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HAPPY 
Official studio version
Some need gold and some need diamond rings
Or a drug to take away the pain that living brings
A promise of a better world to come
When whatever here is done
I don't need that sky of blue babe
All I know's since I found you, I'm
Happy when I'm in your arms
Happy, darling, come the dark
Happy when I taste your kiss
I'm happy in a love like this
There's a house upon a distant hill
Where you can hear the laughter of children ring
Guardian angels, they watch from above
Watching over the love that they bring
But at night I feel the darkness near
And I awake, I find you near, yeah
I'm happy with you in my arms
Happy with you in my heart
Happy when I taste your kiss
I'm happy in a love like this
In a world of doubt and fear
I wake at night and reach to find you near
Lost in a dream, you caught me as I fell, now
I want more than just a dream to tell
Born in this world, darling, with few days
And trouble never far behind
Man, woman circle each other in a cage
A cage that's been handed down the line
Lost and running 'neath a million dead stars
Tonight let's shed our skins and slip these bars
Happy in each other's arms
Happy, baby, come the dark
Happy in each other's kiss
I'm happy in a love like this
Happy
Happy
Page last updated: 15 Aug 2008
Intro
Music and lyrics by Bruce Springsteen, HAPPY is a Lucky Town outtake
that was released on the Tracks box set in 1998.
![Bruce Springsteen -- Tracks [box set cover art]](../../lyrics_files/1998_tracks/tracks_tn.jpg)
Composition and Recording
In a 1992 interview with WUNAW-FM, the DJ asks Springsteen if he was "ever
worried that it could have the opposite effect, that artists sometimes when they are happy aren't
as productive artistically". Springsteen answers that he doesn't "buy the whole suffering artist.
[...] Everybody suffered plenty, it never goes away. But I found a lot of inspiration in... be
happy is too one dimensional, but in trying to fill out my life it sort of felt like I was really
here." He told Rolling Stone in 1992: "I've struggled with a lot of things over the past
two, three years, and it's been real rewarding. I've been very, very happy, truly the happiest
I've ever been in my whole life." A considerable portion of the Lucky Town album
concentrates on one subject, which is the rewards of a hard-won happy family life. It is very
possible that Springsteen wrote HAPPY following the 30 Dec 1991 birth of his daughter in Los
Angeles.
The Lucky Town studio sessions spanned a period of about 5 months,
from late summer 1991 to very early 1992. According to the Tracks booklet liner notes,
HAPPY was recorded on 18 Jan 1992 at A&M Studios, Los Angeles, CA. It would be the final song
completed during the Lucky Town sessions. On this official recording of HAPPY,
Springsteen handles all guitars and lead vocals, and is accompanied by Roy Bittan on keyboards and
Shawn Pelton on drums. Teh track was recorded by Toby Scott, mixed by Bob Clearmountain, and
produced by Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau, Chuck Plotkin, and Roy Bittan.
The now-sold-out
Backstreets magazine issue #61
(Winter 1998) included a bonus 12-page booklet sized to fit the Tracks box set. The
booklet, according to the editors of Backstreets, "takes a comprehensive look at all
66 songs on Tracks by presenting some of Springsteen's own comments about the material in
context with each track's researched history (correcting a few Tracks typos along the
way) and the editors' contemporary analysis."
According to the booklet, the 18 Jan 1992 recording date listed on the
Tracks liner notes is probably a typo. The correct date is more likely 18 Jan 1991. This
analysis is based on the fact that "the only other song recorded at A&M Studios on
Tracks is 'Goin' Cali', which was recorded a year earlier and suggests that this
recording date could be a typo. If 'Happy' was actually recorded on January 18, 1992, rather than
1991, it may be the only song on the box not recorded specifically for an album. The Lucky
Town sessions took place in the fall and winter of 1991; by January 1992, it would have been
too late for this song to be considered for Lucky Town or Human Touch as the
press release announcing both albums, complete with track lists, hit within two weeks of the
credited recording date for 'Happy'."

Lyrics
The two opening lines, "Some need gold and some need diamond rings / Or a
drug to take away the pain that living brings", are very similar to the opening lines of
MY BEAUTIFUL REWARD. The line "Tonight let's shed
our skins and slip these bars" can be related to the similarly themed
LIVING PROOF.
Press Review
Tom Moon writes in Knight Ridder Newspapers in November 1998:
A sample lyric from "Happy," one of 55 previously
unreleased selections on "Bruce Springsteen: Tracks": "Lost and running beneath a million dead
stars. / Tonight let's shed our skins and slip these bars." Are these the words of the boyish
Bruce, the Jersey shore rocker who set off decades ago on a hellfire mission to find out "if love
is real"? Are they from the more mature Bruce, who chronicled ordinary people bumping up against
their own limitations? Or is this the musing of the middle-age father, whose recent works have
been somber allegories and earthy reflections on love and loss?
It's one of the revelations of "Tracks" (Columbia, 3-1/2 stars), which arrives in stores Tuesday,
that "Happy" could be the product of any of Springsteen's incarnations. Recorded in 1992 during
sessions for "Human Touch" and "Lucky Town," it's got those timeless Springsteen signifiers: the
yearning to escape from the mundane, the soul-searching followed by a declaration of devotion. He
could have written it after "Thunder Road," on the 1975 "Born to Run." Or "Hungry Heart" from
1980's "The River." Or "Two Faces," released on "Tunnel of Love" in 1987.
Like much of the material on this career-spanning four-disc anthology, "Happy" offers proof of
what those who love Springsteen already know: That he's spent the last 25 years working out
elaborate, bloodthirsty, bracingly honest variations on the theme of
transformation.
The Tracks Box Set
In the liner notes of his Tracks box set, Bruce Springsteen introduces
the box set as follows:
During long intervals between my record releases, as
I was spending more and more time in the studio, when I met a fan out on the street I was often
asked, "What are you guys doing in there?" I regularly pondered that question myself.
What we were doing in there was making a lot of music, a lot more music than I could use at any
one time. As a result, my albums became a series of choices – what to include, what to leave out?
I based my decisions on my creative point of view at the moment – the subject I was trying to
focus on, something musical or emotional I was trying to express. In certain instances, as on
Darkness on the Edge of Town, Nebraska, and The Ghost of Tom Joad,
these choices crystallized the album I was making. On some of my other records the reasons I had
for choosing one song over another, in hindsight, feel a good deal less significant. One of the
results of working like this was that a lot of music, including some of my favorite things,
remained unreleased.
This collection contains everything from the first notes I sang in the Columbia recording studio,
my early and later work with the E Street Band, through to my music in the 90s. It's the alternate
route to some of the destinations I travelled to on my records, an invitation into the studio on
the many nights we spent making music in search of the records we presented to you. I'm glad to
finally be able to share this music; here are some of the ones that got away.
-- Bruce Springsteen, September 1998
Bruce Springsteen's albums were thematically linked even if they were not
strictly concept albums; so some tracks that didn't fit the theme of the album ended up orphaned,
not necessarily because they didn't meet his high standards, but because, he says, they didn't fit
in with the tone or themes he mined for each set. Many of these unreleased studio outtakes got
under the hands of bootleggers. Discussing that issue in 1984, Springsteen told Rolling
Stone's Kurt Loder, "We record a lot of material, but we just don't release it all. [...] I
always tell myself that some day I'm gonna put an album out with all this stuff on it that didn't
fit in. I think there's some good material there that should come out. Maybe at some point, I'll
do that."
During a break in The Ghost Of Tom Joad Solo Acoustic Tour,
Springsteen thought that "if it's gonna be a year or longer in between records, I have all this
music that I know is very good that I never released and I should release some of it whether it
was just a CD or something. In that period of time, I should put something out because people
would like to have it and I'd like to see it get out." He told Toby Scott (his audio archivist and
recording engineer), "send me all the archives, send everything that we recorded". Scott then went
to work gathering the potential material from Springsteen's massive audio library (located, along
with Sony's sound archives, in the high-tech Iron Mountain facility near Buffalo, NY). "For a week
or so," he told Billboard in a Nov 1998 interview, "I just listened to everything that
I'd done that we hadn't put out. I made some very brief notes in a notebook, and then I just put
it away. It was something that I could do at some point when I get to that place in a new project
where I'm not sure how long it's going to take and it would be nice to sort of fill the gap so the
fans wouldn't be so long without hearing any music from me".
Springsteen told Mark Hagen in an interview for Mojo magazine
published in January 1999, "So it began just with that idea and we listened to about 250 songs,
maybe more, I made quick notes in a notebook and put it away. A year went by, more maybe, and I
came off the Tom Joad tour and I began to write acoustically again and I wrote about half a
record. Then I got stuck and said, 'Well, I'm going to put this aside for a while.' Then I wrote
half of an electric record, and hit the same place. So I thought, instead of waiting for another
year to put something out I'll put some of this music together. So once again I went back to the
archives." According to interview comments made by engineer Toby Scott (Springsteen's audio
archivist and recording engineer), it was in February 1998 during solo sessions being conducted at
Thrill Hill Recording (Springsteen's home studio) in Colts Neck, NJ, that Springsteen told Scott
that the time was right to proceed with the long-anticipated box set of archived, unreleased
studio takes. Thrill Hill Recording served as the main operational center for all Tracks
project activities. Note that the "Thrill Hill Recording" name is used for whatever home studio
Springsteen is recording at, whether it's in Rumson, NJ, Colts, NJ, or Beverly Hills, CA.
Springsteen told Billboard that the songs were culled from between 200
and 300 tunes. According to Toby Scott, the number was down to about 128 songs by late June 1998.
It was then narrowed down yet again in July to about 100 songs that were prepped for the
Tracks release. Although the project was originally projected to be a 6-disc set, there
was a commercial decision made later in the summer to reduce the size of the release to a 4-disc
(66-track) set. The package was delivered to Sony in mid-September in order to facilitate the
mid-November 1998 release schedule.
Unreleased songs from the Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ sessions were
not included on the box set due to ongoing and still-unresolved court proceedings involving most
of these unreleased 1972 recordings. The court battle wasn't resolved until in 2001 (April 2001 in
the UK and June 2001 in the U.S.), and those recordings are now free for release at any time. The
opening four tracks of the box set – which were culled from Springsteen's 03 May 1972 Columbia
Records audition – were not part of the court proceedings.
The Tracks box set was released on Columbia Records on 10 Nov 1998.
It's a 4-disc set consisting of a total of 66 tracks (almost 4.5 hours long), 10 of which were
heretofore unavailable single B-sides, 6 were demos and alternate versions of already-released
material, and 50 (48 studio and 2 live) were never-before-released songs recorded during the
sessions for Springsteen's many albums. Some tracks were treated with a recent touch-up here or
there to give the older recordings a fresh polish.
- Disc 1 consists of material from 1972 to 1980, including Springsteen's very first Columbia
Records audition for legendary A & R executive John Hammond. This disc also features
additional songs most of which recorded for (but never released on) Springsteen's first four
albums.
- Disc 2 consists of material from 1979 to 1983, taken primarily from the recording sessions of
The River, Nebraska, and Born In The USA. Springsteen describes this
disc as "almost the completely other album from 'The River'."
- Disc 3 consists of material from 1982 to 1987, taken primarily from the recording sessions of
Born In The USA and Tunnel Of Love.
- Disc 4 consists of material from 1989 to 1998, taken primarily from the recording sessions of
Human Touch.
Tracks, disc 1 track listing:
| 1. | | MARY QUEEN OF ARKANSAS | | Recorded at CBS Studios, New York City, NY, on 03 May 1972 |
| 2. | | IT'S HARD TO BE A SAINT IN THE CITY | | Recorded at CBS Studios, New York City, NY, on 03 May 1972 |
| 3. | | GROWIN' UP | | Recorded at CBS Studios, New York City, NY, on 03 May 1972 |
| 4. | | DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET | | Recorded at CBS Studios, New York City, NY, on 03 May 1972 |
| 5. | | BISHOP DANCED | | Recorded live at Max's Kansas City, New York City, NY, on 31 Jan 1973 |
| 6. | | SANTA ANA | | Recorded at 914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt, NY, on 28 Jun 1973 |
| 7. | | SEASIDE BAR SONG | | Recorded at 914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt, NY, on 28 Jun 1973 |
| 8. | | ZERO AND BLOND TERRY | | Recorded at 914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt, NY, on 28 Jun 1973 |
| 9. | | LINDA LET ME BE THE ONE | | Recorded at Record Plant, New York City, NY, on 28 Jun 1975 |
| 10. | | THUNDERCRACK | | Recorded at Record Plant, New York City, NY, on 28 Jun 1975 |
| 11. | | RENDEZVOUS | | Recorded live at Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY, on 31 Dec 1980 |
| 12. | | GIVE THE GIRL A KISS | | Recorded at Record Plant, New York City, NY, on 10 Nov 1977 |
| 13. | | ICEMAN | | Recorded at Record Plant, New York City, NY, on 27 Oct 1977 |
| 14. | | BRING ON THE NIGHT | | Recorded at The Power Station, New York City, NY, on 13 Jun 1979 |
| 15. | | SO YOUNG AND IN LOVE | | Recorded at Record Plant, New York City, NY, on 06 Jan 1978 |
| 16. | | HEARTS OF STONE | | Recorded at Record Plant, New York City, NY, on 14 Oct 1977 |
| 17. | | DON'T LOOK BACK | | Recorded at Record Plant, New York City, NY, on 02 Jul 1977 |
Tracks, disc 2 track listing:
| 1. | | RESTLESS NIGHTS | | Recorded at The Power Station, New York City, NY, on 11 Apr 1980 |
| 2. | | A GOOD MAN IS HARD TO FIND (PITTSBURGH) | | Recorded at The Power Station, New York City, NY, on 05 May 1982 |
| 3. | | ROULETTE | | Recorded at The Power Station, New York City, NY, on 03 Apr 1978 |
| 4. | | DOLLHOUSE | | Recorded at The Power Station, New York City, NY, on 21 Aug 1979 |
| 5. | | WHERE THE BANDS ARE | | Recorded at The Power Station, New York City, NY, on 09 Oct 1979 |
| 6. | | LOOSE ENDS | | Recorded at The Power Station, New York City, NY, on 18 Jul 1979 |
| 7. | | LIVING ON THE EDGE OF THE WORLD | | Recorded at The Power Station, New York City, NY, on 07 Dec 1979 |
| 8. | | WAGES OF SIN | | Recorded at The Power Station, New York City, NY, on 10 May 1982 |
| 9. | | TAKE 'EM AS THEY COME | | Recorded at The Power Station, New York City, NY, on 10 Apr 1980 |
| 10. | | BE TRUE | | Recorded at The Power Station, New York City, NY, on 21 Jul 1979 |
| 11. | | RICKY WANTS A MAN OF HER OWN | | Recorded at Record Plant, New York City, NY, on 16 Jul 1979 |
| 12. | | I WANNA BE WITH YOU | | Recorded at The Power Station, New York City, NY, on 31 May 1979 |
| 13. | | MARY LOU | | Recorded at The Power Station, New York City, NY, on 30 May 1979 |
| 14. | | STOLEN CAR | | Recorded at The Power Station, New York City, NY, on 26 Jul 1979 |
| 15. | | BORN IN THE USA | | Recorded at Thrill Hill Recording, Colts Neck, NJ, in Jan 1982 |
| 16. | | JOHNNY BYE-BYE | | Recorded at Thrill Hill Recording, Beverly Hills, CA, in Jan 1983 |
| 17. | | SHUT OUT THE LIGHT | | Recorded at Thrill Hill Recording, Beverly Hills, CA, in Jan 1983 |
Tracks, disc 3 track listing:
| 1. | | CYNTHIA | | Recorded at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY, on 20 Apr 1983 |
| 2. | | MY LOVE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN | | Recorded at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY, on 05 May 1982 |
| 3. | | THIS HARD LAND | | Recorded at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY, on 11 May 1982 |
| 4. | | FRANKIE | | Recorded at The Power Station, New York City, NY, on 14 May 1982 |
| 5. | | TV MOVIE | | Recorded at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY, on 13 Jun 1983 |
| 6. | | STAND ON IT | | Recorded at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY, on 16 Jun 1983 |
| 7. | | LION'S DEN | | Recorded at The Power Station, New York City, NY, on 25 Jan 1982 |
| 8. | | CAR WASH | | Recorded at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY, on 31 May 1983 |
| 9. | | ROCKAWAY THE DAYS | | Recorded at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY, on 03 Feb 1984 |
| 10. | | BROTHERS UNDER THE BRIDGES ('83) | | Recorded at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY, on 04 Sep 1983 |
| 11. | | MAN AT THE TOP | | Recorded at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY, on 12 Jan 1984 |
| 12. | | PINK CADILLAC | | Recorded at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY, on 31 May 1983 |
| 13. | | TWO FOR THE ROAD | | Recorded at Thrill Hill Recording, Colts Neck, NJ, in Feb 1987 |
| 14. | | JANEY DON'T YOU LOSE HEART | | Recorded at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY, on 16 Jun 1983 |
| 15. | | WHEN YOU NEED ME | | Recorded at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY, on 10 Jan 1987 |
| 16. | | THE WISH | | Recorded at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY, on 22 Feb 1987 |
| 17. | | THE HONEYMOONERS | | Recorded at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY, on 22 Feb 1987 |
| 18. | | LUCKY MAN | | Recorded at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY, on 04 Apr 1987 |
Tracks, disc 4 track listing:
| 1. | | LEAVIN' TRAIN | | Recorded at Oceanway Studios, Los Angeles, CA, on 27 Feb 1990 |
| 2. | | SEVEN ANGELS | | Recorded at Oceanway Studios, Los Angeles, CA, on 29 Jun 1990 |
| 3. | | GAVE IT A NAME | | Recorded at Thrill Hill Recording, Colts Neck, NJ, on 24 Aug 1998 |
| 4. | | SAD EYES | | Recorded at Soundworks West, Los Angeles, CA, on 25 Jan 1990 |
| 5. | | MY LOVER MAN | | Recorded at Soundworks West, Los Angeles, CA, on 04 Dec 1990 |
| 6. | | OVER THE RISE | | Recorded at Soundworks West, Los Angeles, CA, on 07 Dec 1990 |
| 7. | | WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT | | Recorded at Record Plant, Los Angeles, CA, on 06 Dec 1990 |
| 8. | | LOOSE CHANGE | | Recorded at Record Plant, Los Angeles, CA, on 31 Jan 1991 |
| 9. | | TROUBLE IN PARADISE | | Recorded at Soundworks West, Los Angeles, CA, on 01 Dec 1989 |
| 10. | | HAPPY | | Recorded at A & M Studios, Los Angeles, CA, on 18 Jan 1992 |
| 11. | | PART MAN, PART MONKEY | | Recorded at Soundworks West, Los Angeles, CA, in Jan 1990 |
| 12. | | GOIN' CALI | | Recorded at A & M Studios, Los Angeles, CA, on 29 Jan 1991 |
| 13. | | BACK IN YOUR ARMS | | Recorded at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY, on 12 Jan 1995 |
| 14. | | BROTHERS UNDER THE BRIDGE | | Recorded at Thrill Hill Recording, Beverly Hills, CA, on 22 May 1995 |
Official Releases
In addition to its release on
Tracks,
HAPPY was also included on Tracks Sampler, a 1998 single disc
advance promotional album containing a selection of 15 tracks taken from the Tracks box
set. The sampler was issued in the U.S., Australia, and Germany with identical catalogue numbers
(COL CSK 41561).
![Bruce Springsteen -- Tracks Sampler (German pressing) [cover art]](../../lyrics_files/1998_tracks/trackssampler-germany.jpg)
HAPPY was released the next year on a 1-track Spain-only promotional single.
The single (catalogue # COL SAMPCS 6476) comes in a unique black-and-white cardboard picture
sleeve.

Live History
HAPPY was sound-checked prior to the 10 Aug 2005 show in Portland, OR, (as far
as it's known) but it was not performed on any of the Devils & Dust Solo Acoustic
Tour's regular shows.
Covers
As far as it's known, only one artist has recorded and released Bruce
Springsteen's HAPPY:
![Various artists -- Concert For A Cause IV [album cover art]](happy_cov-alankstout.jpg)
Various artists -- Concert For A Cause IV
CD - no label (no catalogue number) - USA, 2006
HAPPY is performed by Alan K. Stout. This is a benefit CD for the
Wyoming Valley Children's Association.
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Credits / References
Some of the above info about the studio recording are taken from
Brucebase. Info about the above
Spanish promo single is taken from
Lost In The Flood.
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