"Happiness"
Song by Taylor Swift
from the album Evermore
ReleasedDecember 11, 2020 (2020-12-11)
StudioLong Pond (Hudson Valley)
GenreAmbient
Length5:15
LabelRepublic
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Aaron Dessner
Lyric video
"Happiness" on YouTube

"Happiness" (stylized in all lowercase) is a song by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was the last track she wrote for her ninth studio album, Evermore, which was released on December 11, 2020. Produced by co-writer Aaron Dessner, "Happiness" is an ambient ballad with a midtempo production led by a church-inspired organ. Its lyrics are about a narrator finding happiness after divorce.

Critics gave "Happiness" generally positive reviews, who praised it for Swift's songwriting and its emotional sentiments. Some picked the track as a highlight from Evermore and one of Swift's best songs in her entire catalog. Commercially, "Happiness" peaked at number 33 on the Billboard Global 200 and entered on the charts of Australia, Canada, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Production and release

On July 24, 2020, American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift released her eighth studio album, Folklore, to critical and commercial success.[1] On November 25, Swift and her collaborators from the album, including first-time Aaron Dessner, assembled at Long Pond Studio in Hudson Valley to film a concert documentary titled Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions and released it to Disney+.[2][3] They continued writing songs at Long Pond, with Swift penning lyrics to Dessner's instrumental tracks, a process that was present on much of the songs they had worked on Folklore. Their sessions resulted in a project that was a natural extension of the album, which became Evermore.[4][5][6]

"Happiness" was the last song penned for the album.[3][7] Dessner had been working on the song's composition since 2019, and believed it would be a track for Big Red Machine, his band with Justin Vernon. Swift, however, admired the instrumentals and ended up finishing its lyrics.[8] She and Dessner wrote the song days before the album was finished, and it overlapped recordings with "You Belong with Me (Taylor's Version)"—a track for her first re-recorded album Fearless (Taylor's Version) (2021)—on the same day.[3][9] The song was recorded by Dessner and Jonathan Low at Long Pond, and the vocals were recorded by Robin Baynton at Scarlet Pimpernel Studios in the United Kingdom. It was mixed by Low at Long Pond, and mastered by Greg Calbi and Steve Fallone at Sterling Sound in Edgewater, New Jersey.[10]

Evermore was released on December 21, 2020, by Republic Records. In the track-list, "Happiness" is placed at number 7 out of the 15 tracks.[10] The song reached the countries of Canada (24),[11] Australia (37),[12] and Portugal (142).[13] In the United States, it debuted both on the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs and the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, with peaks of number nine[14] and number 54[15] respectively. On other charts, the song peaked at number 66 on the United Kingdom's Audio Streaming Chart[16] and number 33 on the Billboard Global 200.[17]

Music and lyrics

"Happiness" features references to 1925 novel The Great Gatsby

"Happiness" is an ambient[18] ballad.[19] At five minutes and fifteen seconds long, it is the longest song on Evermore.[20] The midtempo[21] production is driven by a church-inspired organ,[22] and features bass, drum kit, keyboards, violin,[3] programmed beats, and hi-hats.[23] It has a soft drone consisting of synths, guitars, and piano that all build up.[24] Sarah Carson of i[25] and Ilana Kaplan of i-D both described the song as "hymnal",[26] while Claire Shaffer from Rolling Stone thought the production was reminscent of American electronic band Chromatics.[18]

The lyrics are about a narrator finding happiness after a divorce.[23][27] Stereogum's Tom Breihan said that the narrator on the song is in a "mid-breakup". The narrator tries to console someone else, while also doing it to herself: ("There'll be happiness after you / But there was happiness because of you / Both of these things can be true / There is happiness").[24] The lyrics incorporates gothic and macabre imagery: ("Past the blood and bruise / Past the curses and cries / Beyond the terror in the nightfall / Haunted by the look in my eyes").[28] Elsewhere in the lyrics, it features themes of forgiveness, personal histories, and looking at a perspective of another person.[18] The song also contains references to 1925 novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.[29] In a Pitchfork review, Sam Sodomsky opined that "the uncharacteristic retraction" of the song "suggests she's striving toward more stoic, distanced writing".[30]

Critical reception

"Happiness" received generally positive reviews from critics; some regarded it as a highlight from Evermore[lower-alpha 1] and one of Swift's best in her catalog.[lower-alpha 2] They praised Swift's songwriting and found the song emotional.[lower-alpha 3] Nina Schaarschmidt from Atwood Magazine said she conveyed "heartbreak and its mixed feelings at its finest" on "Happiness". Lowndes Schaarschmidt from the same publication considered it a lyrical standout on Evermore: "The song as a whole is a hopeful one, a beautiful reflection of what once was and a bold look forward at what might be".[31] Angela Morrison of Exclaim! wrote that the song had one of Swift's most mature lyricism to date,[37] while Shaffer thought it was a more mature direction for her.[18] Lauren DeHollogne from Clash said that the song's "maturity level [...] makes the track all the more devastating".[33] The Guardian music journalist Alex Petridis believed it was a song that showcased her skill at character studies.[38]

Writing for Hits, Holly Gleason opined that the track strayed from Swift's bitter sentiments of past songs.[39] Tom Breihan of Stereogum labeled the song as "a masterful piece of recording and songwriting" and selected it as an example of how Swift can make personal songs sound huge.[24] Jon Bream of Star Tribune described it as a "haunting, hushed reflection" on a fading romance.[32] Slate writer Carl Wilson found the lyrics about a divorce mixed with Swift's vocals being "awfully damned right".[40] Patrick Ryan from USA Today said that the song is "the kind of elegant simplicity that makes Swift's songwriting so continually astonishing".[19] Konstantinos Pappis of Our Culture Mag similarly stated that the sentiments of its lyrics "made [her] storytelling so compelling".[36] In a less positive note, The Ringer's Rob Harvilla believed the song was one of the album's "clunkier" tracks,[41] and Spencer Kornhaber of The Atlantic criticized the lyrics for how Swift mixes its metaphors until they are condensed together.[42]

Critics also focused on other aspects of the track. Jason Lipshutz of Billboard wrote that it had one of Evermore's "most ornate arrangements".[23] Sodomsky thought that "Happiness" is where Swift departs from the album's thorough narratives and instead takes the music to showcase the song's emotional resonance.[30] Ellen Johnson from Paste picked the song as one of the tracks to represent the Evermore as a peaceful, intimate album.[43] Saloni Gajjar from The A.V. Club said that it had a "mature, melancholic spirit" which was "elevated by Swift's ethereal vocals".[35] Allaire Nuss of Entertainment Weekly wrote that the chorus best "capture[d] the album's essence",[44] and Harvilla said the song featured a "striking serenity".[41]

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Evermore.[10]

  • Taylor Swift – vocalist, songwriter
  • Aaron Dessner – songwriter, producer, drum programming, keyboard, synthesizer, piano, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, electric guitar, recording
  • Bryce Dessner – orchestration
  • JT Bates – drum kit, recording
  • Kyle Resnick – recording
  • Ryan Olson – Allovers Hi-Hat Generator, recording
  • Thomas Bartlett – synthesizer, keyboard, recording
  • Yuki Numata Resnick – violin
  • Robin Baynton – vocal recording
  • Jonathan Low – mixing, recording
  • Greg Calbi – mastering
  • Steve Fallone – mastering

Charts

Notes

  1. ↑ Attributed to Atwood Magazine's Emily Algar and Nina Schaarschmidt,[31] Consequence's Mary Siroky,[28] and Star Tribune's Jon Bream[32]
  2. ↑ Attributed to Clash's Lauren DeHollogne,[33] Slant Magazine's Jonathan Keefe,[34] and Stereogum's Tom Breihan[24]
  3. ↑ Attributed to The A.V. Club's Saloni Gajjar,[35] Billboard's Jason Lipshutz,[23] Clash's Lauren DeHollogne,[33] and Our Culture Mag's Konstantinos Pappis[36]

References

  1. ↑ Light, Alan (December 11, 2020). "Evermore Isn't About Taylor Swift. It's About Storytelling". Esquire. Archived from the original on December 12, 2020. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
  2. ↑ Aswad, Jem (December 10, 2020). "Taylor Swift to Release New Album, Evermore, Tonight". Variety. Archived from the original on December 10, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Minsker, Evan (December 11, 2020). "Taylor Swift Releases New Album Evermore: Listen and Read the Full Credits". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on December 13, 2020. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  4. ↑ Shaffer, Claire (December 18, 2020). "Aaron Dessner on How His Collaborative Chemistry With Taylor Swift Led to Evermore". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  5. ↑ Havens, Lyndsey (December 18, 2020). "Aaron Dessner on the 'Weird Avalanche' That Resulted in Taylor Swift's Evermore". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
  6. ↑ Doyle, Patrick (November 13, 2020). "Musicians on Musicians: Taylor Swift & Paul McCartney". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on November 30, 2020. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
  7. ↑ Gutowitz, Jill (December 11, 2020). "So, What the Hell Folk Tales Is Taylor Swift Telling Now on Evermore?". Vulture. Archived from the original on December 14, 2020. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  8. ↑ Shaffer, Claire (December 18, 2020). "Aaron Dessner on How His Collaborative Chemistry With Taylor Swift Led to Evermore". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
  9. ↑ Rossignol, Derrick (February 12, 2021). "Taylor Swift Started Re-Recording Fearless While Making Evermore". Uproxx. Archived from the original on July 26, 2023. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
  10. 1 2 3 Evermore (booklet). Taylor Swift. Republic Records. 2020.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  11. 1 2 "Taylor Swift Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
  12. 1 2 "Taylor Swift – Happiness". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
  13. 1 2 "Taylor Swift – Happiness". AFP Top 100 Singles. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
  14. 1 2 "Taylor Swift Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
  15. 1 2 "Taylor Swift Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
  16. 1 2 "Official Audio Streaming Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  17. 1 2 "Taylor Swift Chart History (Global 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
  18. 1 2 3 4 Shaffer, Claire (December 11, 2020). "Taylor Swift Deepens Her Goth-Folk Vision on the Excellent Evermore". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  19. 1 2 Ryan, Patrick (December 11, 2020). "Taylor Swift's Evermore review: Pop star returns to the woods for a spellbinding Folklore companion". USA Today. Archived from the original on December 12, 2020. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  20. ↑ Swift, Taylor (December 11, 2020). "Evermore". Apple Music (US). Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
  21. ↑ "The Taylor Swift Evermore Exit Survey". The Ringer. December 11, 2020. Archived from the original on June 2, 2023. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  22. ↑ Pareles, Jon (December 11, 2020). "Evermore, Taylor Swift's Folklore Sequel, Is a Journey Deeper Inward". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  23. 1 2 3 4 Lipshutz, Jason (December 11, 2020). "Every Song Ranked on Taylor Swift's Evermore Deluxe Edition: Critic's Picks". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 13, 2020. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  24. 1 2 3 4 Breihan, Tom (December 11, 2020). "Review: Taylor Swift Burrows Deeper Into Sepia-Toned Mood Music On Evermore". Stereogum. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  25. ↑ Carson, Sarah (December 11, 2020). "Taylor Swift's surprise album Evermore is exquisite, wintry love and longing". i. Archived from the original on April 8, 2023. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  26. ↑ Kaplan, Ilana (November 12, 2020). "Album Review: On Evermore, Taylor Swift embraces unhappy endings". i-D. Archived from the original on June 5, 2023. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  27. ↑ Brown, Helen (December 11, 2020). "Taylor Swift's new album Evermore is full of haunting tales – review". The Independent. Archived from the original on December 12, 2020. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  28. 1 2 Siroky, Mary (December 11, 2020). "Taylor Swift's Evermore Continues the Personal Fable Begun on Folklore | Review". Consequence. Archived from the original on December 31, 2021. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  29. ↑ Walsh, Savannah (December 11, 2020). "Taylor Swift's 'Happiness' Lyrics Turn The Great Gatsby Into a Poignant Breakup Song". Elle. Archived from the original on September 25, 2022. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  30. 1 2 Sodomsky, Sam (December 15, 2020). "Taylor Swift: Evermore". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on December 15, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  31. 1 2 Algar, Emily; Vettorino, Madison Zoey; Rose, Francesca; Weiner, Josh; Commander, Lowndes; Schaarschmidt, Nina; Lane, Lexi (December 21, 2020). "Roundtable Discussion: A Review of Taylor Swift's 'Evermore'". Atwood Magazine. Archived from the original on June 1, 2023. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  32. 1 2 Bream, Jon (December 14, 2020). "Review: Taylor Swift's surprise new album is ever-good". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  33. 1 2 3 "15 Best Taylor Swift Songs". Clash. January 2, 2022. Archived from the original on May 25, 2022. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  34. ↑ Keefe, Jonathan (December 14, 2020). "Taylor Swift Evermore Review: An Essential Addition to the Singer's Catalog". Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on December 14, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  35. 1 2 Gajjar, Saloni; Carr, Mary Kate (November 21, 2022). "20 underrated Taylor Swift songs that prove her lyrical prowess". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on October 24, 2023. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
  36. 1 2 Pappis, Konstantinos (December 13, 2023). "Album Review: Taylor Swift, Evermore". Our Culture Mag. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  37. ↑ Morrison, Angela (December 24, 2020). "Taylor Swift Finds the Sunshine on Evermore". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on October 16, 2023. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  38. ↑ Petridis, Alexis (December 11, 2020). "Taylor Swift: Evermore – rich alt-rock and richer character studies". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  39. ↑ Gleason, Holly (December 14, 2020). "Taylor's Evermore: Chasing Beauty". Hits. Archived from the original on June 4, 2021. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  40. ↑ Wilson, Carl (December 11, 2020). "Taylor Swift's Evermore: A Track-by-Track Review". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Archived from the original on May 5, 2021. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  41. 1 2 Harvilla, Rob (December 14, 2020). "There's Nothing Shocking About Taylor Swift's New Surprise Album". The Ringer. Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  42. ↑ Kornhaber, Spencer (December 15, 2020). "Taylor Swift's Evermore Feels Like a Rough Draft". The Atlantic. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  43. ↑ Johnson, Ellen (December 15, 2020). "Taylor Swift's Evermore Is Folklore's Charismatic Companion". Paste. Archived from the original on December 15, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  44. ↑ Nuss, Allaire (November 7, 2022). "Taylor Swift's 10 seminal albums, ranked". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on November 26, 2022. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
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