Don't Worry, Be Happy

"Don't Worry, Be Happy" is a 1988 song by American musician Bobby McFerrin, released as the first single from his fourth 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 Cocktail, the song peaked at number-one on September 24, 1988,[3] displacing "Sweet Child o' Mine" by Guns N' Roses.[4]

This article is about the song by Bobby McFerrin. For other uses, see Don't Worry, Be Happy (disambiguation).

"Don't Worry, Be Happy"
Single by Bobby McFerrin
from the album Simple Pleasures
A-side"Don't Worry Be Happy"[1]
B-side
    • 12" maxi
    • 7" promo
    • 7" single
    • CD single
ReleasedJuly 24, 1988
Recorded1988
Genre
Length4:54 (album version)
4:03 (music video)
3:50 (radio edit)
LabelEMI-Manhattan[1]
Songwriter(s)Bobby McFerrin[1]
Producer(s)Linda Goldstein[1]
Music video
"Don't Worry, Be Happy" on YouTube

The song also peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot Black Singles chart[5] and number seven on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart.[3] It hit number one in Australia and stayed there for 7 weeks.[6] It was also a hit in the United Kingdom, reaching number two during its fifth week on the UK Singles Chart.[7] In Canada, the song reached number-one in its eighth week.[8] One critic noted it as a "formula for facing life's trials".[9]

At the 1989 Grammy Awards, "Don't Worry, Be Happy" won the awards for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

Background
Meher Baba, who often used the phrase "Don't worry, be happy"

Indian mystic Meher Baba (1894–1969) often used the expression "Don't worry, be happy" when cabling his followers in the West,[10] 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.[11] He wrote the song that was included in the soundtrack of the movie Cocktail and became a hit single the next year.[12]

Composition

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."[13] "Don't Worry, Be Happy" is written in the key of B major.[14]

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."[15] Pan-European magazine Music & Media picked it as Single of the Week. They wrote, "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."[16]

Music video

The comedic original music video for the song, directed by Drew Takahashi, stars McFerrin, Robin Williams, and Bill Irwin,[17] 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, Record 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.[18][19] It was also featured at #301 in the Recording Industry of America and the National Endowment for the Arts' 'Songs of the Century' in 2001.[20]

However, in 2011, "Don't Worry, Be Happy" was named as the worst song of all time by Village Voice critic Michael Musto,[21] and it topped Q100 DJ Bert Weiss's list of tracks he would forever ban from radio.[22] In the "50 Worst Songs Ever", Blender said that "it's difficult to think of a song more likely to plunge you into suicidal despondency than this", and also lambasted its "appalling" lyrics.[23]

In late 1988, Miami, Florida, television station WTVJ (channel 4) commissioned McFerrin to record a customized version of the song with lyrics promoting WTVJ's network affiliation switch from CBS to NBC on January 1, 1989, as part of a complicated six-station affiliation shuffle in South Florida.[24][25] 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."[26]

Charts

Certifications and sales
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia — 85,000[62]
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[63] Gold 45,000‡
Germany (BVMI)[64] Platinum 500,000^
Sweden (GLF)[65] Gold 25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[66] Gold 400,000‡
United States (RIAA)[67] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Use by the George Bush campaign

The song was used in George H. W. Bush's 1988 U.S. presidential election as Bush's 1988 official presidential campaign song, without Bobby 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 completely dropped the song from his own performance repertoire, to make the point even clearer. The Bush campaign then reportedly desisted from further use of the song.[68]

See also

References
  1. "Bobby McFerrin – Don't Worry Be Happy". Discogs. Retrieved June 9, 2014.
  2. "SPIN june 1989" (PDF). Spin. SPIN Media LLC: 66. 1989. ISSN 0886-3032. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
  3. "The Hot 100: The Week of September 24, 1988". Billboard.
  4. Holden, Stephen (September 29, 1988). "Don't Worry, Be Happy: Bobby McFerrin Has A No. 1 Hit". New York Times News Service. Retrieved June 9, 2014. McFerrin's hit is earning the superb vocal improviser a mass audience, as his album, Simple Pleasures leaps from No. 20 to No. 12 on the album chart.
  5. "Bobby McFerrin Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  6. https://australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Bobby+McFerrin&titel=Don%27t+Worry,+Be+Happy&cat=s
  7. "Official Singles Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
  8. "RPM 100 Singles" (PDF). Collectionscanada.gc.ca. October 15, 1988. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  9. Don't Worry, Be Happy. B Happy – Benny to Beyonce, 2012
  10. Bhau Kalchuri (1986). 'Meher Prabhu: Lord Meher, The Biography of the Avatar of the Age, Meher Baba. Manifestation, Inc. pp. 5134, 5770, 5970, 6405, 6742. ASIN B000UGTLKE.
  11. Jackson, B. (2010, 07). Bobby McFerrin: "DON'T WORRY BE HAPPY". Mix, 34, 40. ProQuest 928937465
  12. Fessier, Bruce (1988). Interview. USA Weekend magazine, 1988.
  13. Saunders, Michael. "'Don't Worry, Be Happy'--It's Catching" Fort Lauderdale, Florida: Sun-Sentinel:1988.
  14. McFerrin, Bobby (July 20, 2009). "Don't Worry, Be Happy". Musicnotes.com. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
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  17. Heldenfels, Rich (June 27, 2012). "Mailbag: Mr. Noodle explained". Akron Beacon-Journal. Retrieved June 29, 2012.
  18. Ali 5/2/2013, Rahsheeda. "100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the '80s". VH1 News. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
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  25. Kelley, Bill (December 28, 1988). "'Operation Peacock' has stars strutting for new NBC station". Fort Lauderdale News. Fort Lauderdale, Florida. pp. 8A. Archived from the original on April 12, 2021. Retrieved April 6, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
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