My Happiness (Powderfinger song)

"My Happiness" is a song by Australian rock band Powderfinger. It was released on 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; it peaked at number 4 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, number 7 on the New Zealand Singles Chart, and charted in the United States on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart – reaching number 23, the first Powderfinger song to do so.

"My Happiness"
Single by Powderfinger
from the album Odyssey Number Five
Released21 August 2000 (2000-08-21)
StudioSing Sing, Melbourne, Australia
GenreAlternative rock
Length4:36
LabelUniversal Music Australia
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Nick DiDia
Powderfinger singles chronology
"My Kind of Scene"
(2000)		 "My Happiness"
(2000)		 "Like a Dog"
(2001)

Powderfinger frontman Bernard Fanning wrote the lyrics for "My Happiness" as a reflection on the time the band spent touring to promote their work, and the loneliness that came as a result. It was inspired by his love of gospel and soul music. The rest of the band are co-credited with Fanning for composing the track. Despite its melancholy mood, "My Happiness" is considered by many to be a love song, a suggestion Fanning regards as mystifying.[1]

"My Happiness" was released as a single with "My Kind of Scene" as a B-side. It was instantly successful, charting highly in Australia and New Zealand. It won an ARIA Award and an APRA Award and topped the Triple J Hottest 100 in 2000 as well as coming 27th in the 2009 Hottest 100 of all time. "My Happiness" was highly praised by critics, with even negative reviews of Odyssey Number Five noting it as a highlight, especially for its catchy chorus. One of the highlights of Powderfinger's United States tour with Coldplay was a performance of "My Happiness" on the Late Show with David Letterman; they were only the fourth Australian act to appear on the show.

In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "My Happiness" was ranked number 31.[2]

In June 2020, the song was certified 5x Platinum in Australia.

Production and content

If you can't cop a bit of emotional stuff then you should go and get the lamp shade extracted from your arse. If you don't think there is enough rock in your life then let me know and I will personally come around to your house and chuck stones at you.

—Bernard Fanning
In response to "My Happiness" being described by fans as "like Lauryn Hill, bland and boring Top 40 bullshit".[3]

The lyrics for "My Happiness" were written by Bernard Fanning, Powderfinger's lead singer and songwriter. The rest of the band are co-credited with Fanning for composing the track.[4] The song describes feelings of love and separation; Sain's Pennie Dennison said it described "the pining feeling you experience when you spend time away from the one you love".[5] Fanning called it "a sad story of touring and the absence loneliness that comes with it".[1] The extensive time spent touring took its toll on the band, and it was on the back of this that Fanning wrote "My Happiness".[6] Thus, he expressed confusion at its being considered a romantic song.[1]

"My Happiness" was attacked by some fans as being "like Lauryn Hill, bland and boring Top 40 bullshit"; guitarist Ian Haug rebutted by pointing out that the song was an example of the new emotional level on which Powderfinger made music, while Fanning was more aggressive in his defence of the song.[3] In response to being dubbed "Mr Miserable" by The Sun-Herald's Peter Holmes for the lyrics of "My Happiness" and "These Days", Fanning pointed out that the songs could be construed either as melancholy, or as part of "the most hopeful record ... in a long time".[7]

Much of Fanning's writing is inspired by non-rock music, and "My Happiness" is no exception. Gospel and soul music that is "unashamedly about love and how good it makes you feel" was common during the Odyssey Number Five recording sessions.[5] Powderfinger worked hard in those sessions to ensure a more polished work than Internationalist; guitarist Darren Middleton concluded that "My Happiness", "The Metre", and "Up & Down & Back Again" were more "complete" because of the band's efforts.[8] The lighter elements of "My Happiness" in comparison to some of the band's earlier work saw Fanning reveal his passion for several other musicians, such as James Taylor—something that "five years ago ... would have been an embarrassing thing to say".[9]

Touring and promotion

"My Happiness" was put on heavy rotation by Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM two months prior to its United States release,[10] and Powderfinger signed a contract with United States label Republic as a result of the song's early success.[11] Beat journalist Jayson Argall joked the song had received "a bit" of airplay.[12] Although "My Happiness" was subsequently dropped from KROQ's roster, other radio stations continued to give the song high priority.[13]

"My Happiness" peaked at number 23 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks, making it the first Powderfinger song to appear on a Billboard chart.[14] According to Susan Groves of WHRL, part of the song's success came about because very few people knew of Powderfinger, but were drawn towards "My Happiness" because it was "melodic, [and] pretty"—a change from what she described as "middle of the road rock" popular in the United States.[13] Meanwhile, Australians were "starting to get sick of My Happiness"—Cameron Adams argued in The Hobart Mercury that this was one of the reasons Powderfinger decided to focus on the offshore market.[15]

Powderfinger performed "My Happiness" live on the Late Show with David Letterman while touring North America with British rock group Coldplay.[6] They were the fourth Australian act (after The Living End, Silverchair, and Nick Cave) to play on the show.[16] The band also did free promotional shows leading up to the release of the single.[17] In Europe, "My Happiness" received approximately four weeks of airplay on German music video program Viva II, and the band sold out for three nights in a row in London, partly due to the success of the single.[18]

Music video
A frame from the "My Happiness" music video showing a sentient slinky dancing as Powderfinger perform the song in the background

The music video for "My Happiness" starts at a railway station (Roma Street in Brisbane) with a boy and girl stepping off a train. As the pair leave the train, the boy turns and tries to reach for something, but the girl pulls him back. It is shown that he was reaching for a sentient slinky. The slinky leaves the train, and passes Middleton busking in the train station. The slinky ventures to find the boy, facing a range of challenges along the way; these include avoiding fruit falling on it and riding a skateboard. In the middle of the music clip, the slinky is shown making its way through a music room in which Powderfinger are performing "My Happiness". It rests on the bar and the band finishes playing, while the background music continues. As Powderfinger leaves, the slinky is picked up by Haug. He gets into a car and places the slinky on the car's dashboard, but it falls out the window as the car turns a tight corner. It lands outside the gate of a house and is picked up and brought inside to the boy.

The video was created by Fifty Fifty Films, who created numerous other Powderfinger music videos.[19] 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 dramatically.[20]

Release and commercial success

"My Happiness" was released as a single in Australia on 21 August 2000.[21] When asked how they chose the release date, Fanning jokingly said "the release date is timed to coincide with the Olympics, when all the visitors are here ... they can go into HMV and pick it up."[22] 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.[23][24] The single featured B-side "My Kind of Scene", which had already received strong airplay due to its appearance on the Mission: Impossible 2 soundtrack.[25] "My Happiness" appeared on a Triple M compilation entitled Triple M's New Stuff,[26] and on a Kerrang! compilation, Kerrang!2 The Album.[27]

"My Happiness" entered the ARIA singles chart at number four—making it Powderfinger's highest-charting single in Australia—and spent 24 weeks on the chart.[27] It reached number two on the Queensland singles chart,[28] and peaked at number seven on the New Zealand singles chart, on which it spent 23 weeks.[29] "My Happiness" was Powderfinger's first single to chart in the US, reaching number 23 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.[14]

The song won the "Single of the Year" award at the ARIA Awards of 2001,[30] and the 2001 "Song of the Year" APRA Award.[31] Furthermore, "My Happiness" topped the Triple J Hottest 100 chart in 2000,[32] and appeared on that year's CD release.[33] Rolling Stone Australia named "My Happiness" "Song of the Year" in a reader poll.[11] "My Happiness" was the eighth most-played song on Australian radio in 2001.[34]

Critical reception

"My Happiness" was a critical success. Cameron Adams of the Herald Sun wrote that "My Happiness" did not disappoint in the trend of excellent first singles from Powderfinger, citing "Pick You Up" and "The Day You Come" as examples. He praised the song's structure, 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.[37] The Newcastle Herald's Chad Watson described a mixture of acoustic and electric guitar and "a restrained yet warmly infectious chorus".[35] Despite praising it as a "Big Rock AnthemTM", Richard Jinman of The Sydney Morning Herald complained that "My Happiness" was not as "hummable" as past singles "Passenger" or "These Days".[36] Devon Powers of PopMatters described it, and "Waiting for the Sun", as sounding bored.[38] The Evening Mail agreed; it argued the "rock-lite" song, while sounding lush, failed to "make you really sit up and take notice".[39]

Despite being highly critical of Odyssey Number Five, Allmusic's Dean Carlson labelled it, alongside Odyssey No. 5, as one of the album's best songs, for the riff Powderfinger executed "better than most bands of their stature".[40] Adams also enjoyed the song's "wobbly guitar",[37] and Sain's Christie Eliszer approved of the "acoustic strumalong",[41] but The Advertiser's Michael Duffy said the song was "a familiar piece of yearning guitar indie that is polished but pedestrian"; he reserved his praise for "My Kind of Scene", which he described as akin to the best of Internationalist.[42] Darren Bunting wrote in the Hull Daily Mail that "My Happiness" was the best song on Odyssey Number Five, praising "soaring vocals, heartfelt lyrics and chiming guitar".[43] Entertainment Weekly's Marc Weingarten said that on "My Happiness", "Fanning's heavy heart is tattered by scratching and clawing guitars".[44]

Track listing
  1. "My Happiness" – 4:36
  2. "My Kind of Scene" – 4:37
  3. "Nature Boy" – 3:12
  4. "Odyssey #1" (Demo) – 4:09

Charts

Certification
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[47] 5× Platinum 350,000

^shipments figures based on certification alone

Awards
Year Organisation Ceremony Award Result
2000 Triple J Hottest 100 N/A #1[32]
2001 APRA APRA Awards Song of the Year Won[31]
ARIA ARIA Music Awards Single of the Year Won[30]

Personnel

Powderfinger

Production

  • Nick DiDia – Producer, engineer and mixer[48]
  • Matt Voigt – Assistant engineer
  • Anton Hagop – Assistant engineer
  • Alex Pertout – Percussion
  • Stewart Whitmore – Digital editing
  • Stephen Marcussen – Mastering
  • Anton Hagop – Assistant producer
  • Kevin Wilkins – Art direction and photography
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References
  1. Fingerprints: The Best of Powderfinger, 1994-2000 companion booklet. Universal Music Australia. p. 1.
  2. "Here Are The Songs That Made Triple M's 'Ozzest 100'". Musicfeeds. 27 January 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  3. Wooldridge, Simon (September 2000). "This Sporting Life". Juice.
  4. "Nominations – 2001". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). Archived from the original on 8 March 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  5. Dennison, Pennie (September 2000). "Odyssey Number Five Is Born". Sain.
  6. Sawford, Gavin (12 July 2001). "Powder to the People". RM Rave.
  7. Holmes, Peter (19 August 2001). "Powderfinger Lickin' Good". The Sun-Herald.
  8. Yates, Rod (September 2000). "Trusty Old Jackets". Massive.
  9. Maestri, Cathy (8 June 2001). "Putting the emphasis on songwriting". The Press-Enterprise. p. 13.
  10. McCabe, Kathy (4 February 2001). "Top band shunned – Triple M rejects single". The Sunday Telegraph. p. 21.
  11. Apter, Jeff (April 2001). "Powderfinger – Band of the Year". Rolling Stone.
  12. Argall, Jayson (August 2001). "Bowling Maidens Over". Beat.
  13. Pesselnick, Jill (13 June 2001). "Powderfinger Exports Its Aussie Appeal Stateside". Billboard.com. Accessed 22 August 2008.
  14. "Powderfnger Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  15. Adams, Cameron (1 February 2007). "Odyssey Continues". The Hobart Mercury. p. 27.
  16. Munro, Kelsey (November 2001). "Internationalists". Juice.
  17. Sharp, Annette (23 July 2000). "The Diary". The Sun-Herald. p. 28.
  18. Jefferys, Campbell (1 September 2001). "Bombing Europe". The Courier Mail.
  19. "www.fiftyfifty.tv". Fifty Fifty Films. Accessed 22 August 2008.
  20. Adams, Cameron (26 January 2001). "Powder to the people". The Courier Mail.
  21. Scatena, Dino (27 July 2000). "DINO, the truth, the whole truth & nothing but the truth". The Daily Telegraph.
  22. Scatena, Dino (3 August 2000). "DINO, the truth, the whole truth & nothing but the truth". The Daily Telegraph.
  23. McCabe, Kathy (6 August 2000). "Powderfinger on road". The Sunday Telegraph. p. 95.
  24. ARIA Albums Chart 27/08/2000. australian-charts.com. Accessed 22 August 2008.
  25. McCabe, Kathy (16 July 2000). "Making a killing for kids' charity". The Sunday Telegraph. p. 138.
  26. "My Happiness > Appears on". Allmusic. Accessed 22 August 2008.
  27. "Australian-charts.com – Powderfnger – My Happiness". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  28. Yorke, Ritche (27 August 2000). "Bold 'Finger". The Sunday Mail. p. 74.
  29. "Charts.nz – Powderfnger – My Happiness". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  30. "History: Winners by Artist: Powderfinger". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 31 December 2007. Accessed 22 August 2008.
  31. "APRA Music Awards 2001". Australasian Performing Right Association. Archived from the original on 23 July 2008. Accessed 22 August 2008.
  32. "Hottest 100 History 2000". Triple J. Archived from the original on 11 February 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2008. Accessed 22 August 2008.
  33. "Hottest 100 CD 2000". Triple J. Archived from the original on 21 June 2008. Accessed 22 August 2008.
  34. "Savage crashes but fans' passion burns". The Sunday Times. 30 December 2001. p. 20.
  35. Watson, Chad (10 August 2000). "My Happiness review". The Newcastle Herald. p. 46.
  36. Jinman, Richard (18 August 2000). "Other New Singles". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 25.
  37. Adams, Cameron (10 August 2000). "The singles". Herald Sun. p. 56.
  38. Powers, Devon. "Powderfinger: Odyssey No. 5 review". PopMatters. Accessed 22 August 2008.
  39. "Music – Singles". The Evening Mail. 7 September 2001. p. 48.
  40. Carlson, Dean. "Odyssey Number Five > Review". Allmusic. Accessed 22 August 2008.
  41. Eliszer, Christie (September 2000). "Five Easy Pieces". Sain.
  42. Duffy, Michael (24 August 2000). "Music Review". The Advertiser. p. 52.
  43. Bunting, Darren (7 September 2001). "Summer sound of Powderfinger". Hull Daily Mail.
  44. Weingarten, Marc (30 March 2001). "Odyssey Number Five | Music Review". Entertainment Weekly. Accessed 22 August 2008.
  45. "ARIA Charts – End Of Year Charts – Top 100 Singles 2000". ARIA. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  46. "End of Year Charts 2001". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  47. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2020 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  48. "Odyssey Number Five > Credits". Allmusic. Accessed 22 August 2008.

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