Happy by Pharrell Williams
The count-up has had its fair share of songs that boost the spirit, but none wear it on their sleeve quite like this song, that states pretty clearly what its purpose is. Any song that achieves the status of #1 for its particular year translates to a song that has been overplayed--I hope the distance of nine years from when it was a hit prevents any PTSD with this song.
Whenever I hear this song, a part of me returns to Bangladesh and specifically the school we worked at, AISD. If I've ever engaged in conversation with you about our time in Dhaka, you will know the fondness I hold for that community. In my wizened years, I've come to discover that no place is utopia, but AISD was a special place for us. A tradition at the school towards the end of each year was to produce a staff video set to a popular song and in 2014, Happy was the chosen song. It's still floating out there on YouTube--I watched it last night, with a mix of sadness and joy. We've lost some of those featured in the video but you can't help but absorb the happiness of that community when you watch it.
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