It Was Happiness

Song Meaning

The lyrics paint a vivid picture of a past love, a time defined by intense shared experience and profound happiness. The narrator recalls following the stars, a metaphor for an unguided, passionate journey taken together. This era felt like a story unfolding, with moments like being caught in the rain in Paris and feeling "everything," or experiencing pure joy on a "crowded street in London." The central tension arises from the inevitable passage of time and the fading of this idyllic past. The narrator acknowledges that "the best times are over," and the present is marked by a longing for what was. This is underscored by the contrast between the vibrant memories and the current state, where photographs "hold me" and the narrator drinks "to the past." The beautiful image of the lover's soul as a "wide and deep blue sea" where the narrator could "drown, and you'd rescue me" highlights the depth of connection and security felt then. The repeated refrain of "It was happiness-so clear-happiness" acts as an anchor, emphasizing the clarity and purity of those feelings. The addition of "no tears" in subsequent repetitions further solidifies the idea of an unblemished, perfect past. This deliberate repetition, especially the insistent "happiness-so clear-happiness," feels like an attempt to conjure the feeling back, to hold onto its essence against the encroaching reality of time and loss. The narrator's declaration, "I lived my life like a story," is tinged with regret, "Too bad there's an ending." Ultimately, the lyrics resonate because they capture the bittersweet ache of remembering profound happiness that can never be fully recaptured. The craft lies in the specific, sensory details – Paris rain, London crowds, Carmel sun – that ground the abstract concept of happiness in tangible moments. The narrator's direct address to the memory, and the insistent, almost desperate repetition of the word "happiness," makes the longing palpable, transforming a simple recollection into an elegy for a lost, perfect time.