“Happier” by Synthetic Division (2019)

Written by Shawn Decker

Mixed by Alan Siegler

Additional synths by Alan Siegler

Find the song on Instagram, iTunes, Spotify and YouTube

I just want to be hap-hap-hap

happier

I’ve got the major bases covered

I’ve got a roof over my head

I’m sorry if you’re going to bed lonely

that’s not the case- at least not for me

I know I should be happy

I’m liked and loved and everything in between

I’m not so bad beneath the sheets

my family’s had my back since day one

the doctor says I’m doing good

I know I should be happy

I know I should be happy

I don’t need to be the happiest around

I just want to be hap-hap-hap

happier

the wind is blowing at my back

the wind is blowing at your back

the wind is blowing at our backs

the wind keeps blowing at our backs

the wind keeps blowing at my back

the wind keeps blowing at your back

we’ll have to adjust to get by

we’ll have to adjust

I know I should

I know I should

I don’t need to be the happiest around

I just want to be hap-hap-hap

happier

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I’m releasing a new digital single every month, moving away from the old model of releasing a bunch of songs together as an album or EP. Creatively, it’s just a much better model for me and frankly, it’s where people seem to be these days as listeners. I know if my favorite musicians committed to one new song a month, I’d be jazzed about it. 

I have several songs ready for release, but I chose “Happier” as the first release for a couple of reasons. It’s the most personal, for starters. Over the last few years I’ve taken my mental health more seriously. Depression runs in my family. I’ve been dealing with it for as long as I remember, acknowledging the earliest days of my diagnosis and how some of the habits I developed in regard to coping with depression followed me and evolved into adulthood.

Today, I’m in such a great place where my mental health is concerned. I acknowledge my moods in real time, which gives me more power. Sometimes there are tangible reasons for a mood swing- you can pinpoint it to an email, a jogged memory or even a song. Other times, it’s not so easy. One of the problems I’ve had in the past or those times, when you can’t find the culprit. Of course, sometimes it’s not obvious, or there isn’t a tangible reason. That’s when the blues can linger on a manageable level that far extends any reasonable length of stay.

Knowing the difference between what causes a mood swing and just a random feeling of melancholy can dramatically reduce the amount of emotional down time. “Happier” is an acknowledgement of the latter in song, and it’s not a song I could have written four years ago. I just didn’t have the tools to do so, as a human first and, secondly, as a songwriter.

So here’s to getting hap-hap-happier. And also to cutting yourselves a little slack from time to time. And also for giving the tune a listen. I’ll be back next month with another song and another story.

Positively Yours,

Shawn