"Don't Worry, Be Happy" is a 1988 song by American musician
Bobby McFerrin
Robert Keith McFerrin Jr. (born March 11, 1950) is an American folk and jazz singer. He is known for his vocal techniques, such as singing fluidly but with quick and considerable jumps in pitch—for example, sustaining a melody while also rap ...
, released as the first single from his fourth album, ''
Simple Pleasures'' (1988). It was the first ''
a cappella'' song to reach number-one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, a position it held for two weeks. Originally released in conjunction with the film ''
Cocktail'', the song peaked at number-one on September 24, 1988,
displacing "
Sweet Child o' Mine
"Sweet Child o' Mine" is a song by American rock band Guns N' Roses. It appears on their debut album, ''Appetite for Destruction''. In the United States, the song was released in June 1988 as the album's third single, topping the ''Billboard'' ...
" by
Guns N' Roses.
The song also peaked at number 11 on the
''Billboard'' Hot Black Singles chart and number seven on the
''Billboard'' Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart.
It was also a hit in the United Kingdom, reaching number two during its fifth week on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
. In Canada, the song reached number-one in its eighth week. One critic noted it as a "formula for facing life's trials".
At the
1989 Grammy Awards
The 31st Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 22, 1989, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year.
Album of the Year went to George Michael for ''Faith'', and Song of the Year w ...
, "Don't Worry, Be Happy" won the awards for
Song of the Year,
Record of the Year
The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...
, and
Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.
Background
![Meher Baba 5](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/Meher_Baba_5.jpg)
Indian mystic
Meher Baba
Meher Baba (born Merwan Sheriar Irani; 25 February 1894 – 31 January 1969) was an Indian spiritual master who said he was the Avatar, or God in human form, of the age. A major spiritual figure of the 20th century, he had a following of ...
(1894–1969) often used the expression "Don't worry, be happy" when cabling his followers in the West, and the expression was printed on inspirational cards and posters during the 1960s. In 1988, McFerrin noticed a similar poster in the apartment of jazz duo
Tuck & Patti
Tuck & Patti are an American jazz duo consisting of guitarist William Charles "Tuck" Andress (born Oct. 28, 1952 in Tulsa, Oklahoma) and singer Patricia "Patti" Cathcart Andress (born October 4, 1949, in San Francisco).
Music career
Guitarist Tu ...
in San Francisco, and he was inspired by the expression's charm and simplicity. He wrote the song that was included in the soundtrack of the movie ''
Cocktail'' and became a hit single the next year.
[Fessier, Bruce (1988). Interview. '']USA Weekend
''USA Weekend'' was an American weekend newspaper magazine owned by the Gannett Company. Structured as a sister publication to Gannett's flagship newspaper ''USA Today'' and distributed in the Sunday editions of participating local newspapers, i ...
'' magazine, 1988.
Composition
The "instruments" in the ''a cappella'' song are entirely
overdubbed
Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more av ...
voice parts and other sounds made by McFerrin, using no instruments at all; McFerrin also sings with an affected
accent, though he stated that "I hate to go so far as to say it's Jamaican. It was heavily influenced by Juan's Mexican Restaurant, which was just around the corner from the studio." "Don't Worry, Be Happy" is written in the key of
B major.
Critical reception
Kieran McCarthy of
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
expected that the song would "probably remain prevalent in
pop culture as long as humans speak English and play music." Pan-European magazine ''
Music & Media'' picked it as Single of the Week. They wrote, "Cool a capella by this unusual artist. Uncomplicated music stripped down to the basics, but missing absolutely nothing. This recording will appeal to everybody who is on the lookout for something different. With the
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
-style vocals and a snappy rhythm, this Linda Goldstein produced US top 10 single is a
novelty record
A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and wit ...
of considerable substance."
Music video
The comedic original
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
for the song, directed by Drew Takahashi, stars McFerrin,
Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...
, and
Bill Irwin, and is somewhat shorter than the album version.
Awards
At the
1989 Grammy Awards
The 31st Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 22, 1989, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year.
Album of the Year went to George Michael for ''Faith'', and Song of the Year w ...
, "Don't Worry, Be Happy" won the awards for
Song of the Year,
Record of the Year
The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...
, and
Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.
Impact and legacy
The song is ranked No. 31 on VH1's "
100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the '80s" and also appears on ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
''s list of the 15 Best Whistling Songs of All Time. It was also featured at #301 in the
Recording Industry of America
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
and the
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...
' 'Songs of the Century' in 2001.
However, in 2011, "Don't Worry, Be Happy" was named as the worst song of all time by ''
Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...
'' critic
Michael Musto
Michael Musto (born December 3, 1955) is an American journalist who has long been a prevalent presence in entertainment-related publications, as well as on websites and television shows. Musto is best known as a columnist for '' The Village Voi ...
,
and it topped
Q100 Q100 may be:
* Quran 100 the 100th chapter of the Islamic Holy book
* De Havilland Canada Dash 8 Q100 turboprop, now by Bombardier Aerospace
* Q100, a conventional notation for the 100-year flood, particularly in hydrology
Transportation
* Q100 ...
DJ Bert Weiss's list of tracks he would forever ban from radio. In the "50 Worst Songs Ever", ''Blender'' said that "it's difficult to think of a song more likely to plunge you into suicidal despondency than this", and also lambasted its "appalling" lyrics.
[Run for Your Life! It's the 50 Worst Songs Ever!](_blank)
''Blender'', May 2004. Wayback Machine archive of 24 January 2005. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications and sales
Use by the George Bush campaign
The song was used in
George H. W. Bush's
1988 U.S. presidential election
The 1988 United States presidential election was the 51st quadrennial presidential election held on Tuesday, November 8, 1988. The Republican nominee, incumbent Vice President George H. W. Bush, defeated the Democratic nominee, Governor Michae ...
as Bush's 1988 official presidential
campaign song
Campaign songs are songs used by candidates or political campaigns. Most modern campaign songs are upbeat popular songs or original compositions that articulate a positive message about a campaign or candidate, usually appealing to patriotism, o ...
, without Bobby McFerrin's permission or endorsement. In reaction, McFerrin (a Democrat) publicly protested that particular use of his song, including stating that he was going to vote against Bush, and completely dropped the song from his own performance repertoire, to make the point even clearer. The Bush campaign then reportedly desisted from further use of the song.
See also
*
Big Mouth Billy Bass
Big Mouth Billy Bass is an animatronic singing prop, representing a largemouth bass, invented by Gemmy Industries on December 16, 1998; sold beginning January 1, 1999; and popular in the early 2000s.
Gemmy Industries
Gemmy (IPA : ) is an Americ ...
, a toy which "sang" a version of this song
References
External links
Lyrics of this songon Bobby McFerrin's official website
{{authority control
1988 debut singles
1988 songs
Grammy Award for Record of the Year
Grammy Award for Song of the Year
Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
Cashbox number-one singles
Number-one singles in Australia
Number-one singles in Iceland
European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles
RPM Top Singles number-one singles
A cappella songs
Meher Baba
Manhattan Records singles
EMI Records singles