Switched on Pop - Wonders: Bobby McFerrin

Episode Date: January 31, 2023

In 1988, Bobby McFerrin recorded a song a cappella with a simple message: not to worry, and just enjoy life. That song, aptly titled “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” topped the charts and become one of the most well known one-hit wonders of all time.  In doing so, it also propelled McFerrin into the spotlight, winning him three Grammy awards and an eternal place in pop culture. His career, though, is more than just the Big Mouth Billy Bass: a deep dive reveals an incredible career in jazz, folk, and classical music as well as a remarkable command of his own voice. This episode of Switched on Pop, we explore the history behind "Don't Worry, Be Happy" and the ensuing legacy of Bobby McFerrin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you're tired of endless scrolling to figure out where to eat, same. I'm Stephanie Wu, editor-in-chief of Eater. We've just launched the new-ish and way better Eater app. It has all the restaurants we love, gives you personalized picks wherever you are, and serves up smarter search results just for you. You can find my list of the best places for martinis and fries in New York City. And save your favorite spots, share lists, follow editors, and book right in the app. the eater app at eater app.com. It's free for iOS users. Welcome to Switchdown Pop. I'm musicologist Nate Sloan.

And I'm producer Rihanna Cruz. Okay, Rihanna, I want you to take a look at something for me. I got you. Okay, what do you see? Oh man, I see the iconic big mouth Billy Vaz staring right at me with those beady eyes. For those not familiar with this iconic fish, what exactly are you referring to? It is a green and yellow looking fish, a bass, I would assume, pinned to or glued to a wood backing, and there's a button below the fish. Let's press the button. Big Mouth Billy Bass isn't just any plastic fish attached to a fish. fake piece of wood with an electronic button. It actually sings, don't worry, be happy. It flaps its tail in time with the song. And this little toy was one of the most ubiquitous products of the late

1990s and early 2000s and was probably part of the reason that this song, Don't Worry, Be Happy, is burned into our collective memory banks. My grandfather, I remember, had one of these at his house in the back room, and it was like, you walked in and the fish was staring at you. I remember you used to, like, scare the shit out of me when I was a kid. It's a toy that seems to walk a fine line between adorable and frightening. Totally. Uncanny Valley vibes. The inclusion of Don't worry, be happy as part of the soundtrack of Big Mouth Billy Bass.

in addition to Al Green's Take Me to the River. I think it's part of the reason when we think about the song, Don't Worry, Be Happy. You know, maybe you think of it as kind of a trifle, something not to be taken very seriously. And I think for that reason, this song could be the perfect first entry for our series about one hit wonders.

Because I think the closer we listen to Don't Worry, be happy, and the better we get to know the artist behind it, Bobby McFerrin, the more we'll start to hear this song is not just part of a novelty singing toy fish product, but one of the most interesting songs to ever top the billboard charts and a fascinating insight into one of the greatest musical artists of his generation. I'm excited. Okay, Rianna, when I hit play on Don't Worry, Be Happy from Bobby McFerrin's 1988 album, Simple pleasures. I think we're going to hear a song that you'll listen to and go, this was a number

one hit? In a contemporary landscape of booming 808 and sawtooth synthesizers, auto-tuned vocals, this track really stands out. It's sparse. It's completely acapella. Every part is performed by Bobby McFerrin overdubbing his voice. And it begins with a plaintive whistled melody. This doesn't sound like anything on the charts, and it didn't sound like anything on the charts in 1988 when it was released. In fact, the song that Don't Worry Be Happy displaced

at number one was Guns and Roses, Sweet Child of Mine, which could not sound more different. With Don't Worry Be Happy, it's so pleasant. Like, as soon as it comes on, you're immediately transported directly into the vibe. I think it's funny. We talked about invasion of the vibe snatchers a while ago.

And this is a vibe. Maybe it's the progenitor of the whistling vibe that we talked about even. Ah, so we can draw a line from Don't worry, be happy to Peter Bjorn and John's young folks. Maybe. Yeah. I'm buying it. Yeah. After our whistled introduction, we get to the titular lyrics.

Here's a little song I wrote. You might want to sing it note for note. Don't worry to be happy. In every life we have some trouble. But when you worry, you make it double. Don't worry. A few things stand out to me as I'm listening to this. One is the astonishing vocal range of this performer, Bobby McFerrin.

I mean, if we just isolate some of the different elements here, we can start at the very bottom with this baseline that Bobby McFerrin is singing. Double, don't worry, be happy. Don't worry. Be happy now. Way down in the bottom of his register. So this is all Bobby McFerrin. This is all Bobby Baby. Wow.

We move up from that subterranean. in bass level to the main vocal, which is kind of in a medium range. In every life we have some trouble, but when you worry, you make it double, don't worry. And then when we get to the chorus, he sails up into the stratosphere of his vocal range.

I love that you asked if this was all one singer, Rihanna, because I have the same kind of sensation when I listen to this. It sounds like multiple people are singing at once because each of these different vocal layers kind of has its own personality, its own distinct sound, but they're all the product of a single kind of vocal chameleon producing all of these parts and layering them painstakingly one on top of the other. Wow.

Has there ever been an a cappella song to hit number one on Billboard? Rihanna, according to the research here at Switchdowne Polly. H-Q. This is the only a cappella track to ever chart number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Groups like Panatonics have had Acapella albums go to number one, but this is

the only single song that's completely Acapella to hit number one, which is a pretty cool distinction to have. Yeah, Mr. McFerrin is a trendsetter in that regard. Several decades before the acapella boom of, I'd say, the early 2010s.

The other thing that stands out when you listen to this song is the chorus and the title phrase of the song. Don't worry, be happy. And I think the other part of what makes the song so successful is the way he sings the title line, Don't worry, be happy. Because he sings it in this way, not with a lot of force, not with a lot of fury, just in this very kind of laid back casual, embodying the spirit of the message. Don't worry. Be happy. Be happy. No, it's very personal where, like, my dad used to say to me, oh, like, take it easy.

It's the same thing. Like, take it easy. Don't worry. Be happy, you know. Take a load off. This phrase, don't worry, be happy. Actually came to McFerrin when he saw a poster featuring the Indian spiritual leader, Mayor Baba, with that phrase emblazoned across the top.

Don't worry. Be happy. A fascinating. little footnote to this story. Don't worry, Be Happy is not the only song to be inspired by the guru Mayor Baba. The Who's track, Baba O'Reilly, is also partially named after Mayor Baba. So there's the six degrees of separation between Bobby McFerrin and The Who. My jaw's on the floor. There's no way. I think when we listen to this track, one of the things that's immediately apparent, and maybe part of the mixed legacy of,

of this song, which we'll talk about later, is the fact that McFerrin performs these lyrics with a pronounced accent. The landlord say your rent is lit. He may have to litigate. Don't worry. Be happy. I think I'd describe it as like an exaggerated patois sort of island reggae tone, right? Is that accurate?

It's certainly how I and many people have heard it as. this Caribbean-Gamican-inspired accent, perhaps. But according to the song's producer and McFerrin's long-time manager, Linda Goldstein, McFerrin actually came up with this accent after watching the film starring Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, and Martin Short, The Three Amigos. No way. That rocks. I get it.

One of my favorite movies ever. Bobby McFerrin saw. this film and was working on his Mexican accent afterwards. And apparently that's what we're hearing on Don't worry, be happy. Wow. It's a pretty bad Mexican accent if I ever heard one. The landlord say your rent is lit. He may have to litigate.

Oof. I agree. You hear that. You're like, wow. That's your idea of a Mexican accent. But I think it speaks to the way that the song was made. This entire track was composed and recorded in about 45 minutes. Wow.

So there was really no time for anyone to tell Bobby McFerrin. That's probably not a good idea. Don't do that. He went in. He said, I have a great idea for my vocals on this song. And they were like, what is it? And he was like, Acapella. And they said, great.

And he said, one more thing, though. It's a strange origin story, but I think that kind of randomness and spontaneity ultimately is what we gravitate towards when we listen to this. It sounds like someone goofing off, someone having fun, someone who's riding the high of just watching the three amigos and bringing that cosmic energy into the studio with him. Yeah, it's definitely wrong and something that is baffling at best and misguided at worst. But on the song, it wouldn't be what it is if he didn't do that. So I guess there's pluses and minuses. So as you can imagine, no one was really thinking, okay, this is going to be a massive hit. This silly a cappella number that we cut in 45 minutes is going to hit number one on the charts.

But once the song got in people's ears, it just went up and up and up. The song received a lot of exposure after it was featured on the soundtrack for the hit Tom Cruise film Cocktail, as well as a music video featuring comedians Bill Irwin and Robin Williams. Eventually, it would earn McFerrin three Grammy Awards, and then the song became so popular that it was used by the presidential candidate George H.W. Bush for his campaign events. And that was because his wife, Barbara Bush, often observed that people have a choice to, quote, be happy when challenged in life. Now, when this particular development occurred, McFerrin actually spoke out about how he felt as a supporter of Democrats about this song being used by the front-running Republican candidate. He went on the Arsenio Hall show in 1989 and talked about his reaction.

I mean, when George Bush get hip to it, you large, baby. That's true, you know, and the problem that I had with George Bush using the song was because he didn't ask me. You know, I wasn't, I thought it was a. I thought it was a. It's a nonpartisan song. And I felt that he was using it pretty much as a political booster. Bobby McFerrin actually demanded that George H.W. Bush stopped using his song at rallies, which might make him the first in a long line of artists who have butted heads with the presidential candidates who used their songs at campaign rallies against their political wishes.

It's nuts to hear his actual voice, because that's the first time I've ever heard Bobby McFerrin speak outside of this track. Very soft-spoken, right? Yeah, no, very, very soft-spoken, contrary to the fake Jamaican-Mexican accent hybrid that were here on the song. I agree. And I think it says a lot about his personality that even when he's dealing with this potentially politically thorny issue using his song at his political rallies, he's still going to be very

polite, very diplomatic. I'll be curious as we learn more about Bobbiard. McFerrin to think about how he exists or really doesn't exist in a musical landscape, which increasingly seems to require like hot takes from people and polarizing opinions. I suspect that he never wanted to be a part of that kind of discourse. Nevertheless, the success of Don't Worry Be Happy made his participation in that discourse inevitable. Because as many fans as the song had, including the Bush family, there were just as many, if not more detractors. Don't worry, be happy after just a year of pop ubiquity had become something of a national punching bag.

Here's the writer Bill Barrel publishing an article in Newsweek with the title, Put on a Happy Face, dot, dot, dot, or else. Here's what he had to say about the track. Quote, whether the song wins or loses at the Grammys, the damage has been done. We have entered a golden age of oversimplified niceness, and the song was its trumpet charge. Damn. This is turning out to be the year of sweetness and light, L-I-T-E. Seems like these people just need to don't worry and be happy.

Well, he's having a hard time doing that. that because he goes on to say, don't worry, be happy, was charming the first time, annoying the hundredth time, infuriating the millionth time around. These are perilous times for those who reserve the right to wrestle with their misery in private. Wow. Is he seen a therapist? I mean, he clearly needs to go listen to some joy division or something and chill out. Yeah. Yeah, for real. But I do need to give some context because when he was writing this in 1989, you would find this song not only on the radio, on the soundtrack to your favorite films, campaign rallies of presidential candidates. You'd also see it on bumper stickers, on t-shirts. When Bobby McFerrin wrote a book, what was its title?

Don't worry, be happy. This Newsweek writer is not the only person complaining of this oversaturation of this positive message. Here's the pioneering hip-hop group, Public Enemy in their track, Fight the Power, referencing the song head-on. Don't worry, be happy was a number one jam, say Flav A Flav and Chuck D. And then, damn, if I say it, you can slap me right here. Later, the song would appear in Blender's 50 worst songs ever, and Village Voice columnist Michael Musto put it at the top of his number.

list of the seven worst songs of all time. This feels like it isn't a problem with Bobby McFerrin himself, but rather a problem with oversaturation, no? I think you're totally right. If you are in the lucky position of having never heard this song before, hit play, and are greeted with the dulcet a cappella tones of don't worry, be happy, I think your reaction is just going to be like, this is so much fun. I love this.

Who could possibly complain about it? but maybe it was hearing that relentless positive message over and over again that was causing people in the late 80s to throw up their hands and say enough. I like, Doug, don't worry, be happy the first 2,000 times. Yeah, I'm hip, man. I'm hip. I know what you're saying. I know what you're saying. Don't worry.

Be happy. Don't worry. Be happy. Don't worry. Don't worry. And it turns out one of those people was Bobby McFerrin himself. He told one magazine, quote, it's an old song for me. I don't want to be stuck there.

And in that same conversation he was having on the Arsenio Hall show, he explained with some more detail why his feelings about the song have changed. I am so tired of the tone that I'm not even going to perform it anymore. Really? Yeah, don't worry about it. Yeah, really. Yeah, because I think, see, artistically, it's like asking Da Vinci to do the Mona Lisa over and over. again. Keep painting it. McFerrin was true to his word. As far as we can tell, he has not performed the song

in its entirety in over 30 years. If you go to Spotify and click on the Bobby McFerrin artist page, you find Don't Worry Be Happy with 280 million plays, and then the next most popular song with only two million. That's a pretty big divergence, which suggests that this is the song that most people associate with him, even though he himself doesn't want much to do with it. This point, I want to take a quick break, and when we come back, let's honor Bobby McFerrin's request. Let's not ask him to keep doing the same song over and over again. Let's get to know the other aspects of this unique artist's career. Attention Spotify. Has arrived at the new Google Jasmine Absolute of Caroline Herrera,

a fragrance intense with character Gourman and addicive. Imagine a jasmine envolvent. caramelized and tonka toasted. A combination that seduce from the first instant and a waya. Good girl Jasmine Absolute, hypnotica, irresistible.

Discoveringla and let you move over her essence. If you think Bobby McFerrin and you only think don't worry, be happy. I have to say that you are missing a lot of

one of the most committed, one of the most artistic, one of the most surprising musicians in American popular music. over the last half century. Bobby McFerrin is so much more than a surprise

acapella hit, panegyric to feeling good. He is an artist who is constantly exploring the limits of what the voice can do. He's someone who's collaborated with greats from jazz and classical. He's someone who merges opera and the Beatles.

He's someone who has conducted symphony orchestras and I feel like we're not going to be able to capture all of that in the time we have remaining but if you'll allow me I'd love to share with you some of my favorite McFerrin moments that will complete the picture of this artist beyond Don't Worry Be Happy. Absolutely. If Don't Worry Be Happy is any indication, he has a wealth of musical knowledge that I'm excited to explore. When we listen to Don't Worry Be Happy, we heard this voice with a huge range. And one of the things that McFerrin has done throughout his career is taken familiar songs and reworked them into these a cappella virtuosic tour de forces. Something he did with the Beatles

Paul McCartney song, Blackbird. Blackbird singing in the dead of night. Like these broken wings are learn to fly For your life You were wholly waiting for this moment to ride Unlike Don't Worry Be happy Bobby McFerrin isn't overdubbing anything He's doing this all live He's alternating quickly between these low bass notes

And these high melody notes He's whistling, he's imitating a bit of bird flying. There's no auto tune. This is happening live. This is a live recording. And when I listen to this, it makes me never want to open my mouth again because why bother when I can't do that? McFerrin's outrageous vocal chops have made him an in-demand collaborator. And some of my favorite projects are his duets that he's done with other brilliant musicians. He's collaborated. He's with Yo-Yo Ma to produce one of the most original interpretations of Johann Sebastian Bach that I've ever encountered. That's beautiful. And he doesn't even have to sing a lyric here to make you feel this

powerful, emotional reaction. Something about the quality of his voice, the power that he brings to the performance, it seems to go beyond words. And I think that's also true of another collaboration, this one with the late, great jazz pianist, Chick-Korea. Here's Bobby and Chick performing Chick's composition, Spain. You know, if I was Bobby McFerrin, I also honestly would be quite fed up with people calling me the don't worry be happy guy, you know? I feel like sometimes one-hit wonders, they bristle, right? They're like, no, like I am not that one song. Sometimes their whole catalog kind of is that one song. But in the case of Bobby McFerrin,

the dude is scatting with some of the greatest people to ever play jazz. And everybody just is like, oh, you know, he's the, he's the a cappella guy with the accent, you know? I think being a one-hit wonder is both a blessing and a burden. It sends you to highs of fame and fortune. And it also constricts you in this way because it makes, makes your entire perception of an artist revolve around one thing that you did in what might potentially be a vast career. And I think you're right. That's definitely the case with Bobby McFerrin.

He's not someone who was ever really looking for pop success, actually. I think his musical mission is one of education. It's one of community. Something that's really unique about him as an artist is the way he approaches music as a group effort. That's something he does on his project Circle Songs, where he brings a group of singers together and they create these vocal acapella compositions on the fly. Here's Circle Song Five. This is not the expected career path going from a number one hit to like, let's make an improvised A cappella group creation together, like, that's your next project? It's very surprising.

But this is part of his musical philosophy. And something you can see at his live performances, one of the things he's most known for is a performance of the hymn Ave Maria, where he has his audiences sing the melody while he does his own vocal accompaniment drawn from Bach. And I've seen McFerrin live, and this is like a goosebumps moment. When you and thousands of other people around you are singing this melody, and he's accompanying you and you're all bringing your voices together, it's kind of this moment. You're like, oh, this is what Bobby McFerrin is all about.

He's about using music as a tool to bring people together. But rather than speak for him, let's let him outline this philosophy in his own words. I like to think that regardless of how you come into the concert hall at the beginning, you know, how you came in, that you'll leave differently. You know, I think that's part of my job description as an artist, is moving people to make important changes in their life. Rihanna, I find myself very moved by that. And it makes me think about how, even though Don't Worry Be Happy,

was this point in. McFerrin's career where it became a song that even he wanted to distance himself from. It became a joke. It became an object of derision. It became the soundtrack for Big Mouth Billy Bass. It became a point of political conflict between presidential candidate George H.W. Bush and him, despite all the baggage that this song has, it's also clearly an important part. of his career and an important part of his musical message because what I'm getting from Bobby McFerrin here is that he wants people to feel good. And ultimately, I think that's the legacy of this one-hit wonder. And it's the musical mission of everything else that Bobby McFerrin has done.

It's clear he puts so much joy and care and intention to everything that he does musically. And when I said before, it's not necessarily his fault the way that the song was construed. If we take the song at face value, context aside, put it in a cultural vacuum, the core message of the song is right there in the lyrics. Don't worry be happy. And me personally, I didn't grow up in the late 80s, early 90s. So I'm seeing the song without the lens of oversaturation of the time. I listen to it and it makes me feel good.

And at the end of the day, that is what the song was intended to do. And that's what Bobby McFerrin is trying to do through his work. People can say that the song is much maligned all they want, but it does its job and reflects Bobby's ethos as an artist. You're right. As much as we might think the song is played out, it can still have a stunning resonance. And I think there's no better example of that than listening to the Ukrainian military band perform their rendition of don't worry, be happy, in anticipation of the Russian offensive in Odessa.

Here are five members of the Ukrainian militia standing in front of a makeshift barricade in a town square in Odessa. Ukrainian flags are flying behind them. They have a euphonium, a trombone, a tuba. It's like the most in Congress kind of moment you can imagine. The sense of danger of threat is palpable in the air. And yet here these musicians are playing this song of carefree insoucients. It's such a testament to the power that this track still holds. holes. As we continue to unravel the stories behind some of the most surprising, weird and

wonderful one-hit wonders of history, I'll be curious if we find more stories like this, if there's more than meets the ear to some of these songs. So, Rihanna, this is just the beginning of our journey. Yeah, let's keep coming back to one-hit wonders from time to time. And in the meantime, I'm just going to remain chill and be happy. Wise words. This episode of Switched-on-Pop is produced by Jake Kassman, edited by Art Chung. Our engineer this week is the brilliant Chris Shirtleff, community management by Abby Barr, and illustrations by Iris Gottlieb. Switch-on-pop executive producers are Nashat Kerwa and Hannah Rosen.

We're a member of the Vox Media Podcast Network and a production of Vulture. You can find more episodes anywhere you get podcasts and check out our website, switchedonpop.com. We're also somewhat active on social media, Instagram and Twitter at Switched on Pop, where we would be very curious to know what one-hit wonders you would like to hear musically broken down for your listening pleasure. Until next week, all that remains is for me to say thank you for listening.