"Don't Worry, Be Happy" is a 1988 song by Bobby McFerrin, released as the first single from his 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 ''

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'', the song peaked at number-one on September 24, 1988, displacing " Sweet Child o' Mine" 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 hit number one in Australia and stayed there for 7 weeks. It was also a hit in the United Kingdom, reaching number two during its fifth week on the UK Singles Chart. 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, "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 re ...

, and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. In 2024, the single was selected for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry by the

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as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Background

Indian spiritual Guru Meher Baba (1894–1969) often used the expression "Don't worry, be happy" when communicating with 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 in San Francisco, and he was inspired by the expression's charm and simplicity. He wrote and recorded the song for his album ''Simple Pleasures'' and it was included in the soundtrack of the movie ''

'', which subsequently led to it becoming a hit single the next year.Fessier, Bruce (1988). Interview. ''USA Weekend'', 1988.

Composition and recording

The "instruments" in the ''a cappella'' song are entirely overdubbed 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. The song was recorded by McFerrin at Fantasy Studios in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

, using only eight tracks. McFerrin sang his vocal parts into his preferred microphone, a Neumann U 87.

Critical reception

Kieran McCarthy of AllMusic 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 ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...

'' picked it as Single of the Week, writing "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-style vocals and a snappy rhythm, this Linda Goldstein produced US top 10 single is a novelty record of considerable substance."

Music video

The music video for the song is playful and comedic in nature. Directed by Drew Takahashi, it features McFerrin, Robin Williams, and Bill Irwin engaging in various humorous antics while cutting back and forth to McFerrin singing along with the lyrics, and is somewhat shorter than the album version.

Awards

At the 1989 Grammy Awards, "Don't Worry, Be Happy" won the awards for Song of the Year,

, 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''s list of the 15 Best Whistling Songs of All Time. It was featured at #301 in the Recording Industry of America and the National Endowment for the Arts' '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'' critic Michael Musto, and it topped Q100 DJ Bert Weiss's list of tracks he would forever ban from radio. In the "50 Worst Songs Ever", ''Blender'' wrote "it's difficult to think of a song more likely to plunge you into suicidal despondency than this" and it lambasted its "appalling" lyrics.Run for Your Life! It's the 50 Worst Songs Ever!
''Blender'', May 2004. Wayback Machine archive of 24 January 2005. Retrieved 17 June 2015. In late 1988, television station WTVJ (channel 4) in Miami, Florida, commissioned McFerrin to record a customized version of the song with lyrics promoting WTVJ's switch from CBS to NBC on January 1, 1989, as part of a complicated six-station affiliation shuffle in South Florida. The station's usage of the song was so infamous that when WTVJ's general manager resigned in 1993, ''South Florida Sun-Sentinel'' critic Tom Jicha wrote "The 'don't worry, be happy' era is officially over at WTVJ ... Practically speaking, it was over as soon as it started. The jingle ... never reflected reality ... there has been little to smile about and plenty to fret over."

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Use by the George Bush campaign

The song was used in

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

's 1988 U.S. presidential election as Bush's 1988 official presidential campaign song, and it was used without 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 he completely dropped the song from his own performance repertoire to make the point even clearer. The Bush campaign then reportedly desisted from use of the song.

References

External links

Lyrics of this song
on 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 Cultural depictions of Meher Baba RPM Top Singles number-one singles A cappella songs Meher Baba Manhattan Records singles EMI Records singles United States National Recording Registry recordings American reggae songs