Guy Sebastian returns with ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’
by David
Right, y’guys. I’ve had a few beers and have kept this on playback for a good two or three times – can we all now discuss the new Guy single?
“Is it really that bad? Really that bad? I don’t think it’s really that bad. Come on, get with it.”
The consistently verbose X Factor judge kinda caught me off guard with this one because I wasn’t expecting for him to unveil any new material this year. Not that he’d have any excuse not to, seeing as he’s had all year to work on an album and he’d be crazy to pass up on another lucrative X Factor cross-promo.
‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’ is very much a signature present-day Guy Sebastian radio single. It’s feel good, sun-soaked and universally appealing in a way that you’d expect for an artist of his brand and following to be.
Sonically, it’s very pleasing to hear him stick to a more Bruno Mars-style pop. The warmer musical textures complements Guy‘s voice like you won’t believe, as previously demonstrated in ‘Elevator Love’, ‘Like It Like That’ and ‘All To Myself’.
At this stage, I feel like I’m the only one who’s enjoying ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’. Judging by last night’s Twitter response, it seems like most of y’all are a little put off by the cheesy lyrics. Look, here’s the deal. I actually quite like a good pop song with a message. There aren’t too many singles floating around the Top 40 right now that’s flaunting storytelling of this calibre.
Listen to ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’, which Guy said was inspired after he copped a road rage earbashing:
Any pop song game enough to name-check KFC and rhyme it with GFC (global financial crisis), gets my snap of approval. ’Don’t Worry Be Happy’ is very much a guilty pleasure listening but I reckon that’s exactly how it was intended to be.
‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’ is not here to snatch wigs, alter pop music trends, or fanfare a bold new direction for Guy. The concept really is as simple as the message behind the song – just a basic reminder to celebrate the simple things in life.
Call me soft but this is actually what I need after a long ass work week. This is the T.G.I.F. anthem for grown ups.
Footnotes:
Guy Sebastian‘s ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’ is now out on iTunes.
Oh David you do exaggerate sometimes. Ha Ha. You get tweets from Adamsbrandcamp and poptrashmike and make it sound as if you had a gazillion tweets hating on this song. There has been a great deal of positive twitter response to it, just not directly to you because strange as it may seem you are not the centre of the twitter world. Now I have no idea who Adamsbrandcamp is but I often crack up reading Mike’s trashy hysterically funny blog. He thinks Cody Simpson is the best thing to happen to Australia in years and should have been nominated for buckets full of ARIA Awards. Now that is just plain weird.
http://poptrashaddicts.blogspot.com/2011/10/2011-anti-arias.html
Some judge of talent and good songs. LOL
I love that song!
The more I listen to this song the more I like it. I guess it IS another earworm, after all. And I reckon the sound and vocals are worth every listen in any case, even without the lyrics. & having been road raged by some stalker, who just wanted reaction, I’m all for it! Count me for a ‘like’
You are right! The sound is actually more complex than it first comes across. There are elements of dance in the beat but it’s been mixed nicely so it becomes a more subtle affair.
dear god i hate guy sebastian!
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