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February 22, 2019
Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you awesome songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the lyrics or title. In 1999’s “Happy Together,” Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle of the Swedish pop band Roxette tell the story of a young man whose fear of commitment derails his chance for a lifetime of happiness with the love of his life, the “prettiest jewel.”
They sing, “She carried his ring / Since she left school / He knew she was precious / The prettiest jewel / She wanted a baby / But he wasn’t sure / He couldn’t make up his mind anymore.”
In the song, we learn that the couple has been together since high school and she’s looking to tie the knot. Although he loves her, the young man is frozen in fear. His noncommittal attitude leads her to break off the relationship and move on with her life, while he’s left to wonder what could have been.
Deep inside, he knows they would have been so happy together. They could have run the earth, the stars, the sun.
Penned by Gessle, “Happy Together” was released as the “B” side to “Wish I Could Fly,” a song that charted in 23 countries.
According to Roxette’s official website, Fredriksson and Gessle, both 60, came out of Halmstad, Sweden, in the late 1980s with the dream of conquering the pop-music world. With 33 chart-busting singles and total record sales exceeding 75 million, they were well on their way to accomplishing their mission.
In 2002, Roxette was forced to go on a long hiatus while Fredriksson recovered from a life-threatening brain tumor operation. The band staged a successful comeback in 2009 and celebrated three decades on the airwaves with a world tour in 2016.
The 30th Anniversary Tour was cut short, however, when the rigors of being on the road became too demanding for Fredriksson. Band members took their final bow after their 557th live performance.
Please check out the audio track of Roxette performing “Happy Together.” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…
“Happy Together” Written by Per Hakan Gessle. Performed by Roxette.
When she walked up He walked down Just like the seasons went round and round She was in love He wasn’t sure She wrote some letters he tried to ignore They could have been so happy together They could have been so lucky in love Sing la dee da So happy together They could have run the earth, the sky, the sun
She carried his ring Since she left school He knew she was precious The prettiest jewel She wanted a baby But he wasn’t sure He couldn’t make up his mind anymore
They could have been So happy together They could have been So lucky in love Sing la dee da So happy together They could have run the earth, the stars, the sun
I couldn’t ever hurt no one If you feel shattered I’m sorry for what I’ve done We could have been so happy together We could have been so lucky in love sing la dee da so happy together We could have run the earth, the sky, the sun
yeah we could have been so happy together we could have been so lucky in love so happy together we could have run the universe could have run the universe could have run the universe for fun
so happy together so happy together so happy together
Credit: Image by Lala Lugo [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons.
