2:23
If You Wanna Be Happy, 1963
Written by Frank Guida and Joseph Royster
This song is a cheery warning shot: any other guys in hearing distance better stay away from the narrator's girl. "Hands off boys, leave her alone / Get another girl because she′s my own." You can get an eyeful, but don't even think of calling her on the phone; stay away from her with that silver tongued patter. Over handclap percussion, Calypso rhythms and schoolyard "ba-pa-pa" background chants, Soul belts out his ode to possessiveness with broad, infectious delight. As with a lot of these lighter, throwaway songs of a more innocent era, sometimes the lines are so corny, they're sweet: "She wears nice clothes, she′s a real good dancer / On top of that she′s a real great romancer." What more could anyone want?
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