"Happiness" is a song by American singer-songwriter

Elliott Smith Steven Paul Smith (August 6, 1969 – October 21, 2003), known professionally as Elliott Smith, was an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and lived much of hi ...

. It was released on February 8, 2000 by record label

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as the first single from his fifth studio album, ''

Figure 8 Figure 8 (figure of 8 in British English) may refer to: * 8 (number), in Arabic numerals Entertainment * ''Figure 8'' (album), a 2000 album by Elliott Smith * "Figure of Eight" (song), a 1989 song by Paul McCartney * '' Figure Eight EP'', a ...

''. It was also released on 7-inch vinyl by

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Recording and content

Jon Brion sings backup vocals on "Happiness". On early recording reels, the song was labeled as "Tom's Start".

Release

"Happiness" was released on February 8, 2000 by record label DreamWorks as the first single from his fifth studio album, ''Figure 8''. The single did not chart in the United States. The single version is a slightly different mix of the song that was released on the album. On ''Figure 8'', the track is labeled as "Happiness/The Gondola Man" due to the short instrumental that plays after "Happiness" ends. On the single, an entirely different instrumental follows the song. The instrumental that follows on the single is a reversed clip of "Take a Fall", a song recorded in Smith's early duo called A Murder of Crows. This song shouldn't be confused with other Smith songs "Taking a Fall" and "How to Take a Fall".

Critical reception

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'' wrote, "While the tune's production recalls the shimmer of '' XO'', it possesses curiously upbeat energy atypical for Smith".

Track listing

# "Happiness (Single Version)" # " Son of Sam (Acoustic Version)"

Personnel

*Elliott Smith – vocals, guitars, bass, drums, piano, organ, marching drum *Jon Brion – backing vocals

References

{{authority control Elliott Smith songs 2000 singles Song recordings produced by Tom Rothrock 2000 songs Songs written by Elliott Smith DreamWorks Records singles