Pharrell Williams Song ‘Happy’ Covered By Russia’s Red Army Choir
The Independent is reporting this morning of a bizarre turn of events, with the Russian Red Army Choir posting a cover of the Pharrell Williams song “Happy” on video sharing site YouTube.
The bizarre video of Williams “Happy,” uploaded to YouTube three days ago, shows the famous Russian choir in full decorated uniforms letting loose to one of 2014’s most popular songs – already covered around the world.
The Telegraph explains that the Red Army Choir is an official ensemble of the Minister of the Interior of the Russian Federation, and was first formed in Stalinist Russia in 1939 to glorify the revolutionary ideal and lift the morale of the exhausted troops during World War II.
The choir has since developed a proud tradition of stirring cover versions of popular songs. In the past they have covered Men at Work’s “Land Down Under,” Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky,” and Adele’s “Skyfall.”
Last year, the choir opened the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.
While not appearing to be the most appropriate song, “Happy” fits with the choir’s original task, which was to lift the moral of exhausted troops. Their version of Pharrell’s tune appears to include dancing police officers and traffic wardens.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGFrvzKecq0
The original Pharrell Williams version of “Happy” has had more than 535 million views on YouTube, and it tops the UK billboard chart as the most streamed song of all time.
The Telegraph says “Happy” is one of the pop anthems of the year, as it crossed cultures and borders. Williams’ tears on the Oprah show were his response to being shown a clip of homemade videos of fans from all over the world dancing and lip-synching to his song.
Pharrell’s unique talent of producer, songwriter, musician, rapper, and singer has put him in the spotlight of the music industry, but his open and sunny disposition, together with his personal style, recently characterized by a bucket of a Vivienne Westwood hat and some sparkling sneakers, has gained him huge popularity.
Pharrell Williams won two of the big prizes at the inaugural BBC Music Awards last month, when he was named as the Best International Artist of the Year, seeing off rivals Prince, Taylor Swift, Dolly Parton, Lorde, and Gregory Porter.
Williams also won Song of the Year for his hugely popular “Happy.”
“Happy” has been covered around the globe since its release in January of last year; it has spawned over 1950 cover versions in 152 countries. It is unclear what Pharrell Williams will make of this cover, but the success of the song must surely have made him extremely “Happy.”
[Image – Wikipedia]
