Happy Ending (Mika song)

"Happy Ending" is the third single release from Lebanese-British singer Mika. Taken from his debut album Life in Cartoon Motion, producer Greg Wells remixed and rearranged the single, released online on 8 October 2007, and in shops on CD and 7-inch vinyl on 15 October 2007.[1]

"Happy Ending"
Single by Mika
from the album Life in Cartoon Motion
Released15 October 2007
Recorded2006
GenrePop
Length
  • 3:32 (LA edit)
  • 4:36 (album version)
LabelIsland
Songwriter(s)Michael Holbrook Penniman Jr.
Producer(s)Greg Wells
Mika singles chronology
"Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)"
(2007)		 "Happy Ending"
(2007)		 "Relax, Take It Easy"
(2007)
Music video
"Happy Ending" on YouTube

The single charted as Mika's fourth straight UK Top 10 single out of his first four, continuing his UK success so far, peaking at number seven on the UK Singles Chart. It was the fifth most added song to Australian radio in late October 2007[2] and was released there officially on 12 November 2007, as the 3rd single despite digital track sales placing the song in the ARIA singles chart before the official release.[3]

On Life in Cartoon Motion, fifty seconds after the song ends, a hidden track, "Over My Shoulder" starts. It is a solemn song about being left alone, cold and drunk. This also appeared on the CD single of "Grace Kelly".

Background and composition

Mika described the story behind the song:

"It's about a few things. In a way, it's a kind of sad break-up song like 'My Interpretation.' But, at the same time, it's about a lot of other things. I'll never forget when I was actually recording this song in Los Angeles, I would take this drive from where I was staying to the studio, which wasn't in the city and the amount of homeless people I saw on the way was absolutely shocking. Those horrible images of homelessness that I would see every morning really connected with that song. So it just comes to show you that a bright song in a certain mindset had a meaning that really evolves and changes as time goes by. I think that it is very important that other listeners find their own meaning to songs. So many people are very openly suggestive to the point of being abstract. It's the most powerful thing when that becomes the song."

The woman singing with Mika in “Happy Ending” on the album is Ida Falk Winland, an opera singer and former classmate of Mika from the Royal College of Music.[4]

Critical reception

The song received critical acclaim. Christian John Wikane from PopMatters commented about his voice on the track, writing that "Like a choirboy singing by candlelight, Mika awakes goose bumps with the chilling purity of his voice."[5] Graham Griffith from About.com was succinct, writing that the song is "gorgeous",[6] while Lizzie Ennever from BBC Music described it as a "lovely, piano-led".[7]

John Murphy from musicOMH wrote an extense article about the song. He wrote that it "sees a wonderful vocal performance from Mika, sounding eerily like early Michael Jackson at one point, and working extraordinarily well with his backing vocals. It's the sort of song you can imagine playing over the final scene of an 'emotional' drama on TV."[8]

Music video

The music video starts with a piano playing on its own, then the camera shows Mika on the bed. He is singing and has a pink balloon attached on his arm and while he is floating above, it reveals Mika with a pink suit. His room walls are shown full of pictures that start moving their mouths and singing with Mika. Mika passes through white balloons, which show all the times he felt different emotions. The video ends with Mika singing, and gloved hands resembling singing faces. He smiles as the screen goes black. The music video was directed by AlexandLiane.[9]

The song was featured on The CW show Gossip Girl. It was also used for a contemporary dance performed by Natalli and Vincent on So You Think You Can Dance Canada. The song was featured on The CW show Privileged. The song was also used in the commercial for KB Kookmin Bank. The song can often be heard on The X Factor (UK) during the audition rounds. A Cappella group Noteworthy chose this song as their Swan Song on NBC's The Sing-Off. The instrumental version of the song was featured in the second series of Supersize vs Superskinny. Part of this song was featured in the Axis of Awesome's song, "Four Chords", as an example of a song that uses the I–V–vi–IV progression. This song was also featured in Procter & Gamble's Pantene Shampoo and Conditioner advertisement in 2010. However this song is still used in 2012 in Pantene Asia. It is also used in the season and series finale for another The CW show Hellcats in 2011. The song was used in a 2015 campaign for Si by Giorgio Armani featuring Cate Blanchett.[10]

Track listings

UK CD single

  1. "Happy Ending" (LA Edit) – 3:32
  2. "Grace Kelly" (Acoustic) – 3:04
  3. "Happy Ending" (The Kleerup Mix) – 4:16

Limited-edition 7-inch vinyl

  1. "Happy Ending" (LA Edit) – 3:32
  2. "Love Today" (Acoustic) – 2:57

UK 12-inch single

  1. "Happy Ending" (Quentin Harris Remix) – 8:32
  2. "Happy Ending" (Quentin Harris Instrumental) – 8:14
  3. "Happy Ending" (The Time Of The Night Remix) – 5:40
  4. "Happy Ending" (Trail Mix) – 4:20

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[35] Gold 35,000^
Italy (FIMI)[36] Gold 15,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[37] Gold 400,000‡

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

References
  1. Official website Archived 21 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
  2. "Australian music Network" Archived 7 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine. The Music Network. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
  3. Archived 26 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine Herald Sun HiT. Retrieved on 5 November 2007.
  4. "Happy Ending — Mika".
  5. Wikane, Christian John (26 March 2007). "Mika: Life in Cartoon Motion < PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  6. "MIKA - Life in Cartoon Motion". About.com. Archived from the original on 16 October 2011. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  7. Ennever, Lizzie (2 February 2007). "BBC - Music - Review of Mika - Life In Cartoon Motion". BBC. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  8. Murphy, John (5 February 2007). "Mika - Life In Cartoon Motion | album reviews | musicOMH". MusicOMH. Archived from the original on 11 October 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  9. "Mika: Happy Ending (Video 2007) - IMDb".
  10. "Giorgio Armani Si TV Spot, 'Si to Life' Feat. Cate Blanchett, Song by MIKA". Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  11. "Mika – Happy Ending". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  12. "Mika – Happy Ending" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  13. "Mika – Happy Ending" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  14. "Mika – Happy Ending" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  15. "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – RADIO – TOP 100 and insert 200828 into search.
  16. "Mika – Chart Search" Billboard European Hot 100 Singles for Mika.
  17. "Mika – Happy Ending" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
  18. "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége.
  19. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Happy Ending". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  20. "Mika – Happy Ending". Top Digital Download.
  21. "Nederlandse Top 40 – Mika" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  22. "Mika – Happy Ending" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  23. "ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 200811 into search.
  24. "Mika – Happy Ending". Swiss Singles Chart.
  25. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
  26. "Mika – Happy Ending" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  27. "ARIA Top 100 Singles for 2007". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  28. "End of Year Singles Chart Top 100 – 2007". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  29. "ARIA Top 100 Singles for 2008". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  30. "Jaaroverzichten 2008" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  31. "Rapports Annuels 2008" (in French). Ultratop. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  32. "Top 100–Jaaroverzicht van 2008". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  33. "Jaaroverzichten – Single 2008" (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  34. "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 2008". hitparade.ch (in German). Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  35. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2008 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  36. "Italian single certifications – Mika – Happy Ending" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 23 November 2017. Select "2014" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "Happy Ending" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
  37. "British single certifications – Mika – Happy Ending". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
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