"Happy" is a song by Japanese-American singer

Mitski Mitski Miyawaki (born Mitsuki Laycock; September 27, 1990), known professionally by the mononym Mitski, is a Japanese-born American singer-songwriter. Mitski self-released her first two albums, '' Lush'' (2012) and '' Retired from Sad, New Caree ...

, released in 2016 as the second single from her fourth studio album, ''

Puberty 2 ''Puberty 2'' is the fourth studio album by Japanese-American indie rock singer-songwriter Mitski, released on June 17, 2016, the first release through Dead Oceans. It was produced by longtime collaborator Patrick Hyland. Upon its release, ''Puber ...

''. A music video for the song was released on May 23 that year, which '' Paste'' described as "chilling", while ''

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character tra ...

'' called is anything but happy. ''

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'' wrote "Sonically, the song follows an opposite trajectory, building from eerie metallic clattering and mournful whispers to an exultant explosion of guitar and saxophone. By the end, though, the excitement has died down and the eerie clattering returns, as it always does."

Background

About the song, Mitski said "Happiness fucks you. Once it's in your hands, you try to hold onto it, but the nature of happiness is that it passes through and eventually leaves, and something else—sadness, anger, a low after the high—has to follow. This song is about this exhaustive and exhausting cycle, and how sometimes one would rather not have any of it at all than be constantly thrown about by the waves of these fleeting states." ''

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'' wrote that the song is about "what happens once happiness has fled the scene; the tidying up, sadness, and exhausting anger that lives and thrives on the flip-side."

Reception

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'' wrote that "Happy" might be one of Mitski's bleakest songs yet, and further wrote "Mitski resists psychic death by constantly pushing forth into bolder textures, refusing to be meek and sedated even as joy feels compromised: a stubborn drum machine begets chuntering percussion, the tentative melody finds its feet, and brash saxophones push everything up a gear."

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considered the song to be one of the highlights from ''Puberty 2'', writing that it's "full of bite and irony as she describes a hook-up and his stealthy exit in a context of grooving rhythms, a catchy melody, and poppy saxophone solos. Through it all in the background -- though it's brought to the fore in the intro and outro -- is the relentless pounding of a drum."

References

{{Mitski 2016 singles 2016 songs American indie rock songs Dead Oceans singles Mitski songs Songs written by Mitski