Music is a huge part of every culture and society, and something that has been around for ages all the way back to the times that cave men probably banged rocks together in the original “Rock Band”. And though music can be a sweet escape of melody and sound, lately it hasn’t seemed to have much of a message. With Miley Cyrus tarnishing all our childhood memories, and songs that repeat the same idiotic hook over and over...and over again, it's easy to forget the power that music can have when done right. But everyone has seemed to fall in love with Pharrell’s song “Happy" with it’s upbeat tempo and wonderful lyrics about being happy and letting nothing get you down. The song has done well on the charts and gotten great reviews as well as having everyone dancing in their seats during Pharrells performance with Jamie Foxx, at the Oscars. The song was composed for Despicable Me 2 soundtrack, also appeared on Pharrell’s album “Girl”
The music video, which is “the first 24 hour music video” and can be found at 24hoursofhappy.com has 24 Videos at 4 minutes a piece for every hour of the day featuring reenactments of the song, featuring Pharell of course, along with some celebrity appearances including the famed yellow Despicable Me minions.
But one news story written by a blogger named Shan Wang, which draws attention to the song for more political reasons in what she calls the Surprising Protest Song of Our Generation.
"The movement started slowly — first it was the soundtrack to a video of people dancing joyfully in Paris. But then the song began cropping up in videos from countries in political turmoil. One came from the Philippines, a country still picking up the pieces from Typhoon Haiyan. Soon, one followed from Tunis, still reeling from the aftershocks of the Arab Spring. And then another from Moscow. While not a "protest" song in its traditional sense, Pharrell's "Happy" has taken on a politically charged meaning as an anthem of international resilience.”
But one news story written by a blogger named Shan Wang, which draws attention to the song for more political reasons in what she calls the Surprising Protest Song of Our Generation.
"The movement started slowly — first it was the soundtrack to a video of people dancing joyfully in Paris. But then the song began cropping up in videos from countries in political turmoil. One came from the Philippines, a country still picking up the pieces from Typhoon Haiyan. Soon, one followed from Tunis, still reeling from the aftershocks of the Arab Spring. And then another from Moscow. While not a "protest" song in its traditional sense, Pharrell's "Happy" has taken on a politically charged meaning as an anthem of international resilience.”
She goes on to talk about the impact the song has head on in bringing the recent issues with the Ukraine to light by saying...
“It's crowning moment as an international protest anthem came late last month when two Polish filmmakers used it as a soundtrack to a viral video of violent clashes between Ukrainian citizens and government forces intercut with protestors in Kiev dancing. It is haunting to see protesters in Kiev dancing among barricades and answering frankly what would make them happy. "To be happy I need the Ukraine to be free," one woman answered.
It’s important that we applaud music that has a message, and the people who take the time to point it out to us.
You can read more about Shan Wang, and the impact of the Happy song at policymic.com
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