Released on 29th August 2017 through Fueled by Ramen as the third single from 'After Laughter', 'Fake Happy' finds Paramore confronting the performance of wellness head-on. Hayley Williams adopts the voice of someone maintaining a facade, the title self-explanatory in its directness. The track sits at the heart of an album comfortable with not being comfortable, where tropical brightness in the music masks lyrics trapped under the weight of the real world.
Williams draws the lipstick wider than her mouth, mascara tears visible if the lights come up. The chorus hinges on a bitter wager: 'I bet everybody here is fake happy too'. A Dork five-star record, 'After Laughter' finds power in vulnerable honesty rather than brave faces, the song's confession universal in its reach.
The production keeps things bright whilst the sentiment crawls back underneath. There's no closure offered, just the immediate truth of still standing when the world expects you to have it figured out by now.
"Fake Happy" is a single by Paramore, from the album After Laughter, released 11th May 2017. The track is 3:56 long. It's filed under Alternative. Full lyrics are available below. Dork has published 20 articles about Paramore.