Happy Ending (song)

"Happy Ending"
Single by Mika
from the album Life in Cartoon Motion
Released	15 October 2007 (UK) 11 January 2008 (Europe)
Format	Digital download, CD, 12" vinyl, 7" vinyl
Recorded	2007
Genre	Pop, orchestral rock
Length	3:32 (LA edit) 4:36 (album version)
Label	Island
Writer(s)	Mika (singer)
Producer(s)	Greg Wells
Mika singles chronology
"Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)" (2007) "Happy Ending" (2007) "Relax, Take It Easy" / "Lollipop" (2007)

"Happy Ending" is the third single release from British singer Mika. Taken from his debut album Life in Cartoon Motion, producer Greg Wells remixed and rearranged the single, released online on 8 October 2007, and in shops on CD and 7" vinyl on 15 October 2007.^[1]

The single charted as Mika's fourth straight UK Top 10 single out of his first four, continuing his UK success so far, peaking at #7 in the UK Singles Chart. It was the fifth most added song to Australian radio in late October 2007^[2] and was released there officially on 12 November 2007, as the 3rd single despite digital track sales placing the song in the ARIA singles chart before the official release.^[3]

On Life in Cartoon Motion, fifty seconds after the song ends, a hidden track, "Over My Shoulder" starts. It is a solemn song about being left alone, cold and drunk. This also appeared on the CD single of "Grace Kelly".

Background and composition

Mika described the story behind the song:

"It's about a few things. In a way, it's a kind of sad break-up song like 'My Interpretation.' But, at the same time, it's about a lot of other things. I'll never forget when I was actually recording this song in Los Angeles, I would take this drive from where I was staying to the studio, which wasn't in the city and the amount of homeless people I saw on the way was absolutely shocking. Those horrible images of homelessness that I would see every morning really connected with that song. So it just comes to show you that a bright song in a certain mindset had a meaning that really evolves and changes as time goes by. I think that it is very important that other listeners find their own meaning to songs. So many people are very openly suggestive to the point of being abstract. It's the most powerful thing when that becomes the song."

The woman singing with Mika in “Happy Ending” on the album is Ida Falk Winland, an opera singer and former classmate of Mika from the Royal College of Music.^[4]

Critical reception

The song received critical acclaim. Christian John Wikane from PopMatters commented about his voice on the track, writing that "Like a choirboy singing by candlelight, Mika awakes goose bumps with the chilling purity of his voice."^[5] Graham Griffith from About.com was succinct, writing that the song is "gorgeous",^[6] while Lizzie Ennever from BBC Music described it as a "lovely, piano-led".^[7]

John Murphy from musicOMH wrote an extense article about the song. He wrote that it "sees a wonderful vocal performance from Mika, sounding eerily like early Michael Jackson at one point, and working extraordinarily well with his backing vocals. It's the sort of song you can imagine playing over the final scene of an 'emotional' drama on TV."^[8]

Music video

The music video starts with a piano playing on its own, then the camera shows Mika on the bed. He is singing and has a pink balloon attached on his arm and while he is floating above, it reveals Mika with a pink suit. His room walls are shown full of pictures that start moving their mouths and singing with Mika. Mika passes through white balloons, which show all the times he felt different emotions. The video ends with Mika singing, and gloved hands resembling singing faces. He smiles as the screen goes black. The music video was directed by AlexandLiane.

Popular culture

The song was featured on The CW show Gossip Girl. It was also used for a contemporary dance performed by Natalli and Vincent on So You Think You Can Dance Canada. The song was featured on The CW show Privileged. The song was also used in the commercial for KB Kookmin Bank. The song can often be heard on The X Factor (UK) during the audition rounds. A Cappella group Noteworthy chose this song as their Swan Song on NBC's The Sing-Off. The instrumental version of the song was featured in the second series of Supersize vs Superskinny. Part of this song was featured in the Axis of Awesome's song, "Four Chords", as an example of a song that uses the I–V–vi–IV progression. This song was also featured in Procter & Gamble's Pantene Shampoo and Conditioner advertisement in 2010. However this song is still used in 2012 in Pantene Asia. It is also used in the season and series finale for another The CW show Hellcats in 2011. The song was used in a 2015 campaign for Si by Giorgio Armani featuring Cate Blanchett.<ref name=Giorgio Armani Si TV Spot, 'Si to Life' Feat. Cate Blanchett, Song by MIKA>"Giorgio Armani Si TV Spot, 'Si to Life' Feat. Cate Blanchett, Song by MIKA". Retrieved 20 December 2015.</ref>

Track listing

UK CD Single

1. "Happy Ending" (LA Edit) – 3:32
2. "Grace Kelly" (Acoustic) – 3:04
3. "Happy Ending" (The Kleerup Mix) – 4:16

Limited Edition 7" Vinyl

1. "Happy Ending" (LA Edit) – 3:32
2. "Love Today" (Acoustic) – 2:57

UK 12" Single

1. "Happy Ending" (Quentin Harris Remix) – 8:32
2. "Happy Ending" (Quentin Harris Instrumental) – 8:14
3. "Happy Ending" (The Time Of The Night Remix) – 5:40
4. "Happy Ending" (Trail Mix) – 4:20

Charts and certifications

Peak positions

Chart (2007)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)[9]	7
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[10]	29
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[11]	11
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[12]	26
Czech Republic (Rádio Top 100)[13]	70
Europe (European Hot 100 Singles)[14]	25
Germany (Official German Charts)[15]	28
Hungary (Single Top 40)[16]	6
Ireland (IRMA)[17]	29
Italy (FIMI)[18]	12
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[19]	10
Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)[20]	1
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[21]	10
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[22]	7

Certifications

Region	Certification
Australia (ARIA)[23]	Gold
Italy (FIMI)[24]	Gold
United Kingdom (BPI)[25]	Silver

References

1. Official website. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
2. "Australian music Network". The Music Network. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
3. Herald Sun HiT. Retrieved on 5 November 2007.
4. http://www.last.fm/music/Mika/_/Happy+Ending
5. Wikane, Christian John (26 March 2007). "Mika: Life in Cartoon Motion < PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
6. "MIKA - Life in Cartoon Motion". About.com. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
7. Ennever, Lizzie (2 February 2007). "BBC - Music - Review of Mika - Life In Cartoon Motion". BBC. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
8. Murphy, John (5 February 2007). "Mika - Life In Cartoon Motion | album reviews | musicOMH". MusicOMH. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
9. "Australian-charts.com – Mika – Happy Ending". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
10. "Austriancharts.at – Mika – Happy Ending" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
11. "Ultratop.be – Mika – Happy Ending" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
12. "Ultratop.be – Mika – Happy Ending" (in French). Ultratop 50.
13. "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 200828 into search.
14. "Mika – Chart history" European Hot 100 for Mika.
15. "Musicline.de – Mika Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH.
16. "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége.
17. "Chart Track: Week 43, 2007". Irish Singles Chart.
18. "Italiancharts.com – Mika – Happy Ending". Top Digital Download.
19. "Nederlandse Top 40 – Mika search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40.
20. "SNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 200811 into search.
21. "Swisscharts.com – Mika – Happy Ending". Swiss Singles Chart.
22. "Archive Chart: 2007-10-27" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved 2011-05-13.
23. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2008 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
24. "Italian album certifications – Mika – Happpy Ending" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 19 December 2014. Select Album e Compilation in the field Sezione. Enter Mika in the field Filtra. The certification will load automatically
25. "British album certifications – Mika – Happpy Ending". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 19 December 2014. Enter Happpy Ending in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Silver in the field By Award. Click Search

External links

• Mika's official website
• Music video