I Hope You're Happy Now (Elvis Costello song) explained

I Hope You're Happy Now
Border:yes
Artist:Elvis Costello and the Attractions
Album:Blood & Chocolate
Released:15 September 1986
Recorded:March–May 1986
Length:3:07
Label:Demon
Producer:
    I Hope You're Happy Now
    Cover:I_Hope_You're_Happy_Now_-_Elvis_Costello.png
    Type:single
    Artist:Elvis Costello and the Attractions
    A-Side:"I Want You"
    Length:3:03
    Label:Imp Records
    Producer:
      Prev Title:Tokyo Storm Warning
      Prev Year:1986
      I Want You
      Title2:I Hope You're Happy Now
      Next Title:Blue Chair
      Next Year:1987

      "I Hope You're Happy Now" is a song written by new wave musician Elvis Costello, recorded by Costello and the Attractions. The track was released on his 1986 album Blood & Chocolate after several failed attempts to record the song for earlier releases.

      Featuring sardonic lyrics about a former relationship, "I Hope You're Happy Now" as the B-side to "I Want You" in November 1986. It has since been positively received by critics and appeared on compilation albums and in Costello's live setlists.

      Background

      According to Elvis Costello, the final version of "I Hope You're Happy Now" was recorded after "three different attempts" to get the song right.[1] Costello and the Attractions attempted to record the song after Goodbye Cruel World with Nick Lowe, who had not produced a Costello album since Trust, but these recordings were shelved. An early version of the song was performed by Costello and the Attractions on the Tonight Show in 1984.[2] The song was later attempted again during the King of America sessions; early versions of the song have since been released on expanded versions of both Goodbye Cruel World and King of America.[3] He recalled,

      The version released on Blood and Chocolate was, according to Costello, ultimately "recorded live in the big, old studio at Olympic (before it was vandalized)". Costello noted that, during the sessions, "We also finally got a take on 'I Hope You're Happy Now' that had a little more humour to it than its originally murderous intent. It almost sounded like pop music".[4] Stylistically, "I Hope You're Happy Now" has been dubbed a "garage rock" effort.[5]

      Ed Masley of The Arizona Republic described the song as one where Costello "ridicules [the girl who broke his heart] with 'He's got all the things you need and some that you will never/But you make him sound like frozen food/His love will last forever'."[6] Costello said of the song's lyrics, "In the long run I'm happier to live with it being humorous, rather than murderous".

      Release and reception

      "I Hope You're Happy Now" was first released as the second track on Blood & Chocolate. An acoustic version of the song was released as the B-side to "I Want You" in November 1986, but no version of the track was ever released on a single of its own. Writer Graeme Thomson said of this choice, "With pop songs of the calibre of 'Blue Chair' and 'I Hope You're Happy Now' at his disposal, to release the doggedly uncommercial 'I Want You' and 'Tokyo Storm Warning'—both over six minutes long— as the first two UK singles was a willfully perverse move". The song has also been released on the compilation albums Girls Girls Girls and The Very Best of Elvis Costello.

      "I Hope You're Happy Now" has seen critical acclaim since its release. Ryan J. Prado of Paste Magazine ranked it Costello's 17th best song, called it "a song so instantly gratifying and anthemic I'm surprised it's impossible to put it at #1 on this list".[7] He continued, "Costello's ability to talk shit about people with eloquence is second to none, and put into striking, reverential spotlight here". Stewart Mason of AllMusic said of the song, "Unlike the more studied attempts at recreating the old Attractions sound on 1994's Brutal Youth, this works perfectly, both as a nostalgia trip and as a song".[8] Bryan Wawzenek of Diffuser.fm praised the song's "Beatle-esque beat", while Chris Mautner of The Patriot-News described it as his "favorite song".[9] [10]

      Live history

      Since its release, "I Hope You're Happy Now" has appeared frequently in Costello's live setlists. A version of the song appears on the Costello live album The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook. Costello continues to perform the song in his later career, playing it during his "Just Trust" tour in 2019.

      References

      Citations

      Sources

      Notes and References

      1. Book: Costello . Elvis . Girls Girls Girls [CD booklet] . Brentford: Demon Records.
      2. Web site: Ratcliff . Connor . For some unknown reason, Costello & The Attractions played this song on The Tonight Show two years earlier, when it wasn't on the album they were promoting . Twitter . 19 November 2019.
      3. Web site: Ratcliff . Connor . Then there's this Confederates version from the King Of America sessions (supposedly "accidentally" released on a UK Singles box set in 2003) which is pretty damn good! It's a much gentler take on the song before it snaps back to being loud & fast for its perfect version on B&C . Twitter . 19 November 2019.
      4. Blood & Chocolate. Blood & Chocolate. Elvis Costello. 1995. Liner notes.
      5. Book: Robert Dimery. Michael Lydon. 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. 7 February 2006. Universe. 0-7893-1371-5.
      6. Web site: Masley . Ed . Essential Elvis Costello: 20 best albums . The Arizona Republic . 19 November 2019.
      7. Web site: Prado . Ryan J. . The 20 Best Songs By Elvis Costello . 23 May 2014 . Paste Magazine . 19 November 2019 . 28 February 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190228130315/https://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/lists/2014/05/the-20-best-songs-by-elvis-costello.html . dead .
      8. Web site: Mason . Stewart . I Hope You're Happy Now . AllMusic . 19 November 2019.
      9. Web site: Wawzenek . Bryan . 30 Years Ago: Elvis Costello Devours 'Blood & Chocolate' . Diffuser.fm . 15 September 2016 . 19 November 2019.
      10. Web site: Mautner . Chris . Elvis Costello at Hershey Theatre: 10 takeaways from Thursday's high-energy concert . pennlive.com . 25 October 2019 . The Patriot-News . 31 October 2019.