"Happy Birthday Dear Heartache" is a song written by Archie Jordan and

Mack David Mack David (July 5, 1912 – December 30, 1993) was an American lyricist and songwriter, best known for his work in film and television, with a career spanning the period between the early 1940s and the early 1970s. David was credited with writing ...

, and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Barbara Mandrell Barbara Ann Mandrell (born December 25, 1948) is an American country music singer and musician. She is also credited as an actress and author. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, she was considered among country's most successful music artist ...

. It was released in January 1984 as the first single from the album ''

Clean Cut ''Clean Cut'' is the fourteenth solo studio album by American country music artist Barbara Mandrell. The album was released in March 1984 on MCA Records and was produced by Tom Collins. It was one of two studio albums Mandrell released in 1984. B ...

''. The song reached number 3 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Country Singles & Tracks Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart.

Content

The song is a bitter observance of the one-year anniversary of a breakup, set in terms of a birthday celebration. Instead of being in a celebratory mood, however, the woman observes "how big you've (the heartbreak) has grown" and that the guests of honor are "the blues, the memories and the tears." The breakup is so bitter that she observes at the end, "Same time, same place next year."

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

Songs about heartache 1984 singles Barbara Mandrell songs Songs with lyrics by Mack David Songs written by Archie Jordan Song recordings produced by Tom Collins (record producer) MCA Records singles 1984 songs {{1984-country-song-stub