I was an instant fan when I first heard Sheryl Crow. During the nineties, there were many pop-oriented females that I listened to (Sarah Mclaughlin is one)…and ones that I didn’t at all (her last name rhymes with “tears” “beers” “fears”) but Sheryl was different. She was more in the rock and roll genre. I saw her open up for the Rolling Stones at Vanderbilt’s Stadium and she sounded great.
I have always liked her lyrics…she has fun with them and always kept them interesting. I’ll be posting more Sheryl songs this weekend.
This song peaked at #10 on the Billboard 100, #9 in the UK, #1 in Canada, and #12 in New Zealand in 1997.
It was on her self titled second studio album.
From Songfacts
This song describes a person who seems depressed or upset no matter what happens. According to Crow, the inspiration for the song was her feelings after the massive success of her first album, as her record label and the media put pressure on her to follow it up.
This won the Grammy award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.
On her VH1 Storytellers appearance in 1998, Sheryl Crow said this was initially a country song, but she turned it into a rock song so she could get more exposure.
The Australian lensman Keir McFarlane directed the video, which portrays Crow as an angry museum exhibit (10 years before the movie Night at the Museum). McFarlane also did the video for Tom Petty’s “Mary Jane’s Last Dance.”
In 2011 Crow teamed up with chef Chuck White to write a cookbook called If It Makes You Healthy.
Crow was a huge fan of Tom Petty and said that this song was in some ways inspired by the way he played.
If It Makes You Happy
I belong, a long way from here
I put on a poncho and played for mosquitoes
And drank ’till I was thirsty again
We went searching, through thrift store jungles
Found Geronimo’s rifle, Marilyn’s shampoo
And Benny Goodman’s cursive pen
Well, okay, I made this up
I promise you I’d never give up
If it makes you happy
It can’t be that bad
If it makes you happy
Then why the hell are you so sad?
Get down, real low down
You listen to Coltrane, derail your own train
Well, who hasn’t been there before?
I come ’round, around the hard way
Bring you comics in bed
Scrape the mold off the bread
And serve you french toast again
Okay, I still get stoned
I’m not the kind of girl you’d take home
If it makes you happy
It can’t be that bad
If it makes you happy
Then why the hell are you so sad?
If it makes you happy
It can’t be that bad
If it makes you happy
Then why the hell are you so sad?
We’ve been far, far away from here
I put on a poncho and played for mosquitoes
And everywhere in between
Well, okay, we get along
So what if right now, everything’s wrong?
If it makes you happy
It can’t be that bad
If it makes you happy
Then why the hell are you so sad?
If it makes you happy
It can’t be that bad
If it makes you happy
Then why the hell are you so sad?
My female pop singing idol in middle school. Such a voice (such a crush).
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I’m with you on the crush part.
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I had forgotten about this song. I like it’s rhythm and groove. Good song. She wrote that Bob Dylan once said to her, “you record a song and then spend the rest of your life trying to find the perfect version of it”. Unless I’m mistaken, she’s covered a few of his songs.
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She has covered some of Dylan’s songs. She just continued for a few years coming out with these amazing songs…all catchy but not overly so.
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Sheryl’s definitely an artist I’d like to hear more of. She’s very ‘cool’.
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LOVE this song! Interesting little guitar break. Great rhythm as mentioned.
Lyrically this song reminds me of Strawberry Fields Forever or Hey Jude. It’s abstract, but you get the message anyway.
“No one I think is in my tree”,
“The movement you need is on your shoulder”, etc.
In my mind, it’s about doing what you want and being ok with it. My two cents.
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I agree with the meaning you gave.
Her lyrics are just really cool. That is what got me into her with All I Wanna Do…not your June moon rhyming scheme.
The guitar breaks and some of her intros…like My Favorite Mistake are just cool.
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I enjoyed rehearing this – and particularly liked the “eccentricity” of the video!
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Yeah, Sheryl Crow is very cool. I love the way she just belts out the chorus, the way she pushes her voice to the brink. She’s a very good all around musician. In fact she taught music before she decided to go into the biz.
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I didn’t know she taught… she was a backup singer for the Jacksons on one tour I think.
Her lyrics I love…her whole persona.
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Me too.
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like Sting and Bryan Ferry, she had a brief career in school teaching before music. How’d you like to be a 13 year old and have Ms Crow as your teacher?
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I’m sure she was a very good teacher.
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I always liked her songs that had a grungy edge (like this one). Also, fun description of the Pop Star Who Shall Not Be Named.
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Thank you for not naming! I would hate someone to google that name in the future and my post comes up.
I think Sheryl would have worked in many different eras.
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This has a pleasant enough melody. One of her more memorable songs but not that outstanding for me all the same. I hear a kind of Aerosmith-country rock like style in this.
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I can see a little country…maybe I’m missing the Aerosmith because I don’t want to hear it.
My attraction to her music is the different lyrics.
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I also presented a song (“Run Baby Run”) by Sheryl Crow this spring. Unfortunately, she has become primarily known as the singer of the dumb radio hit “All I Wanna Do”. In fact, she is much more than just a pretty singer with nice songs. But to find out you have to hear the first albums. The later albums of her, however, no longer reach the emotional depth of the former things for me. Nevertheless, a great woman!
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Her first 3-4 are what I’m most familiar with…right around the time of Steve McQueen.
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One of my favorite artists to appear in the 90s. Love this song and most of her singles. Never thought of the comparison to Tom Petty but she is a bit like a female version of him musically, which ain’t bad!
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Yea me also. I love the lyrics she has because they are different…she also has a great voice of course.
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pretty reasonable guitarist as well.
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New Zealand’s Neil Finn sings some backing vocals on this album, but I’m not sure if he’s on this song.
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Great singer and a great album. Her lyrics are very good. To have Bob comment to her at all about her songs is an honor. She and Melissa Etheridge are both great musicians, singers, and songwriters.
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Yes they are…She was a breath of fresh air when I heard her.
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Slow build with a big chorus pay off. Great track
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