.gif)
Happiness (Goldfrapp song)
Encyclopedia
"Happiness" is a folktronica
song by the English duo Goldfrapp
from their fourth studio album, Seventh Tree
(2008). Written and produced by Alison Goldfrapp
and Will Gregory
, the song was released as the album's second single
on 14 April 2008. It was featured in advertisements for the newly rebranded SyFy
network.
for "Happiness" was directed by Dougal Wilson
. The video features a young man, dressed in a white suit, jumping joyfully around Addington Square in Camberwell
, South London
. The video, a homage to the "Street Dance" sequence from the 1953 American musical film Small Town Girl
, begins with Alison Goldfrapp sitting on the front steps of a house when suddenly the young man appears jumping up a set of steps next to her. Goldfrapp makes additional cameo appearance
s in the video as a black-haired bus traveller, a policewoman, a topiarist
, and a braided flower stand keeper. Will Gregory makes similar appearances as, among others, a street sweeper and a postman. The video concludes with the cast of background characters coming together along with the young man, who then jumps in a circle with young children and a dancing dog. In the final scene, two elderly people—Goldfrapp and Gregory—arrive to join the revelry.
(CDMUTE392; Released 14 April 2008)
UK CD 2
(LCDMUTE392; Released 14 April 2008)
UK 7" picture disc
(MUTE392; Released 14 April 2008; Limited edition)
UK iTunes EP #1
(Released 14 April 2008)
UK iTunes EP #2
(Released 14 April 2008)
Folktronica
Folktronica or electrofolk is a genre of music comprising various elements of folk music and electronica, often featuring samplings of acoustic instruments—especially stringed instruments—and incorporating hip hop rhythms...
song by the English duo Goldfrapp
Goldfrapp
Goldfrapp are an English electronic music duo, formed in 1999 in London, England, that consists of Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory ....
from their fourth studio album, Seventh Tree
Seventh Tree
Seventh Tree is the fourth studio album by English electronic duo Goldfrapp, released in the United Kingdom on 25 February 2008 by Mute Records and the day after in the United States....
(2008). Written and produced by Alison Goldfrapp
Alison Goldfrapp
Alison Elizabeth Margaret Goldfrapp is an English singer-songwriter and record producer, best known as the lead singer of the electronic music duo Goldfrapp. Goldfrapp has a soprano vocal range.-Early life:...
and Will Gregory
Will Gregory
William Owen Gregory is best known as a songwriter, and the lead keyboards/synthesizer player & producer of the electronic music group Goldfrapp. Originally a classical music student at the University of York, Gregory is the son of an actress and an opera chorus-line singer...
, the song was released as the album's second single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
on 14 April 2008. It was featured in advertisements for the newly rebranded SyFy
Syfy
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
network.
Music video
The music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for "Happiness" was directed by Dougal Wilson
Dougal Wilson
Dougal Wilson is a director of commercials and music videos.Wilson was born in Heswall, England. After studying astrophysics at Durham University, he worked as a copywriter at the Leith advertising agency in Edinburgh before moving to London to pursue a career as a director.His music videos...
. The video features a young man, dressed in a white suit, jumping joyfully around Addington Square in Camberwell
Camberwell
Camberwell is a district of south London, England, and forms part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is a built-up inner city district located southeast of Charing Cross. To the west it has a boundary with the London Borough of Lambeth.-Toponymy:...
, South London
South London
South London is the southern part of London, England, United Kingdom.According to the 2011 official Boundary Commission for England definition, South London includes the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Southwark, Sutton and...
. The video, a homage to the "Street Dance" sequence from the 1953 American musical film Small Town Girl
Small Town Girl (1953 film)
Small Town Girl is a 1953 musical film directed by László Kardos and starring Jane Powell, Farley Granger, and Ann Miller. Busby Berkeley choreographed several dance numbers. Bobby Van performed the memorable "Street Dance", in which he hopped all around town. The film features song performances...
, begins with Alison Goldfrapp sitting on the front steps of a house when suddenly the young man appears jumping up a set of steps next to her. Goldfrapp makes additional cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
s in the video as a black-haired bus traveller, a policewoman, a topiarist
Topiary
Topiary is the horticultural practice of training live perennial plants, by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees, shrubs and subshrubs to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes, perhaps geometric or fanciful; and the term also refers to plants which have been shaped in this way. It can be...
, and a braided flower stand keeper. Will Gregory makes similar appearances as, among others, a street sweeper and a postman. The video concludes with the cast of background characters coming together along with the young man, who then jumps in a circle with young children and a dancing dog. In the final scene, two elderly people—Goldfrapp and Gregory—arrive to join the revelry.
Track listings
UK CD 1(CDMUTE392; Released 14 April 2008)
- "Happiness" (Single Version) – 3:38
- "Road to Somewhere" (Acoustic Version) – 3:48
UK CD 2
(LCDMUTE392; Released 14 April 2008)
- "Happiness" (Beyond the Wizards Sleeve Re-Animation) – 7:49
- "Monster Love" (Goldfrapp vs. SpiritualizedSpiritualizedSpiritualized are an English space rock band formed in 1990 in Rugby, Warwickshire by Jason Pierce after the demise of his previous outfit, space-rockers Spacemen 3...
) – 5:36 - "Eat Yourself" (YeasayerYeasayer-History:The band's three core members, Chris Keating, Ira Wolf Tuton, and Anand Wilder, first came to attention after appearing at the SXSW festival in early 2007. Their first single consisted of a double A-side of the tracks "Sunrise" and "2080"...
Remix) – 2:25
UK 7" picture disc
(MUTE392; Released 14 April 2008; Limited edition)
- A. "Happiness" (Single Version) – 3:36
- B. "Happiness" (MetronomyMetronomyMetronomy are an electronic music group formed by Joseph Mount in Totnes, Devon, England in 1999. The current band consists of Joseph Mount , Anna Prior , Oscar Cash and Gbenga Adelekan...
Remix featuring The TeenagersThe Teenagers (French band)The Teenagers are a French synthpop band formed in late 2005, originally as a joke. They achieved some degree of notoriety with the song "Homecoming", both for its catchy sound and for its explicit language and misogynistic content...
) – 4:08
UK iTunes EP #1
(Released 14 April 2008)
- "Happiness" (Single Version) – 3:37
- "Happiness" (Metronomy Remix featuring The TeenagersThe Teenagers (French band)The Teenagers are a French synthpop band formed in late 2005, originally as a joke. They achieved some degree of notoriety with the song "Homecoming", both for its catchy sound and for its explicit language and misogynistic content...
) – 4:10 - "Happiness" (Beyond the Wizards Sleeve Re-Animation Edit) – 6:58
- "Happiness" (Live at the Union ChapelUnion Chapel, IslingtonThe Union Chapel is a Grade II* listed church and music venue in Islington, North London, England, located on Compton Terrace.An example of Victorian gothic architecture, it was designed by James Cubitt, and constructed between 1874 and 1877, with further additions 1877-90, providing an ambitious...
) – 4:42
UK iTunes EP #2
(Released 14 April 2008)
- "Happiness" (Single Version) – 3:37
- "Road to Somewhere" (Acoustic Version) – 3:49
- "Monster Love" (Goldfrapp vs. Spiritualized) – 5:37
- "Eat Yourself" (Yeasayer Remix) – 2:26
Musicians
- Alison GoldfrappAlison GoldfrappAlison Elizabeth Margaret Goldfrapp is an English singer-songwriter and record producer, best known as the lead singer of the electronic music duo Goldfrapp. Goldfrapp has a soprano vocal range.-Early life:...
– vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... - Flood – keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
- Charlie JonesCharlie JonesCharles "Charlie" Jones was a Welsh international footballer.Born in Troedyrhiw, Merthyr Tydfil, Jones started his career at Cardiff City, but was released in the summer of 1921 after just one appearance, a 1-0 defeat to Stoke City...
– bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Metro VoicesMetro VoicesMetro Voices is a choir group based in London, England that specialises in performing for the motion pictures. They work closely with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and with acclaimed British composer Craig Armstrong...
– choirChoirA choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus... - Jenny O'Grady – choir master
- Damon ReeceDamon ReeceDamon Reece is an English drummer, who has been a member of Spiritualized, Echo & the Bunnymen and Lupine Howl.-Biography:Growing up in Croydon, Reece moved to Liverpool at the age of eighteen and played in various local bands...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
Production
- Alison Goldfrapp – producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, engineerAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
, art directionArt directorThe art director is a person who supervise the creative process of a design.The term 'art director' is a blanket title for a variety of similar job functions in advertising, publishing, film and television, the Internet, and video games.... - Will GregoryWill GregoryWilliam Owen Gregory is best known as a songwriter, and the lead keyboards/synthesizer player & producer of the electronic music group Goldfrapp. Originally a classical music student at the University of York, Gregory is the son of an actress and an opera chorus-line singer...
– producer, engineer - Cathy Edwards – art direction
- Flood – co-producer
- Tony HofferTony HofferTony Hoffer is an American producer, guitarist, and music mixer who is credited for his work on multiple platinum-selling albums including The Kooks, The Thrills, Beck, Supergrass, Turin Brakes and Air...
– mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may... - Serge Leblon – photographyPhotographyPhotography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
- Mat Maitland – art direction, designDesignDesign as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...
- Stephen Marcussen – masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
- Bill Mims – assistant mixing
- Tim Oliver – engineeringAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
Charts
| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| European Hot 100 Singles | 81 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
25 |