Shiny Happy People

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For the Angel episode, see Shiny Happy People (Angel episode).
"Shiny Happy People"
"Shiny Happy People" cover
Single by R.E.M.
from the album Out of Time
Released 6 May 1991 (UK)
3 September 1991 (US)
Format UK: CD, 7", 12", cassette
US: 7", cassette
Recorded September–October 1990
Genre Rock
Length 3:45
Label Warner Bros.
7-19242 (US, 7")
4-19242 (US, cassette)
W0027 (UK, 7")
W0027C (UK, cassette)
W0027CD (UK, CD)
W0027CDX (UK, Collectors' Edition CD)
W0027T (UK, 12")
Producer(s) Scott Litt & R.E.M.
Chart positions
R.E.M. singles chronology
"Losing My Religion"
(1991)		 "Shiny Happy People"
(1991)		 "Near Wild Heaven"
(1991)

"Shiny Happy People" is a song by the band R.E.M. It appeared on their 1991 album Out of Time and was released as a single in the same year. The song features guest backing vocals by Kate Pierson of the B-52's.

It peaked at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100, the fourth and final R.E.M. single to reach the top 10 on the chart. It also peaked at #6 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the first R.E.M. song to reach the top ten in the UK and the only to reach the top ten in both countries.

Although a top ten hit, it was excluded from the band's 2003 'Best Of' album In Time; this was reportedly a deliberate decision by Michael Stipe, who once mentioned his dislike of the song in an episode of Space Ghost Coast To Coast.

The band performed it on Sesame Street, during the 1998/1999 season, under the title "Furry Happy Monsters". The female vocal was performed by Stephanie D'Abruzzo of Avenue Q fame. New lyrics were written by Sesame Street writer Christopher Cerf. Some of the lyrics included: "Monsters having fun, happy, happy, See them jump and run, happy, happy, Laughing all the while, cheerful, cheerful, Flashing a big smile, that's a perfect sign That they're feelin' fine! Furry happy monsters feeling glad!"

Ever since the song's release, comedian Denis Leary attacked it, using MTV as his platform. In one rant, he exclaimed, "Hey, hey, hey! Pull this bus over to the side of the pretentiousness turnpike! I want the shiny people over here and the happy people over here! I represent angry, gun-toting, meat-eating f**king people! ...Sit down and shut the f**k up, Michael."[1]

The song appeared in Michael Moore's anti-war film Fahrenheit 9/11 during footage of George H.W. Bush visiting the Saud family. Moore had previously directed the video to "All the Way to Reno (You're Gonna Be a Star)" for R.E.M..

The song was panned by critics. In 2005, Q magazine included Shiny Happy People in a list of "Ten Terrible Records by Great Artists".[citation needed] In its 2006 "Song of the Summer" countdown, CBC Radio's Freestyle named Shiny Happy People 1991's "Song of the Summer" [2]. In contrast, in 2006, the song received the number one position on AOL Music's list of the "111 Wussiest Songs of All Time."[3]

Contents

[edit] Single covers

UK standard edition CD single cover

UK "Collectors' Edition" CD single cover

[edit] Track listing

All songs written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe unless otherwise stated.

[edit] US/UK 7"/cassette singles

  1. "Shiny Happy People" – 3:45
  2. "Forty Second Song" – 1:20

[edit] UK CD/12"

  1. "Shiny Happy People" – 3:45
  2. "Forty Second Song" – 1:20
  3. "Losing My Religion" (live acoustic version)1 – 4:36

[edit] UK "Collectors' Edition" CD

  1. "Shiny Happy People" – 3:45
  2. "I Remember California" (live)2 – 5:42
  3. "Get Up" (live)2 – 3:15
  4. "Pop Song '89" (live)2 – 3:30

[edit] Notes

1 Recorded on Rockline; April 1, 1991.
2 Taken from the live performance video, Tourfilm.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Black, Johnny (2004). Reveal: The Story of R.E.M.. Backbeat Books. ISBN 0-87930-776-5.
  2. ^ CBC Radio | Freestyle, retrieved 5 September 2006.
  3. ^ "The 111 Wussiest Songs of All Time (No. 1)". AOL Music. Retrieved on 20 August 2006.
R.E.M.
Peter Buck • Mike Mills • Michael Stipe
Former Members: Bill Berry
Other musicians: Scott McCaughey • Bill Rieflin • Ken Stringfellow • Nathan December • Buren Fowler • Peter Holsapple • Barrett Martin • Joey Waronker
Management and producers: Bertis Downs, IV • Pat McCarthy • Jefferson Holt • Scott Litt
Joe Boyd • Don Dixon • Mitch Easter • Don Gehman
Discography
Albums and EPs: Chronic Town • Murmur • Reckoning • Fables of the Reconstruction • Lifes Rich Pageant • Document • Green • Out of Time • Automatic for the People • Monster • New Adventures in Hi-Fi • Up • Reveal • Around the Sun
Singles: See here
Compilations: Dead Letter Office • Eponymous • In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003 • And I Feel Fine... The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982-1987
Remix album: R.E.M.IX
Soundtrack: Man on the Moon
Videos: Succumbs • Tourfilm • Pop Screen • This Film Is On • Parallel • Road Movie • In View: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003 • Perfect Square • When the Light Is Mine: The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982-1987
Related articles
Alternative rock • Hindu Love Gods • I.R.S. Records • Warner Bros. Records • Homer the Moe
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