sitcom Friends, but it was later decided they would use "I'll Be There for You".

I should have removed it but sometimes I'm as soft as shite. Source it properly or delete it. Every single bit must be sourced. --TS 23:40, 7 December 2010 (UTC)

Chinese propaganda reference

The song supposedly refers to a Chinese propganda poster. Has anyone ever seen a picture of this poster? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.225.212.147 (talk) 14:41, 22 September 2011 (UTC)

Song Meaning: Benzedrine references

I just added a section to the article (in this revision) discussing the meaning of the song, but this was promptly reverted by Koavf as per WP:NOR.

The REM fans that I know, interpret the overly euphoric tone and the lyrics "Put it in your hands/Take it take it...Gold and silver shine" as a clear reference to the recreational drug abuse of the amphetamine Benzedrine, which comes in packaging with a "gold and silver shine" and produces a "happy" euphoria effect in users. Benzedrine is mentioned by name in the lyrics of "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" so was obviously known to the band. thumb|center|Benzedrine with the "Gold and silver shine" packaging

This seems pretty clear cut to me, but I can't find any external articles on it to cite, so I can't satisfy WP:NOR at this time. Hopefully someone else has more luck turning up references. - GrahamStw (talk) 20:05, 9 October 2011 (UTC)

It seems more like REM decided to use a secondary reference in a song where the PRIMARY focus is NOT Benzedrine. It's more like an aside. The small reference does not automatically mean the song is ONLY about Benzedrine and NOT AT ALL about how Chinese propoganda tried to spin Tienemn Jersey John (talk) 22:03, 10 October 2011 (UTC)