(The) Harvey Danger Database

Little By Little... album cover

Happiness Writes White

Recorded January 2005

Release history

Credits

  • Written by Huffman/Lin/Nelson, © Song-Based Songs (ASCAP)
  • French horn by Jacob Hoffman

Lyrics

Ariella, 7:30
I don’t wanna get up yet
Listen to the morning music
Cursing the alarm you set

As you know, I’ve never been a praying man
I don’t need a god to make me feel all right
But if you wonder why I never wrote you a song
It’s because happiness writes white

I try to put it into words
But the words just sound like mistakes
I try to find a set of chords
But you know how long that takes me

I can’t trust my fingers
I can’t trust my tongue
The work is too important
We’re no longer young, after all

When I consider what you put up with
I’m amazed you still have skin
When I consider what you mean to me
It’s everything, it’s everything

Ariella, 11:30
I don’t wanna go to sleep
Turn the TV off already
Curse the hours we have to keep

As you know, I’ve never been a confident man
I’ve been in the tall grass all my life
Until you came along, now there’s one less thing wrong
Even though happiness writes white

Ooh, I know happiness writes white
I know happiness writes white (I know happiness writes white)
I know happiness writes white (I know happiness writes white)
I know happiness writes white
I know happiness writes white
I know happiness writes white (Ariella, are you sleeping?)

Quotes

Sean: "Happiness Writes White" succeeds as an utterly sincere, retroactively poignant, depiction of uxoriousness and paean to a 10-year relationship that saw me through my 20s—even though my early 30s saw it disintegrate, the song still rings true; it was written in answer to a challenge from the song's subject (whose name always sounded to me like it should have been sung) to write a simple love song, not another ambivalent one about how complicated emotions can be; I often wonder if she was daring me to do more than just write lyrics; credit to Jeff for knowing what I meant when I said it should sound like The Zombies, and then not making it sound just like The Zombies, and eternal gratitude to Aaron, Jeff, and Michael, too for being willing to stand with me (and not for the first time) while I sing something so richly, indulgently personal.10A

References

  • “Happiness writes in white ink on a white page.” (“Le bonheur écrit à l’encre blanche sur des pages blanches.”) — Henry de Montherlant, Don Juan (1956), Act II, Scene IVWP

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