JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum Why is it so hard to write a happy - jolly song?

Hi Roy!

"Why is it so hard to write a happy - jolly song?"

You know, I think about that, and maybe the answer is somewhere inside the question. It's hard to just make yourself feel happy and jolly all of a sudden, and then channel that feeling into a song. It sort of feels like forced laughter. Like shouting "HA HA HA!" with a deadpan expression.

And when we sit down to write something, we usually feel thoughtful and introspective...which is like an invitation to tackle something serious. Like death, or sadness, or taxes.

That's WHY I think it's hard. But I think there are lots of workarounds as to HOW to write a happy song.

Instead of happy, I prefer to think in terms of UPBEAT. Not even uptempo, just upbeat. You can write a downer of a lyric to an upper of a song structure, and you might be fine. Some of my favorite upbeat songs are moaning the blues lyrically, but the feel of the song is uplifting. Hank Williams was pretty good with that..."Your Cheatin' Heart" is definitely not a downer...but the lyrics are. So is "Dead Skunk" for that matter.

I write most of my songs from a musical start...I'll get a rhythm and a chord structure and a melody to go with it, and it tells me what the song feels like. From there, I can choose some subject matter. Sometimes I'll match the lyrical topic to the mood, and other times, I'll contrast it with a lyric that feels different, moodwise. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But my main point is that it's not just the lyric, but the overall song that will dictate whether it's upbeat or depressing. That's why people who sing and dance to "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" tend to nod their heads and smile and scowl all at once.