718
We ain't happy anymore... (thelemmy.club)
submitted 1 day ago by to c/lemmyshitpost@lemmy.world
130 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 34 points 14 hours ago* (3 children)

I was surprised by this because it sounds like one of those internet stories that isn't true, or was morphed so many times after multiple retellings. But a quick search shows me that this is completely true:

https://www.npr.org/2024/10/07/nx-s1-5001928/pharrell-says-his-hit-happy-came-from-a-sarcastic-place

WILLIAMS: Well, after nine times of, you know, nine nos, like, nope, doesn't work, doesn't work, doesn't work, doesn't work, doesn't work, doesn't work, doesn't work, then I had to kind ask myself a rhetorical question. How do you write a song about someone that's so happy that nothing can bring them down? I'm paraphrasing. And the song ended up being the sarcastic answer to that.

TIL

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 6 child comments
    •
  • [–] 1 point 4 hours ago*

    Kinda like how Sara Bareilles wrote "I'm not gonna write you a love song" in response to the execs asking her to write a love song and it was a hit. Now that I think of it, maybe this is a common excuse for artists who write corporate slop. They just blame the system and plead for "irony."

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 3 points 11 hours ago

    Well he didn't mean for it to be sarcastic really

    Yeah, it's sarcasm. But I didn't realize that I was being sarcastic. It just was - like, that was just my sarcastic response to my rhetorical question. And it was just like, OK, let me just go with this. And before you knew it, it was that.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent