My Happiness (Powderfinger song) Production and content Who was the producer for the song ? The lyrics for "My Happiness" were written by Bernard Fanning, Powderfinger's lead singer and songwriter. The rest of the band are co-credited with Fanning for composing the track. What was the inspiration for the song ? The song describes feelings of love and separation; What is related to a specific event ? The extensive time spent touring took its toll on the band, and it was on the back of this that Fanning wrote "My Happiness". When the song was recorded ? I don't know. Was there anything special about the production of the song ? Much of Fanning's writing is inspired by non-rock music, and "My Happiness" is no exception. What kind of music inspired "My Happiness"? Gospel and soul music
What does Fanning think of the song ?
What does Fanning think of My Happiness?
If you can't cop a bit of emotional stuff then you should go and get the lamp shade extracted from your arse. If you don't think there is enough rock in your life then let me know and I will personally come around to your house and chuck stones at you.  --Bernard FanningIn response to "My Happiness" being described by fans as "like Lauryn Hill, bland and boring Top 40 bullshit".  The lyrics for "My Happiness" were written by Bernard Fanning, Powderfinger's lead singer and songwriter. The rest of the band are co-credited with Fanning for composing the track. The song describes feelings of love and separation; Sain's Pennie Dennison said it described "the pining feeling you experience when you spend time away from the one you love". Fanning called it "a sad story of touring and the absence loneliness that comes with it". The extensive time spent touring took its toll on the band, and it was on the back of this that Fanning wrote "My Happiness". Thus, he expressed confusion at its being considered a romantic song.  "My Happiness" was attacked by some fans as being "like Lauryn Hill, bland and boring Top 40 bullshit"; guitarist Ian Haug rebutted by pointing out that the song was an example of the new emotional level on which Powderfinger made music, while Fanning was more aggressive in his defence of the song. In response to being dubbed "Mr Miserable" by The Sun-Herald's Peter Holmes for the lyrics of "My Happiness" and "These Days", Fanning pointed out that the songs could be construed either as melancholy, or as part of "the most hopeful record ... in a long time".  Much of Fanning's writing is inspired by non-rock music, and "My Happiness" is no exception. Gospel and soul music that is "unashamedly about love and how good it makes you feel" was common during the Odyssey Number Five recording sessions. Powderfinger worked hard in those sessions to ensure a more polished work than Internationalist; guitarist Darren Middleton concluded that "My Happiness", "The Metre", and "Up & Down & Back Again" were more "complete" because of the band's efforts. The lighter elements of "My Happiness" in comparison to some of the band's earlier work saw Fanning reveal his passion for several other musicians, such as James Taylor--something that "five years ago ... would have been an embarrassing thing to say". CANNOTANSWER
he expressed confusion at its being considered a romantic song.
"My Happiness" is a song by Australian rock band Powderfinger. It was released via record label Universal Music Australia on 21 August 2000 as the first single from the band's fourth album, Odyssey Number Five. Powderfinger frontman Bernard Fanning wrote the lyrics for "My Happiness" as a reflection on the time the band spent touring to promote their work, and the loneliness that came as a result. It was inspired by his love of gospel and soul music. The rest of the band are co-credited with Fanning for composing the track. Despite its melancholy mood, "My Happiness" is considered by many to be a love song, a suggestion Fanning regards as mystifying.

The single is Powderfinger's most successful; it peaked at number four on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, number seven on the New Zealand Singles Chart, and number 23 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart—the first Powderfinger song to do so. In June 2020, the song was certified 5x Platinum in Australia. It won an ARIA Award and an APRA Award and topped the Triple J Hottest 100 in 2000 as well as coming 27th in the Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time in 2009. "My Happiness" was highly praised by critics, with even negative reviews of Odyssey Number Five noting it as a highlight, especially for its catchy chorus. One of the highlights of Powderfinger's United States tour with Coldplay was a performance of "My Happiness" on the Late Show with David Letterman; they were only the fourth Australian act to appear on the show.

In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "My Happiness" was ranked number 31.

Production and content 

The lyrics for "My Happiness" were written by Bernard Fanning, Powderfinger's lead singer and songwriter. The rest of the band are co-credited with Fanning for composing the track. The song describes feelings of love and separation; Sains Pennie Dennison said it described "the pining feeling you experience when you spend time away from the one you love". Fanning called it "a sad story of touring and the absence loneliness that comes with it". The extensive time spent touring took its toll on the band, and it was on the back of this that Fanning wrote "My Happiness". Thus, he expressed confusion at its being considered a romantic song.

"My Happiness" was attacked by some fans as being "like Lauryn Hill, bland and boring Top 40 bullshit"; guitarist Ian Haug rebutted by pointing out that the song was an example of the new emotional level on which Powderfinger made music, while Fanning was more aggressive in his defence of the song. In response to being dubbed "Mr Miserable" by The Sun-Heralds Peter Holmes for the lyrics of "My Happiness" and "These Days", Fanning pointed out that the songs could be construed either as melancholy, or as part of "the most hopeful record ... in a long time".

Much of Fanning's writing is inspired by non-rock music, and "My Happiness" is no exception. Gospel and soul music that is "unashamedly about love and how good it makes you feel" was common during the Odyssey Number Five recording sessions. Powderfinger worked hard in those sessions to ensure a more polished work than Internationalist; guitarist Darren Middleton concluded that "My Happiness", "The Metre", and "Up & Down & Back Again" were more "complete" because of the band's efforts. The lighter elements of "My Happiness" in comparison to some of the band's earlier work saw Fanning reveal his passion for several other musicians, such as James Taylor—something that "five years ago ... would have been an embarrassing thing to say".

Touring and promotion 
"My Happiness" was put on heavy rotation by Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM two months prior to its United States release, and Powderfinger signed a contract with United States label Republic as a result of the song's early success. Beat journalist Jayson Argall joked the song had received "a bit" of airplay. Although "My Happiness" was subsequently dropped from KROQ's roster, other radio stations continued to give the song high priority.

"My Happiness" peaked at number 23 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks, making it the first Powderfinger song to appear on a Billboard chart. According to Susan Groves of WHRL, part of the song's success came about because very few people knew of Powderfinger, but were drawn towards "My Happiness" because it was "melodic, [and] pretty"—a change from what she described as "middle of the road rock" popular in the United States. Meanwhile, Australians were "starting to get sick of My Happiness"—Cameron Adams argued in The Hobart Mercury that this was one of the reasons Powderfinger decided to focus on the offshore market.

Powderfinger performed "My Happiness" live on the Late Show with David Letterman while touring North America with British rock group Coldplay. They were the fourth Australian act (after The Living End, Silverchair, and Nick Cave) to play on the show. The band also did free promotional shows leading up to the release of the single. In Europe, "My Happiness" received approximately four weeks of airplay on German music video program Viva II, and the band sold out for three nights in a row in London, partly due to the success of the single.

Release and commercial success 
"My Happiness" was released as a single in Australia on 21 August 2000. When asked how they chose the release date, Fanning jokingly said "the release date is timed to coincide with the Olympics, when all the visitors are here ... they can go into HMV and pick it up." At the time of the single's release, the band's previous album, Internationalist, was still in the top 50 on the ARIA Albums Chart, 95 weeks after entering. The single featured B-side "My Kind of Scene", which had already received strong airplay due to its appearance on the Mission: Impossible 2 soundtrack. "My Happiness" appeared on a Triple M compilation entitled Triple M's New Stuff, and on a Kerrang! compilation, Kerrang!2 The Album.

"My Happiness" entered the ARIA singles chart at number four—making it Powderfinger's highest-charting single in Australia—and spent 24 weeks on the chart. It reached number two on the Queensland singles chart, and peaked at number seven on the New Zealand singles chart, on which it spent 23 weeks. In the US, "My Happiness" was serviced to alternative radio on 13 February 2001; it was Powderfinger's first single to chart in the US, reaching number 23 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.

The song won the "Single of the Year" award at the ARIA Awards of 2001, and the 2001 "Song of the Year" APRA Award. Furthermore, "My Happiness" topped the Triple J Hottest 100 chart in 2000, and appeared on that year's CD release. Rolling Stone Australia named "My Happiness" "Song of the Year" in a reader poll. "My Happiness" was the eighth most-played song on Australian radio in 2001.

Critical reception 

"My Happiness" was critically acclaimed. Cameron Adams of the Herald Sun wrote that "My Happiness" did not disappoint in the trend of excellent first singles from Powderfinger, citing "Pick You Up" and "The Day You Come" as examples. He praised the song's structure, stating that "the verses almost crash into the chorus". Adams also expressed surprise that "My Kind of Scene" was only released as a B-side. The Newcastle Heralds Chad Watson described a mixture of acoustic and electric guitar and "a restrained yet warmly infectious chorus". Despite praising it as a "Big Rock Anthem™", Richard Jinman of The Sydney Morning Herald complained that "My Happiness" was not as "hummable" as past singles "Passenger" or "These Days". Devon Powers of PopMatters described it, and "Waiting for the Sun", as sounding bored. The Evening Mail agreed; it argued the "rock-lite" song, while sounding lush, failed to "make you really sit up and take notice".

Despite being highly critical of Odyssey Number Five, Allmusic's Dean Carlson labelled it, alongside "Odyssey #5", as one of the album's best songs, for the riff Powderfinger executed "better than most bands of their stature". Adams also enjoyed the song's "wobbly guitar", and Sains Christie Eliszer approved of the "acoustic strumalong", but The Advertisers Michael Duffy said the song was "a familiar piece of yearning guitar indie that is polished but pedestrian"; he reserved his praise for "My Kind of Scene", which he described as akin to the best of Internationalist. Darren Bunting wrote in the Hull Daily Mail that "My Happiness" was the best song on Odyssey Number Five, praising "soaring vocals, heartfelt lyrics and chiming guitar". Entertainment Weeklys Marc Weingarten said that on "My Happiness", "Fanning's heavy heart is tattered by scratching and clawing guitars".

Music video 

The music video for "My Happiness" starts at a railway station (Roma Street in Brisbane) with a boy and girl stepping off a train. As the pair leave the train, the boy turns and tries to reach for something, but the girl pulls him back. It is shown that he was reaching for a sentient slinky. The slinky leaves the train, and passes Middleton busking in the train station. The slinky ventures to find the boy, facing a range of challenges along the way; these include avoiding fruit falling on it and riding a skateboard. In the middle of the music clip, the slinky is shown making its way through a music room in which Powderfinger are performing "My Happiness". It rests on the bar and the band finishes playing, while the background music continues. As Powderfinger leaves, the slinky is picked up by Haug. He gets into a car and places the slinky on the car's dashboard, but it falls out the window as the car turns a tight corner. It lands outside the gate of a house and is picked up and brought inside to the boy.

The video was created by Fifty Fifty Films, who created numerous other Powderfinger music videos. It was directed by Chris Applebaum and produced by Keeley Gould of A Band Apart, with editing by Jeff Selis. Cameron Adams of The Courier Mail reported that following the music video's release, slinky sales increased dramatically.

Awards and accolades

Track listings 
Australian CD single
 "My Happiness" – 4:36
 "My Kind of Scene" – 4:37
 "Nature Boy" – 3:12
 "Odyssey #1" (demo) – 4:09

European CD single
 "My Happiness" (edit) – 4:11
 "Nature Boy" – 3:38

Personnel 
Powderfinger
 Bernard Fanning – vocals and tambourine
 Darren Middleton – guitars and backing vocals
 Ian Haug – guitars
 John Collins – bass guitars
 Jon Coghill – drums and percussion

Production
 Nick DiDia – Producer, engineer and mixer
 Matt Voigt – Assistant engineer
 Anton Hagop – Assistant engineer
 Alex Pertout – Percussion
 Stewart Whitmore – Digital editing
 Stephen Marcussen – Mastering
 Anton Hagop – Assistant producer
 Kevin Wilkins – Art direction and photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References 

Powderfinger songs
2000 singles
2000 songs
APRA Award winners
ARIA Award-winning songs
Polydor Records singles
Songs written by Bernard Fanning
Songs written by Jon Coghill
Songs written by John Collins (Australian musician)
Songs written by Ian Haug
Songs written by Darren Middleton
Universal Music Australia singles
"Take My Name" is a song by American country music band Parmalee. It was released on October 4, 2021, as the second single from the band's third studio album For You. The band's lead vocalist Matt Thomas co-wrote the song with Ashley Gorley, Ben Johnson and David Fanning, while it was produced by Fanning.

Background
On July 9, 2021, the band posted a snippet on TikTok, and announced the song had been released early. Robyn Collins of Taste of Country described the song as "a musical marriage proposal". The band's lead vocalist Matt Thomas told Sounds Like Nashville: "'Take My Name' was inspired by my brother Scott getting married last year, It made me sit back and think about what I would want to say to my future wife".

Content
Thomas told American Songwriter: "'Take My Name' is a song about finding the person you want to spend the rest of your life with. A feeling you haven't had before. You don't want to look anywhere else or waste anymore time, you are ready to make that person yours".

Live performance
On October 18, 2021, the band performed the song on The Kelly Clarkson Show.

Charts

Release history

References

2021 singles
2021 songs
Parmalee songs
Songs written by Ashley Gorley
Songs written by David Fanning (singer)
BBR Music Group singles "Pick You Up" is the first single released from Powderfinger's second album Double Allergic. The single was released on 13 April 1996, and was Powderfinger's first moderate success both on commercial and Indie radio stations, and the most successful single from the album reaching #23 on the ARIA Charts. In 2007, eleven years after its initial release, "Pick You Up" was selected to be included in the soundtrack for Australian SBS soccer television program The World Game. The song is the oldest recording on the compilation album.

History
"Pick You Up" was the first release by Powderfinger to receive significant radio airplay.  Whilst "Reap What You Sow", off their previous EP; Transfusion, had achieved some success, "Pick You Up" was the first to be played regularly nationwide.  Guitarist Darren Middleton said the band were "stoked" with the song's success, saying that "it's great for us because hopefully it'll give us a few more opportunities to do what we want to do."  Middleton attributed part of the success of "Pick You Up" to Tim Whitten, producer of the song and Double Allergic, describing Whitten as "what a band looks for in a producer/engineer".

Powderfinger's lead singer, Bernard Fanning, was equally impressed with the radio response to "Pick You Up" and the next single, "D.A.F.".  He told Drum Media "it's pretty weird hearing your song on B105", in response to a question about the accessibility of the new album.  In another interview, with Juice, Fanning described "Pick You Up" as "a pretty obvious sort of song", calling "D.A.F." the more mysterious single from Double Allergic. Guitarist Ian Haug said it was odd for the band that "Pick You Up" was such a well-known song, when previously "people had known all our stuff equally because we've never had a big radio song."  He also said that the song was able to attract new audiences to the band, some of whom would "go home after that song", but others who would develop as the band's new fan base.  Despite the increase in popularity, Haug didn't think the band had changed a great deal, saying "I don't think our style has changed to lose the audience we had."

In 2007, Fanning noted that their song "Nobody Sees" was the bookend to "Pick You Up", with its first line "Who's gonna pick you up?", noting that he's no longer going to.

Response

"Pick You Up" was nominated for the 1996 ARIA Award for "Song of the Year".  The song was also performed live by the band at the ceremony. Concrete Press journalist Matt Budden was filled with praise for the four tracks on "Pick You Up's" single.  He said that "Pick You Up" had a "very professional sound", which he said was well complemented by Bernard Fanning's "grainy" voice.  He also praised the rhythmic guitar set, saying that it "lingers like the smell at a cookie factory." Budden also lauded the b-sides, describing "Toffee Apple" as being reminiscent of Spinal Tap, calling the combination of "slow repetitive guitars" and "soft sweet lyrics" in "Wobbly Knee" beautiful, and dubbing "Come Away" bizarre in the most positive sense.

Angus Fountaine of The Sunday Telegraph also approved of Fanning's voice in "Pick You Up", stating that "His smooth vocal […] catapulted the band from rough 'n' ready indy hopefuls to slick Top 40 fortune seekers." When performed live, Alphonse Leong of Drop-D Magazine said that "Pick You Up", "which sounds kind of sappy on disc, packed more of a wallop live".  He also described Powderfinger as "a band with a mastery of loud, driving music".

Track listing
"Pick You Up" – 4:19 
"Toffee Apple" – 2:24
"Wobbly Knee" – 3:56
"Come Away" – 3:55
"Piles" (Hidden Track)

Charts

References

Powderfinger songs
1996 singles
1996 songs
Polydor Records singles
Songs written by Jon Coghill
Songs written by John Collins (Australian musician)
Songs written by Bernard Fanning
Songs written by Ian Haug
Songs written by Darren Middleton