Oh Wonder have given us a beautiful New Year’s gift with their heartfelt single “Happy,” a song that finds joy in seeing a former love moving on with someone new.
Stream: “Happy” – Oh Wonder
I never thought I’d be happy to see you with somebody new…
With every New Year comes the opportunity to press pause and reflect on our busy, nonstop lives; to consider who we are and where we are, who we were and where we’ve come, and where we want to be next year. We shouldn’t necessarily need the transition from December into January to be such a catalyst for this kind of deep, introspective thought, but it’s easy because it’s already there: A built-in, almost hardwired refresh; a chance to restore, renew, and start again.
This year, Oh Wonder have given us a beautiful New Year’s gift with their moving “Happy,” a song that finds genuine joy in seeing an ex moving on with someone new.
I didn’t think I would see here you tonight
But there’s something kinda nice about it
It’s been a year since
you gave me back my love
And I wonder how you’ve been without it
You’re holding someone close
Should hurt somehow it don’t
I guess that’s how I know
I’ve finally let you go
Happy new year, and welcome one and all to the Roaring 2020s! “Happy” may not have been written on or even around New Year’s time, but it nevertheless seems to capture that fresh sense of warmth, cheer, and renewal that so effortlessly speaks to this reflective transition season. Taken from Oh Wonder’s forthcoming third studio album No One Else Can Wear Your Crown (out February 7, 2020 via Republic Records), “Happy” follows previous singles “Hallelujah,” “Better Now,” and “I Wish I Never Met You” in bringing strong, hyperspecific feelings and moments to life.
Whereas once upon a time, Oh Wonder crafted songs through a general lens of loss, love, togetherness and separation, these days the coupling of Josephine Vander Gucht and Anthony West have honed their creations to highlight special life moments. Their music and emotion remain as relatable as ever, but the stories are that much more focused, personal, and sensitive. So far, the results suggest No One Else Can Wear Your Crown could be Oh Wonder’s best album yet.
An early high point on an album overflowing with feeling, “Happy” is an intimate affair full of radiant love.
Vander Gucht and West wrote “Happy” on the day of his ex-girlfriend’s wedding. “I was just feeling like pure joy,” he recalls. “I saw a picture of her in her wedding dress and I was like, ‘Wow, what a feeling.’ [It’s] so cool that she’s met someone else, because I could never be the guy next to her.”
West, who has been in a romantic relationship with his Oh Wonder counterpart for seven years now, describes the spontaneity of the songwriting process as a chance for him to process happiness. “I was feeling something, and we wrote about it!”
From a musical perspective, “Happy” is a bright pop song that stays true to its name. Featuring Oh Wonder’s characteristic guy/girl unison vocals, the track grows from a moody, solemn moment of meditation into a buoyant groove full of sweet strings, evocative piano lines, and a pulsing rhythm section that pushes the music up, out, forward.
The pair burst out like a soulful, controlled ray of sunshine in the song’s chorus:
I never thought I’d be happy
to see you with somebody new
Never thought I’d be happy
to see you do the things
we do with somebody else
‘Cause now you’re more yourself
Oh I never thought I’d be happy
to see you with somebody new
The lyrics are straightforward and straight from the heart: They express authentic appreciation for seeing a former love happier and “more themselves,” recognizing how they are better off without necessarily denigrating the old flame of “what was.” Oh Wonder inspire us to find the good in what otherwise might be sad or bad moments for us; their words are motivation for thinking about more than just ourselves, and seeing the people around us for who they are – not just what they do, how they relate to us.
Spent all my weekends pretending I was fine
Just to get you out my mind for an evening
I used to wish you would never find the one
But it’s good to see you loved
Let’s call it even
You’re holding someone close
Should hurt somehow it don’t
I guess that’s how I know
I’ve finally let you go
I never thought I’d be happy
to see you with somebody new
Never thought I’d be happy
to see you do the things we do
with somebody else
‘Cause now you’re more yourself
Oh I never thought I’d be happy
to see you with somebody new
As Josephine Vander Gucht remarks, these newest songs presents some of Oh Wonder’s most nuanced ideas and emotions yet. “It’s a very specific type of inadequacy, or a specific type of doubt or joy, or feeling happy for someone because they’ve moved on – it’s all very specific and more complex,” she explains. Likely to be Oh Wonder’s final single before the release of No One Else Can Wear Your Crown and their subsequent “Wear Your Crown” worldwide tour (see dates below), “Happy” finds Oh Wonder continuing to do what Oh Wonder have always done best: Bringing humanity into pop music.
From a listener’s standpoint, “Happy” expresses the purest form not only of moving on, but also of joy for another’s happiness. Within its touching folds, we learn to let go of personal hangups and gripes; in doing so, we may find ourselves living a fuller, happier, more meaningful life.
Get “Happy” with Oh Wonder, and stay tuned for the band’s third full-length album releasing next month!
So many nights of barely sleeping
Wide awake and dreaming
I wanted you back
It’s clear we’re good without each other
Dancing with another
It’s better like that
I never thought I’d be happy
Never thought I’d be happy
With somebody else it’s like
you’re more yourself
Oh I never thought I’d be happy
to see you with somebody new
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:: stream/purchase “Happy” here ::
Stream: “Happy” – Oh Wonder
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:: Wear Your Crown Tour ::
3/3 – SWG3 (Galvanisers) – Glasgow
3/4 – Albert Hall –Manchester
3/6 – Academy –Bristol*
3/7 – O2 Institute – Birmingham
3/9 – O2 Shepherds Bush Empire – London*
3/11 – Ancienne Belgique – Brussels
3/12 – Alhambra – Paris
3/13 – Paradiso – Amsterdam*
3/15 – Live Music Hall – Cologne
3/16 – Docks – Hamburg
3/17 – Astra Kulturhaus – Berlin
3/30 – Buckhead Theatre – Atlanta, GA
3/31 – The Orange Peel – Asheville, NC
4/1 – The Fillmore Charlotte – Charlotte, NC
4/3 – The Fillmore Silver Spring – Silver Spring, MD
4/4 – College Street Music Hall – New Haven, CT
4/5 – Franklin Music Hall – Philadelphia, PA
4/7 – Kings Theatre – Brooklyn, NY
4/8 – House of Blues – Boston, MA
4/10 – MTELUS – Montreal, QC
4/11 – Queen Elizabeth Theatre – Toronto, ON
4/13 – Majestic Theatre – Detroit, MI
4/14 – The Vic Theatre – Chicago, IL
4/15 – First Avenue – Minneapolis, MN
4/17 – The Mission Ballroom – Denver, CO
4/18 – The Depot – Salt Lake City, UT
4/20 – Roseland Theater – Portland, OR
4/21 – Showbox SoDo – Seattle, WA
4/22 – Orpheum Theatre – Vancouver, BC
4/24 – Fox Theater – Oakland, CA
4/25 – House of Blues – Anaheim, CA
4/26 – The Wiltern – Los Angeles, CA
