"Don't Worry Be Happy" | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Guy Sebastian | ||||||||
from the album Armageddon | ||||||||
Released | 18 November 2011 | |||||||
Format | Digital download | |||||||
Genre | Pop, pop rock | |||||||
Length | 4:14 | |||||||
Label | Sony | |||||||
Writer(s) | Guy Sebastian | |||||||
Guy Sebastian singles chronology | ||||||||
|
||||||||
|
"Don't Worry Be Happy" is a pop song written and performed by Australian recording artist Guy Sebastian. It is the lead single from Sebastian's seventh album Armageddon. "Don't Worry Be Happy" was released digitally in Australia on 18 November 2011. It peaked at number five on the ARIA Singles Chart, and has reached 4× platinum certification. It was Sebastian's eighth of 11 top ten singles in Australia. In 2012 "Don't Worry Be Happy" was nominated for the ARIA Music Award for Single of the Year and was shortlisted for the APRA Song of the Year. It has received 2013 APRA nominations for Most Played Australian Work and Pop Work of the Year.
"Don't Worry Be Happy" is an uptempo pop song Sebastian said he was inspired to write after experiencing the anger of a fellow motorist while driving in Los Angeles. He told The Daily Telegraph music editor Kathy McCabe, "I thought I knew the guy so as he pulled alongside me, I smiled and copped a tirade of abuse. I was in a really good mood because I was on the way to play cricket and while we were batting, I wrote the song. It's a good time for a song like this to remind yourself things aren't that bad". In an interview with Andrew Tijs of music site Noise 11 he said that he could sometimes be caught up in a little bit of "glass half empty" in his life, and he wrote the song as a reminder to himself and hopefully to others that life is good. When asked why he used the same title as the Bobby McFerrin classic, he said he was going to change it to just "Don't Worry" but thought, "It's such a famous saying and it's such a famous song, and even though this is a completely different song it says it as it is and works with the song". Sebastian said that while he was a fan of the Eurodance music that is so popular, and loved the production value of it, and had even used it himself in his previous single "Who's That Girl", he wanted a more organic sound with this song, "I've sampled live toms, the only synthie parts are some of the ducking basses that are in there. There's real piano and real guitars. [...] I wanted to have a more organic vibe to it. I wanted to be a little more musical with it." When Tijs observed that the song was very different from the songs currently filling the charts Sebastian replied, "It was a bit of a scary release because there's no mention of a club [...] It's a non love song and a non club song, so I was like 'Maybe I'm treading on some not successful ground or something', but hopefully it will go alright."