Uniting the World and Cultures in song- HAPPY by Pharrell Williams

Pharrell Williams' song HAPPY 

and the world-wide phenomenon

Happy from Bordeaux, France

Have you ever had something you wanted to express but didn't know where to start?  Or you wanted to write something down, but didn't know how to capture it?  How do you share a feeling, intuition or an emotion and then describe it in written words?

That's the way I feel this morning, I'm very moved by a phenomenon that I see happening on-line, on the internet and in this world-in general.  It's happening through music, through a song that seems to be taking the world by storm. It's one of the songs from the popular movie of last summer, Despicable Me. It's call "Happy" by Pharrel Williams. This catchy, upbeat, fun song is presently on top of the music charts world-wide and is even taking on a life of it's own.

People all of the world are enjoying it's words, catchy melodies and rhythm and it's truly creating Happiness world-wide.  Why do I say this?  Well if you follow my facebook page or Google+ link, you may have seen the video above that I shared a few weeks ago- "HAPPY from Bordeaux "- my current city.  This 4 minute clip shows people all over Bordeaux lip syncing and dancing to the song.  It's upbeat, fun and, in addition, gives the viewer a great sense of the city of Bordeaux and the Bordelaise people.

When I first saw this,  I thought "Wow" - what a great idea.  What a great way to show off this incredible city - not only the city itself but it's people.  I felt it showed how most people I know feel about this area.  A true reflection and one couldn't help but fall in love, all over again, with Bordeaux after listening and watching this video.  There is just something about this song - you listen to it and instantly, you feel lighter, freer and of course happier!  It's also a song that's very difficult to get out of you head - one can find themselves bopping and jiving to the beat.  But really is this such a bad thing?

So this morning as I was having my cup of coffee, my husband was listening to a video on TV that  was sharing that this concept is happening worldwide - People from cities all over the world are putting together videos about their cities to this song!  It's a spontaneous world-wide effort and it seems to be changing the morale of people.  This song is perfect - HAPPY - isn't it what everyone should be?  Put aside conflicts, put aside strife and just be and live life!

For about 45 minutes this morning, my husband and I scanned YouTube to find these videos - and since the beginning of 2014 there are many from all over.  We clicked on London, Paris, cities in Morocco, we enjoyed seeing Rome.  I was just amazed at the common thread of a single song and watching people from many different cultures dance and move to the same beat.  What a beautiful way to show how we are all different but also similar.  It was hard not to be moved by the whole phenomenon.

It's also a great way to show kids the world through a medium that they know well - popular music.  To see Beijing, to view Sydney, see people in Moscow all dancing and uniting through music.  You can get the feel of each country, city and the people just by watching these.  They are all truly moving in their own way.  Each are spontaneously done by different groups of people in various cities.  Each showing being "Happy" in their cities.  Below are a few of my favorites.

Happy from Moscow

Happy from Budapest

Happy from Marrakesh

Happy from Jamaica

One of the most moving videos is from the city of Kiev, where they filmed the video among the camps and barriers, as the people are the fighting for Ukraine to be free.

Happy from Kiev

I have put together a playlist including videos from all over the world to just give a sampling of all the cities that have joined this movement.  My family and I are enjoying the sights of these great cities and also learning about so many other cities that we were not as familiar with. People from all kinds of cities, small, medium, large - it doesn't matter - it just takes a group willing to produce one.  Such great lessons in this multi-cultural world.

If you are a reader and your city has a video and it was not included, feel free to email me and I'll add it to the playlist.  It would be fun to see this list grow so a true world-wide variety is accessible.  

I hope I was able to convey how special this movement feels to me and it's one I'll love to see keep growing - when we, as people, are more focused on happiness - the whole world becomes a better place.