My Happiness (song)

"My Happiness" is a song by Australian alternative rock band Powderfinger. It was released by the record label Universal Music Australia on 21 August 2000 as the first single from the band's fourth album, Odyssey Number Five. The single is Powderfinger's most successful to date; it peaked at number four in Australia, and charted on Hot Modern Rock Tracks—the first Powderfinger song to chart in the United States.

"My Happiness", which he said is about love and loneliness, and was written by Powderfinger frontman Bernard Fanning; it followed in the melancholy mood that could be found on much of Odyssey Number Five. The band promoted the song worldwide, touring with Coldplay in the United States and playing live on Late Night with David Letterman. "My Happiness" received a mixed response from critics; Fanning's lyrics and vocals generally drew praise, though some described the song as dull and boring. It won "Single of the Year" and "Song of the Year" at the 2001 Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Awards and Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) Awards, respectively, also topping radio station Triple J's Hottest 100 chart in 2000.

1 Background, writing, and recording
2 Touring and promotion
3 Music video
4 Release and commercial success
5 Critical reception
6 Charts
7 Awards
8 Track listing
9 Personnel
10 References

[edit] Background, writing, and recording

"My Happiness", like most Powderfinger songs, was written by lead singer Bernard Fanning. As most of Fanning's songs are written as emotional responses to situations, the band members were not always aware of the meaning behind them. Drummer Jon Coghill suggested in 2000 that "My Happiness", like "Waiting for the Sun", is about "being away from someone you love, waiting to be together".^[1] In response to online criticism describing "My Happiness" as being "like Lauryn Hill, bland and boring Top 40 bullshit", guitarist Ian Haug said the song contained more emotion than many other Powderfinger works.^[1] Guitarist Darren Middleton said the song was "more polished" than other Powderfinger songs, also stating that it could be considered "more complete".^[2]

Fanning said "My Happiness" is "about love and the pinning feeling you experience when you spend time away from the one you love", noting the influence of gospel and soul on his work.^[3] He said he listens to "a lot of soul music that's unashamedly about love and how good it makes you feel", and noted that love was "much more important than anything else to me".^[3] According to Fanning, the aspect of gentle fragility of the music appealed to him, citing James Taylor and Neil Young as influences.^[4] He said that the song is about time spent on the road, touring, and the distance from loved ones,^[5] and the purportedly "depressing" nature of "My Happiness" and its fellow Odyssey Number Five track "These Days" led music journalist Peter Holmes of The Sun-Herald to dub Fanning "Mr Miserable".^[6] In response, Fanning noted that the song had drawn a mixed response from fans; some described it as melancholy, others as hopeful.^[6] In 2004, Fanning described "My Happiness" as a "sad story of touring and the absence and loneliness that goes with it."^[7]

[edit] Touring and promotion

"My Happiness" was added to heavy rotation by Los Angeles radio station KROQ two months prior to its United States release.^[8] Powderfinger signed a contract with United States label Republic as a result of the song's success.^[9] Beat journalist Jayson Argall joked the song had received "a bit" of airplay.^[10] Though "My Happiness" was subsequently dropped from KROQ's roster, other radio stations continued to give the song high priority.^[11]

"My Happiness" peaked at number 23 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart, making it the first Powderfinger song to appear on a Billboard chart.^[12] Part of the song's success, according to Susan Groves of WHRL, came about because very few people knew of Powderfinger, but nonetheless were "drawn to the song" because it was "melodic, [and] pretty"—a change from what she described as "middle of the road rock" which had become highly popular.^[11] Meanwhile, Australians were "starting to get sick of My Happiness"—Cameron Adams argued this was one of the reasons Powderfinger decided to focus overseas.^[13]

Powderfinger performed "My Happiness" live on talk show Late Night with David Letterman while touring North America with British rock group Coldplay;^[5] an estimated 50 million watched the band's TV performance, and Powderfinger became only the fourth Australian act (after The Living End, Silverchair, and Nick Cave) to play on the show.^[14] The band also played a number of free promotional shows leading up to the release of the single.^[15] Meanwhile, in Europe, "My Happiness" received approximately four weeks of airplay on German music video program Viva II, and the band sold out three nights in a row in London thanks in part to the success of the single.^[16]

[edit] Music video

The music video for "My Happiness" starts at a train station with a boy and girl, both wearing black and red, stepping off a train. The boy pulls away from the girl towards the train reaching for something, however she pulls harder and he cannot return to the train. It is then shown that he was reaching for a slinky. The slinky, which is shown to be sentient, then attempts to find the boy. As it leaves the train, he passes Middleton in the train station, who is playing guitar along with the music and busking. The slinky then ventures to find the boy, with a range of challenges that face it along the way, including avoiding fruit falling on it, riding a skateboard and then being snagged at one end. In the middle of the music clip, the slinky is shown making its way through the music room in which Powderfinger are performing the song. The slinky then rests on the bar and the band finishes playing, while the music continues. It is then picked up by Haug. At this time, the boy who owned the slinky is seen in his bedroom and sees shadows of a slinky on his wall, but can't see the slinky. He is then seen on his doorsteps and then at an outdoor staircase where the slinky had earlier been seen on the skateboard. Haug then gets into a car and places the slinky on the windscreen, however it falls out the window as the car turns a tight corner. It then lands outside the gate of a house and is picked up by a girl in a skirt. She then gives the slinky to the boy who had been searching for it.

The video was created by Fifty Fifty Films, who created numerous other Powderfinger music videos.^[17] It was directed by Chris Applebaum and produced by Keeley Gould of A Band Apart, with editing by Jeff Selis. Cameron Adams of The Courier Mail reported that following the music video's release, slinky sales increased rapidly.^[18]

[edit] Release and commercial success

"My Happiness" was released as a single in Australia on 21 August 2000.^[19] When asked how they chose the release date, Fanning jokingly said "the release date is timed to coincide with the [2000 Sydney] Olympics, when all the visitors are here...they can go into [music store] HMV and pick it up."^[20] At the time of the single's release, the band's previous album, Internationalist was still in the top 50 on the ARIA Albums Chart, 95 weeks after entering.^[21] The single featured B-side "My Kind of Scene", which had already received strong airplay due to its appearance on the Mission: Impossible II soundtrack.^[22] "My Happiness" appeared on a Triple M compilation entitled Triple M's New Stuff,^[23] and on a Kerrang! compilation, Kerrang!² The Album.^[24]

"My Happiness" entered the ARIA singles chart at number four, and spent 24 weeks on the chart, making it Powderfinger's highest-charting single in Australia.^[24] It reached number two on the Queensland singles chart.^[25] It also peaked at number seven on the New Zealand singles chart, and spent 23 weeks in the top 50.^[26] "My Happiness" was Powderfinger's first single to chart in the USA, reaching number 23 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.^[27]

The song won the "Single of the Year" award at the ARIA Awards of 2001,^[28] and the 2001 "Song of the Year" APRA Award.^[29] Furthermore, "My Happiness" topped the Triple J Hottest 100 chart in 2000,^[30] and appeared on that year's CD release.^[31] Rolling Stone Australia named "My Happiness" "Song of the Year" in a reader poll.^[9] "My Happiness" was the eighth most played song on Australian radio in 2001.^[32]

[edit] Critical reception

Samples from the "My Happiness" single

"My Happiness"

The chorus of "My Happiness", described by Chad Watson of The Newcastle Herald as "restrained yet warmly infectious chorus".^[33]

Problems listening to the file? See media help.

"My Kind of Scene"

The chorus of "My Kind of Scene" caused Cameron Adams of The Herald Sun to exclaim surprise that it was only released as a B-side.^[34]

Problems listening to the file? See media help.

Devon Powers of PopMatters was critical of "My Happiness", describing it and "Waiting for the Sun" as sounding bored.^[35] All Music Guide's Dean Carlson, however, labeled "My Happiness" as one of the best songs on Odyssey Number Five, which he rated one and a half stars out of five. Carlson praised the guitar riff on the song, stating Powderfinger played it "better than most bands of their stature".^[36] Cameron Adams of The Herald Sun wrote that "My Happiness" didn't disappoint in the trend of excellent first singles from Powderfinger, citing "Pick You Up" and "The Day You Come" as examples. Adams praised the "wobbly guitar" and Fanning's vocals, as well as the lyrical structure of the song, stating that "the verses almost crash into the chorus". Adams also expressed surprise that "My Kind of Scene" was only released as a B-side.^[34] The Newcastle Herald's Chad Watson described a mixture of acoustic and electric guitar and "a restrained yet warmly infectious chorus".^[33] Richard Jinman of The Sydney Morning Herald wrote that Powderfinger could produce "Big Rock Anthems^TM" without sounding like Bon Jovi, but complained that "My Happiness" was not as "hummable" as "Passenger" or "These Days".^[37] The Adelaide Advertiser's Michael Duffy described "My Happiness" as "a familiar piece of yearning guitar indie that is polished but pedestrian", reserving his praise for "My Kind of Scene", which he said was reminiscent of the best of Internationalist.^[38] Sain journalist Christie Eliszer described the song as one of numerous "acoustic strumalongs" on Odyssey Number Five.^[39]

Darren Bunting of the Hull Daily Mail called "My Happiness" the best song on Odyssey Number Five praising the vocals, lyrics, and guitars. He described the band as following in the footsteps of Crowded House.^[40] The Evening Mail was more apathetic; calling the song "rock-lite" and stating that it failed to "make you really sit up and take notice".^[41] Marc Weingarten of Entertainment Weekly called Odyssey Number Five melancholy, and said that on "My Happiness", Fanning's "heavy heart is tattered by scratching and clawing guitars".^[42]