By Cheryl Mattox Berry
Once in a blue moon, a song comes along that touches your soul and makes you want to dance and shout. In other words, it makes you happy. Pharrell’s Oscar nominated song, Happy, from the Despicable Me 2 movie does just that.
I heard the song for the first time during a zumba class at Body and Soul gym in Coral Gables, Fla. The instructor played it toward the end of the hour-long class when I was completely exhausted. To my surprise, the song energized me. I looked in the mirror and saw myself smiling, clapping wildly and doing the twist all over the place.
When the song ended, I was still pumped up, and the hook looped in my head all day. I bought the CD, Girl, the next day, and play Happy every time I get into my car.
There’s something about that song that forces you to relax, smile and do a happy dance. Another instructor at my gym did a Happy video. It shows a little girl singing and dancing, a little boy break-dancing, a baton twirler with fire and women of all ages dancing. I was videotaped dancing with the instructor, but it didn’t make the final cut. (There goes my 15 minutes of fame.)
The choir at Detroit’s Academy of Arts and Sciences also made a Happy video with the cutest choreography. I’ve seen it on YouTube so many times that I know all their moves. The Happy song plays in the background of a Fiat commercial, featuring P. Diddy, now Puff Daddy again.
Happy is addictive and the perfect stress buster. You’ll need it as you prepare for standardized tests, end of the semester exams and college entrance exams. If you’re feeling down, listen to the lyrics, feel the beat, move your feet and feel better.
Here come bad news talking this and that, yeah
Well, give me all you got, and don’t hold back, yeah,
Well, I should probably warn you I’ll be just fine, yeah,
No offense to you, don’t waste your time
Here’s why
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you know what happiness is to you
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like that’s what you wanna do
Hey, come on
Bring me down
Can’t nothing bring me down
My level’s too high
For the fun of it, make a Happy video with friends or form a flash mob to dance during the lunch hour at your school. Encourage students in the audience to dance along with you. Ask the principal for permission to play the song over the PA system on the day of testing and when it ends.
Everyone needs a few minutes of silliness to make it through the day. So, get Happy and dance!