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Matthew West, Matthew West Happy

Details

Title: Happy
Release date: 13 January, 2004
Record label: Universal South
Single:
Official website: Matthew West
Wikipedia: Matthew West

Tracklisting

1 More
2 Happy
3 The Turnaround
4 I Can't Hear You
5 You Know Where To Find Me
6 The End
7 Out Of My Hands
8 The Lie
9 Every Second
10 My Finest Hour
11 Curtain

Matthew West: Happy - Happy

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Matthew West was raised in a suburb of Chicago, IL, where he discovered music at an early age. The son of a minister, he grew up in the front pew listening to his mom harmonize and following her lead. By the time he reached high school, Matthew remained involved in music, but was more interested in sports, hoping to one day play baseball in college. Well, he never did get the call from the big leagues, but instead received a scholarship to study music at Millikin University in Illinois.

It was during his first year of college, that Matthew began playing guitar and writing songs. Soon, his new songs began catching the ears of other students, and Matthew found himself playing concerts all over. By Matthew's senior year, he was playing at every venue imaginable, from Fraternity houses to coffee houses.

Along with his growing career as a writer, Matthew continued pursuing his dream of singing his own songs. In his first three years out of college, he found himself right back on campus, well actually about 250 campuses. Matthew had the opportunity to travel to universities across the country and quickly began building up a steady following. While Matthew was still in college, he caught the attention of Word Music Publishing. They helped in his development, and he signed an exclusive songwriting deal only a week after graduating and making the move to Nashville. He began
developing his songwriting ability by writing songs for other artists, and in his first three years enjoyed some good success. With the help of Word Music and Extreme Writers Group, Matthew recorded an independent CD called, "Sellout," which caught the attention of Universal South Records.

Matthew will soon become a house hold name. Kids will dig his tunes, wives will think he's cute, husbands will find him to be a nice young man, dogs will bark his name, maids will sing his songs in Spanish, record execs. will try to create the next Matthew, U2 will want to open for him on tour, TRL will bump Britney for him, the Swedish Bikini team will fall in love with him. But through all of this, Matthew will go unchanged, unphased.

TRACK BY TRACK

More
4 year-old Jace never wants to go to bed when it?s time. So, he tries to stall. He runs into his dad?s arms and says, "Dad, I love you more than ice cream!" His dad smiles and replies, "Well, I love you more than pizza." Jace fires back quickly, "Dad, I love you more than Buzz Light Year!" The game goes on until Jace finally loses the battle and has to go to bed. One day I was over at my little friend?s house, and saw a picture on the refrigerator that Jace?s sister had drawn for
her dad. It was a picture of a bright yellow sun, and these words were written across the page, "I love you more than the sun." That inspired me.

Happy
"Happy" isn?t about a fake expression of emotion. It?s not about smiling when you?d rather cry.
It?s about being real; real with the struggles of life, and real with the joy. It?s about finding peace in the middle of the chaos. "Happy" is about realizing we are not the ones in control of our destiny. It?s about taking a deep breath and remembering that the One who made this world and everything in it, is the same one who knows what our tomorrow will bring. And that?s a thought that makes me Happy.

The Turnaround
Every morning I wake up and stand at the edge of the world. I remember the mistakes I made yesterday, and I?m afraid I?ll make the same ones today. I am weak, and the world is at my feet, just waiting to trip me up again. "The Turnaround" is about the struggle, from one extreme to the next. Musically, I wanted the song to have that same struggle that the lyric talks about; from a whisper to a scream.

I Can't Hear You
I wrote these lyrics with this image in my mind. I had this picture of a huge crowd at a concert, jumping up and down. I pictured people climbing up on the shoulders of the ones next to them and crowd surfing. Then I saw this one guy who looked a lot like me make the same attempt. I watched him climb up, and as he reached the top, the crowd stopped and looked up at him as if to say "who are you"? Then, instead of carrying him on their shoulders above the ground, the crowd took one step back and let him fall to the ground, right back where he started. The song is about being let down by the world, and getting back up again.

You Know Where To Find Me
I was inspired to write this song one night when I got a call about someone who is really close to me. My friend was battling with drugs and losing, and he didn?t want to hear anything I had to say. I felt helpless. I?m used to fixing things, and this time nothing I could say or do was making a difference. This is what I ended up saying to my friend.

The End
True story?so, I was fast asleep in my little two bedroom duplex in Nashville, when my alarm clock
started ringing. I looked outside, saw that it was raining, and went right back to bed. Then, as I was drifting my way back to sleep, I felt something wet dripping down from the ceiling. I looked up, and sure enough, there was a leak in the ceiling, and rain was pouring on my head. The funny thing is, my ceiling fan was on high, so as the rain leaked through the ceiling, it hit the fan, and before I knew it, I was underneath a giant sprinkler! I got out of bed, picked up the guitar and started singing, "it was raining when I woke up this morning?" My buddy Sammy put the groove to this song. He always does that.

Out Of My Hands
"Out of My Hands" is inspired by the unexpected turns that life can take. My life took one of those turns right before I signed my record deal. I suffered an injury to my arm that landed me in the hospital, and without the use of my left hand for several months. Suddenly, my future was out of my control, and I began to realize that it never really was. Through my experience, the inspiration for this song and for a lot of this whole record was found. It?s scary to think that I?m not in control of this life, and I was scared. But I found my faith stronger than ever before, and I found peace in the middle of uncertainty.

The Lie
Another song inspired by my friend and his struggle with drugs. The lie will come to you in different ways. First it will find you at your weakest, and convince you to compromise. Then, when it trips you up, it will come to you again. It will tell you that you?ve screwed up too many times to find grace. That?s the biggest lie of all.

Every Second
This is a song about that moment in life when you know you will never be the same. It?s about looking back to the past just long enough to say goodbye, and being glad you never have to go back. This is a song about finding that one who makes you want to be a better person. This is a song about the power of a moment, and the freedom of a new beginning. This is a song about Emily.

My Finest Hour
I used to write songs about my life in retrospect. I would wait to write about a hard time until I was on the other side and looking back. I guess it?s always easier when you?re on the outside and looking in, but it?s not enough. This song was the beginning of a breakthrough for me. I forced myself to write in the moment, my weakest moment. And it was there that I found clarity. It?s in our weakest moments that we find out who we are, and what we are made of. Our weakest moments reveal what?s truly important and what will fade. Our weakest moments strip us down to
nothing, nothing but a heart and a soul. Our weakest moments help us find true faith. Our weakest moments make us stronger.

Curtain
My friend, Rodney came to me with this idea about a curtain, and I was inspired. The song was
written in about an hour, and the words just sort of spilled out. While we were writing this song, I was reminded of how temporary this life is, and how much freedom there is to look forward to. I wanted this song to soar, and I hope it does. I think it is a fitting end to the record, because the message of "Curtain" is that it?s not the end!

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