| "Shiny Happy People" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single byR.E.M. | ||||
| from the albumOut of Time | ||||
| B-side | "Forty Second Song" | |||
| Released | May 7, 1991 (1991-5-7)[1] | |||
| Recorded | September–October 1990 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length |
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| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) |
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| R.E.M. singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Shiny Happy People" onYouTube | ||||
"Shiny Happy People" is a song by the Americanrock bandR.E.M., released as the second single from their seventh studio album,Out of Time (1991). It features guest vocals byKate Pierson ofthe B-52's, who also appears in the music video.
"Shiny Happy People" was released as a single in May 1991 in the United Kingdom, and four months later in the United States byWarner Bros. Records. It reached number 10 on the USBillboard Hot 100, the fourth and last R.E.M. single to reach the top 10. It reached number six on theUK Singles Chart, becoming the first R.E.M. song to reach the top 10 in the UK and the only one to reach the top 10 in both countries. It is R.E.M.'s most successful song in Ireland, where it reached number two on theIrish Singles Chart, and in Germany, where it reached number 10. Its music video, directed byKatherine Dieckmann, was inspired by the 1948 movieLetter From an Unknown Woman.[5]
R.E.M. performed the song with Pierson on aseason 17 episode ofSaturday Night Live on April 13, 1991.[6] It was used as thetheme song for the unaired pilot of the sitcomFriends, before it was replaced byThe Rembrandts' "I'll Be There for You". R.E.M. was ambivalent about being known for apop song widely perceived as lacking gravitas.
"Shiny Happy People" is described as an accessible and optimistic pop song.[7][8][9] It containswaltz-time strings, "rippling" guitars and "hippy" lyrics,[10] and guest vocals fromKate Pierson.[11] Pierson said she felt the song was an "homage" to her band,the B-52s.[12] R.E.M. had already recorded the song when she arrived, and gave her no direction, telling her "do whatever you want".[12]
R.E.M.'s lead singer,Michael Stipe, described "Shiny Happy People" as a "really fruity, kind ofbubblegum song".[13][14] Pierson interpreted the line "throw your love around" to mean "to share your love and grow your love with others. It's not mindless at all. It's a song about spreading love."[15]
According to some reports, the phrase "shiny happy people" was taken from Chinese propaganda posters used after the1989 Tiananmen Square protests.[16][12] However, no statements from the band members have been found to support this.[12] Pierson said the song was "supposed to be shiny and happy ... So I can’t imagine that R.E.M. was thinking at the time, 'Oh, we want this song to be about Chinese government propaganda.'"[12]
Larry Flick ofBillboard wrote that "Shiny Happy People" took R.E.M. further into the mainstream. He praised Pierson's "splendid vocal harmonies" on the "infectious, sing-along" chorus.[7] Richard Wagamese of theCalgary Herald felt Stipe "sounds almost ebullient on the bouncy 'Shiny Happy People' and that alone is radical. R.E.M.'s guitar foundation is also replaced by the occasional bass clarinet, cello, and flugelhorn."[17] TheDrogheda Independent declared it "unbelievably catchy",[18] while ScottishDundee Courier described it as "sardonic but delicious disposable pop".[19] A reviewer fromEvening Herald called it a "gilt-edged"pop hit.[20]Liverpool Echo felt the song "comes at you concealed as bubble gum pop in the guise of an opening string arrangement evenKylie Minogue wouldn't thank you for—before it throws off the cloak of conformity and gets down to a more resonant rendition ofpower pop".[21] InMelody Maker,David Fricke wrote that it contained a "bizarre" mix of features that "you can't but help but laugh along with",[10] andPaul Lester wrote that it's "not one of their best".[22]
Music & Media described the song as "heaven on earth",[23] noting that Pierson's voice is "as prominent" as it was onIggy Pop's song "Candy".[24] Terry Staunton fromNME complimented it as "a lilting waltz before breaking into a sun-drenched pop anthem, a warm and welcome blood relative to the B-52s' own 'Love Shack'."[25]People wrote that the guest singer "added some spark".[8]Mark Frith fromSmash Hits remarked that the song is "very summery, optimistic and has some fine vocals" from Pierson. He added, "It's so good that it will make you too want to go around and give the world a great big hug. Summer's here and everything's groovy."[9] Celia Farber fromSpin found that it "is the most accessible" song of the albumOut of Time, noting the waltz-time break in the middle of the song as one of "the least R.E.M.-like stuff", that works best on the album.[26] TheSunday Tribune felt that it "waltzes joyfully" with the added vocal attraction of Pierson,[27] and noted the "joyous" and "celebratory" noises, calling it "one of 1991's pure pop highlights".[28]
In a 2016 retrospective review, Justin Chadwick from Albumism described the song as "buoyant" and R.E.M.'s "most unabashedly pop-fueled composition of their career". He added further, "Regardless of the song's true inspirations or whether you care for the song or not, I suspect most can agree that the soaring backing vocals supplied by Kate Pierson ... are the unequivocal highlight."[14] In 1998, theDaily Vault's Christopher Thelen said it's the song "that dared to show a new side of R.E.M. — a, well, happy side. Who woulda thunk it? The song is a tad cornball, but is infectiously catchy, nonetheless."[29]
The accompanying music video for "Shiny Happy People" was directed by American film and music video directorKatherine Dieckmann.[5] She was asked by the band to direct the video, and drew some inspiration from a scene in the 1948 movieLetter From an Unknown Woman by German directorMax Ophuls. In this scene, a couple goes to a carnival with a railroad car attraction. Rotating landscape backdrops roll past their "window", and eventually we learn they're propelled by an old man pedaling a stationary bicycle behind the scenes. Dieckmann wanted to re-create this situation, using a large children's painting for the moving mural. Stipe suggested her to contact a friend that was schoolteacher, having her fifth-grade class create the backdrop.[5]
In its 2006 "Song of the Summer" countdown,CBC Radio'sFreestyle named "Shiny Happy People" 1991's "Song of the Summer".[30][31] By contrast, in 2006, the song received the No. 1 position onAOL Music's list of the "111 Wussiest Songs of All Time".[32]Blender magazine also ranked the song No. 35 on its list of the "50 Worst Songs Ever",[33] andQ included it in a list of "Ten Terrible Records by Great Artists" in 2005.[34]
When Stipe made an appearance onSpace Ghost Coast to Coast in 1995, he said he hated the song. It was one of their fewWarner-released singles not included on their 2003 greatest hits albumIn Time, and R.E.M. have rarely played it.[2] However, over time, Stipe's position on the song has softened. Speaking in 2011, Stipe said he was "always at peace" with it, but that it was "embarrassing" that it had become a hit.[13] He said:
Many people's idea of R.E.M, and me in particular, is very serious, with me being a very serious kind of poet. But I'm also actually quite funny – hey, my bandmates think so, my family thinks so, my boyfriend thinks so, so I must be – but that doesn't always come through in the music.... (But) I'm in 'Shiny Happy People', 'Stand', 'Pop Song 89', 'Get Up', too. Our fruitloop songs![13]
In 2024,Mike Mills stated: "It started out as not the bubblegum epic that it became. I wrote the thing on acoustic guitar. We made it a song about kids. It's for kids. It's a great song, I'm proud of it, we don't hate it."[35]
All songs were written byBill Berry,Peter Buck,Mike Mills, andMichael Stipe unless otherwise stated.
Personnel taken from theOut of Time liner notes.[43]
R.E.M.
Additional musicians
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Italy (FIMI)[71] | Gold | 35,000‡ |
| New Zealand (RMNZ)[72] | Platinum | 30,000‡ |
| Spain (PROMUSICAE)[73] | Platinum | 60,000‡ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[74] | Platinum | 600,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
It's long been purported by fans that "Shiny Happy People" was written about the propagandistic aftermath of China's Tiananmen Square massacre. However, there's not a verified quote from Stipe or any other R.E.M. member that supports this theory.
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