Happy (Marina and the Diamonds song)

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"Happy"
Single by Marina and the Diamonds
from the album Froot
Released12 December 2014 (2014-12-12)
GenrePop
Length4:04
LabelAtlantic
Songwriter(s)Marina Diamandis
Producer(s)
Marina and the Diamonds singles chronology
"Froot"
(2014) 		"Happy"
(2014) 		"I'm a Ruin"
(2015)
Music video
"Happy" on YouTube

"Happy" is a song by Welsh singer-songwriter Marina Diamandis, professionally known as MARINA and formerly as Marina and the Diamonds. It is the opening track on her third album, Froot, and was released on 12 December 2014 as the second song from her "Froot of the Month" campaign, which was the monthly release of a new song up until the album's release.[1] An acoustic video for the song was released on 18 December 2014.[2] The song also serves as the second official single from the album.

Background and composition[edit]

"Happy" was written by Diamandis, and is an airy pop ballad.[3][4] It follows the topic of her battle to find happiness. Diamandis said, "It would've been easy" to choose "Happy" as the lead single over a song like "Froot" that many people may not have liked, but she felt "It would've been too predictable".[5] The song was released at midnight for those who had pre-ordered the album, meaning some countries such as Australia and New Zealand received the track hours before the song premiered on YouTube on 12 December.[6]

Music video[edit]

The song initially premiered as an audio video on YouTube. The video was an animation of fruit slowly rotating in front of a backdrop of animated space. The track amassed over half a million views in a day. As of September 2022 Happy has amassed over 5.7 million YouTube views.[7]

On 18 December an acoustic video for "Happy" was released. The video features Diamandis dressed in a gold robe, and her band, whose faces are obscured, performing the track in an infinity room lit by blue light. The video was directed by Paul Caslin, who directed all the acoustic Froot videos.[8]

Reception[edit]

The song received critical acclaim from reviewers. Bradley Stern from Idolator called the track a "gentle, soul-searing ballad" with an "underlying message of hope".[9] Michael Cragg of The Guardian said the track sounded "utterly redemptive" and that the line 'I believe in possibility' refracted like "sun from a cloud".[10] Michelle Geslani from Consequence of Sound said "the song is a bare-bones ballad that's quietly backed only by the delicate purr of a piano. However, its austerity serves as its greatest strength and allows the Welsh singer to convey joy and exultation on her own terms — intimately, with much contemplation, and through the use of her emotive, porcelain-like vocals."[11]

Although the song was not released as a single, upon release it reached number 1 on iTunes in 9 countries, number 6 in the US, and got to ten in the UK.[12] The song failed to chart in any country; in the UK, the song was ineligible to chart since most of the purchases came as instant gratification downloads for album preorders.

Track listing[edit]

  • US Digital download[13]
  1. "Happy" – 4:03

Release history[edit]

Region Date Format Label
Worldwide 12 December 2014 Digital download (via pre-order of the album) Atlantic Records

References[edit]

  1. ^ "On the 12th day... New song "Happy"".
  2. ^ "Happy (Acoustic band video)".
  3. ^ Floyd, Marcus. "Album Review: Marina And The Diamonds - Froot". Renowned for Sound. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  4. ^ Cragg, Michael (19 December 2014). "The playlist: pop – Marina and the Diamonds, Madeon, Skrillex". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  5. ^ "Diamonds Are Foever". Archived from the original on 1 July 2015. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  6. ^ "Some of you..."
  7. ^ Marina and The Diamonds (11 December 2014), MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS | "HAPPY", retrieved 17 July 2017
  8. ^ "Premiere: Marina and the Diamonds, Happy". BuzzFeed. 17 December 2014.
  9. ^ "Marina and the Diamonds gets emotional on "Happy"". 11 December 2014.
  10. ^ Cragg, Michael (19 December 2014). "The Playlist: Pop". The Guardian.
  11. ^ "Marina and the Diamonds premiere new song "Happy" - listen". 12 December 2014.
  12. ^ "Woke up to this!".
  13. ^ "Marina and The Diamonds – Happy – Single". iTunes. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
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