For the past week or two, my 17-month old grandson, Ryder, has been saying, “Be Happy!” several times every hour.  It is good advice and we should all follow it.

Ryder says, “Be happy!”

Back in the 1960s, there were many posters and note cards featuring pictures of Indian saint Meher Baba and the words “Don’t worry, be happy.”  He was famous for giving that advice to his disciples.  Meher Baba died in 1969 and it seems that over the next few years there were some people who began worrying once again, just like in the old unenlightened days.

Jazz singer Bobby McFerrin saw one of the Meher Baba posters and was inspired to write a song – this song.

Well, actually, he was inspired to say, “Don’t worry, be happy” with an affected Caribbean accent and the rest of the words sort of came together during a recording session with help from others who were present.  It was originally part of the soundtrack for a critically panned but financially successful Tom Cruise movie called Cocktail in 1988.  Shortly thereafter it was released separately and the rest, as they say is history.

People everywhere quit worrying.  Happiness surrounded us.  It seems that one could not go anywhere in 1988 without hearing this song – nor would anyone want to.  “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” won Grammy Awards in 1988 for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Male Pop Performance.  It is the only acappella song to ever reach Number One in the Billboard Hot 100.  It may sound like there are various percussion instruments, but Bobby McFerrin created all of those sounds with his voice.

The video of the song (below) is worth watching because it features Robin Williams and Tony Award winning actor Bill Irwin, with McFerrin

Many people think of Bobby McFerrin as sort of a “one hit wonder” because nothing else he has done has ever been as universally loved as “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”  In fact, however, he won five Grammy awards before 1988, and has won another since then.  He has released dozens of albums, been named Creative Chair of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, conducted symphony orchestras around the world each year, performed and recorded with many of the greats of jazz and continues to be a dynamic, creative force in the world of music.

Bobby’s father, Robert Keith McFerrin, Sr. (Bobby was a “Jr.”) was an operatic baritone – the first African American man to sing at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.  Robert, Sr. was the one who sang the songs Sidney Poitier lip-synched in the movie version of Porgy and Bess.  Bobby’s mother was also a classically trained singer.

One thing Bobby learned from his parents was to perfect his craft.  He practiced and experimented with his voice for years before releasing his first recording in 1982, at the age of 32.  He has continued to use his voice as an amazing instrument that produces scat singing, polyphonic overtones, vocal percussion and other amazing and melodic sounds.

Unfortunately, I have noticed that there are some out there in cyberspace – and the real world – who have begun to worry once again.  Please, y’all, heed what Ryder says and be happy!

“Don’t Worry, Be Happy”
By Robert McFerrin, Jr., David Clempson, Steve Marriott, Robert Mcferrin Jr, Greg Ridley, Jerry Shirley