Marshmello & Bastille’s “Happier” Song Review

Hello, I’m MusiCommentator, and as I check the stats of my site everyday, I notice a lot of the times that one of my posts will occasionally blow up, gaining more views than I expected.  My reviews of Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect“, French Montana’s “Unforgettable“, and Drake’s “God’s Plan” have all garnered hundreds, and even thousands of views.  I’m not saying this to brag or anything, because the numbers I make on an average post are measly compared to many other bloggers.  But, I am saying this because one of my posts that is blowing up right now is my review of Marshmello and Anne-Marie’s hit single “FRIENDS“.

Now, if you read that review, you know that I did not give the song a very favorable score.  I think this is unfair, though, because I actually like Marshmello a lot.  His songs “Spotlight” and “Danger” are awesome rap tracks, and he actually made Selena Gomez sound good on “Wolves”.  I feel like “FRIENDS” was just a bad portrayal of his talents.  So, when I heard he made a new single with Bastille, I decided I’d have to review it to give him another shot.

If you follow pop, you probably already know who Marshmello is.  To give a recap, Marshmello is 2018’s biggest EDM producer, and while I don’t see him having much staying-power in the mainstream, I think much of the work he does is exemplary, like on the singles mentioned above.  The artist people are probably less familiar with, though, are Bastille.  Their most recognizable song is “Pompeii”, and it’s one of their best tracks in my opinion.  But, they have more than just that song.  Their album “Bad Blood” is a great piece of work, showcasing their electronic-rock style perfectly.  Many of the songs on there are ones I return to today, such as “Pompeii”, “Laughter Lines”, “Icarus”, and the title track.  Their second album, “Wild World”, was a little dip in quality, as they seemed to be going more mainstream, but not in a way that suited their style.  Since then, though, they’ve released two great singles: “World Gone Mad” (off the underrated “Bright” soundtrack) and “Quarter Past Midnight” (which is a good return-to-form).  Obviously, I was excited to see that these two stellar artists collaborated on one song, and I decided to share my thoughts on “Happier”

“Lately, I’ve been, I’ve been thinking
I want you to be happier, I want you to be happier”

The song doesn’t hesitate a second to get right into the lyrics, and this sets a good foundation for the song.  This ends up being the post-chorus, but the phrase itself is pretty vague without context, roping you into the song and getting more of your attention to listen to what it is about.

“When the morning comes
When we see what we’ve become
In the cold light of day we’re a flame in the wind
Not the fire that we’ve begun
Every argument, every word we can’t take back
‘Cause with all that has happened
I think that we both know the way that the story ends”

The first verse, then, kind of shifts gears and gives some exposition.  We can assume as the listener that Dan Smith (the singer for Bastille) is describing a breaking relationship.  This is talked about many, many times in songs, but the descriptive language used here sets it apart from other tracks.  Metaphors in this song like “in the cold light of day we’re a flame in the wind” make it feel almost poetic.

“Then only for a minute
I want to change my mind
‘Cause this just don’t feel right to me
I want to raise your spirits
I want to see you smile but
Know that means I’ll have to leave”

Moving into the pre-chorus and building up to the drop, we see the conflict Dan Smith faces.  He doesn’t want to face the inevitable and have to break up with his partner, but his bigger concern is making her happy, so he knows he has to leave.  For a dance-pop song, this is a pretty mature message to have.  Yeah, lots of other songs have had messages a lot more mature, but looking at Marshmello’s other collaborations, which range from putting a guy in the friendzone (“FRIENDS”) to bragging about your fame and work ethic (“Everyday”), this is one of Marshmello’s most mature messages.

At this point, the beat drop happens, and it sounds a little gimmicky, and it doesn’t change throughout the rest of the song, but it’s pretty good.  When Dan’s vocals are mixed within it, it sounds even better, and by the end of it, the intro part makes a lot more sense.

“When the evening falls
And I’m left there with my thoughts
And the image of you being with someone else
Well, it’s eating me up inside
But we ran our course, we pretended we’re okay
Now if we jump together at least we can swing
Far away from the wreck we made”

Going into the second verse, Dan elaborates on why the relationship is failing as he talks about their time apart and apparent adultery.  Nothing really more to say on it, but it does exactly what it needs to do, so I can’t condemn it for anything.

“So I’ll go, I’ll go
I will go, go, go
So I’ll go, I’ll go
I will go, go, go”

Just reading the lyrics, this sounds repetitive, but the way Dan Smith sings it and the way the instrumental works under it, this bridge doesn’t get old.  I think that’s pretty impressive.

Overall, this is a phenomenal track.  No, it’s more than that.  Sure, it might be a stereotypical dance anthem, but it went beyond the call of duty of what it had to be.  It had deep lyrics for a club song, the singing was excellent, and the production on here is quite magnificent.  There are little parts that are easy to miss, like the guitar refrain before the beat drop, but it just makes the track so much better.  Before writing this review, I wanted to give this track something like a 4, but I feel like I have to raise it now.  Like my “Pray For Me” review, I might regret giving this track this high of a score, but I’m going to give this song a 5 out of 5.  Do you agree?

Thank you for reading my “Happier” song review. If you liked this review, make sure to follow my website, Twitter, and Instagram, like this post, and be sure to check in to read my future reviews. Also, if you have something you want to see me review, tell me in the comments. Until then, keep on listening to good music! I know I will.