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To Be Happy

by Ruth Acuff

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about

🖤 "What do you need to be happy?" is an inquiry I have made of myself a few billion times, and there isn't always a definite answer. This song was inspired by that question. I wanted to capture a serious idea in a way that was not stress-inducing, but instead, calming, peaceful, and reassuring.
 
Around the same time I was writing the song, I attended a harp event at which some of the most highly respected harpists of today performed. As I listened to them play, I was struck by the willingness of so many of the performers to give space to the music, playing each note as a thing of beauty in itself. It seemed to fit so perfectly with the idea that happiness and beauty can be found in a single thought, action, or even stillness. The idea that a string could be plucked, and allowed to ring out until no vibration was left, seemed parallel with a thought floating through my mind, "Do you need anything?".  

🖤I don't often play this song live, because it is meant to be a song of contemplation and introspective meditation. It's a song that begs the world to slow down. I love the excitement and fast-paced parade of life, but I have found these progressions can easily become stressful and chaotic if I have not taken time ground myself. The more I find my inner calm, the more I can enjoy the spontaneity of life.  

This is a song for those heroes who, as Mr. Fred Rogers said, "care about beauty and refuse to bow to fast and loud sensationalism and greed." 

🖤 Musically, the idea behind the production of this track is to start with everything and end with nothing. So the first section of the song is the biggest, fullest part of the song and everything falls out piece by piece from there. 

🖤 This music video (youtu.be/Zi4cSSlKgsw) was filmed through spring, summer, winter, and fall - capturing the beauty of the changing seasons in Missouri. The beginning scene follows a flooded road near the largest Bur Oak tree in the state.

lyrics

What do you need to be happy
What do you need to be happy

Do you need a winding road
Do you need a place to go
Landscapes you have never known

The colors of what you want
A memory, a work of art
Brushstroke, kiss canvas

What do you need to be happy

Do you need a hall for feasting
Do you need a grand event
Friends who cannot stop from asking
How much was spent

The feeling of what is right
A cool breeze through summer night

Do you need a caring soul
Someone there while you grow old
Do you need a song to sing
Do you need anything, anything

credits

released January 1, 2020
Jeff Mueller: Upright Bass, Recording and Mixing 
Greg Spillman: Cello
Morgan Smith Owen: Violin & Viola
Marcella Houghton: French Horn
Tim Pilcher: Field/nature recordings from the 2017 total solar eclipse in Columbia Missouri.
Mary Liebovich and Susan Acuff: Harmony vocals on line 1
Wil Reeves: Mastering

Video by Tiny Attic Productions (www.tinyatticproductions.com)
Chelsea Wright: Cinematography and Production
Josh Wright: Assistant Editor
Becca Sullinger: Art Direction

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Ruth Acuff Columbia, Missouri

Heart, harp, light, dark, balance, equality, passion.

More info at www.ruthacuff.com

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