♫ The Happening ♫ (Redux)

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, music

Lately I’ve played some pretty dark music, In the Year 2525, Eve of Destruction, and even Imagine can be viewed as dark, given that it speaks of a world we’ll never know.  So tonight I wanted to do something … something really upbeat.  And this was the first one that popped into my head!  Naturally, I have already posted it before, but it’s been a few years, so … take a listen, sing along, tap your toes, and maybe even put on a bit of a smile …

This song was written for the 1967 movie The Happening, which starred Anthony Quinn, George Maharis, Michael Parks, Robert Walker Jr., and Faye Dunaway. The film flopped, but the song went to #1 in the US, giving The Supremes their 10th chart-topper in that country.  The songwriting team of Holland-Dozier-Holland co-wrote this with Frank DeVol, who was the musical director for the film.

According to Lamont Dozier …

“We wrote it because of the title. Frank DeVol, it was his music that had to do a lot with that. He had partial music already written, so we took that feeling that he had and added our own interpretation and added melodies and whatever we had to do to make it a pop song. That’s why you’ll find his name on the credits, because he was responsible for some of the music.”

This was The Supremes last hit released under the name “The Supremes.” Later in 1967, they became “Diana Ross & the Supremes.” They reverted back to “The Supremes” in 1970 when Ross left the group.

So now, how ’bout I shut up and just play the song …

The Happening
The Supremes

Hey! Life, look at me, I can see the reality,
‘Cause when you shook me, took me outta my world, I woke up.
Suddenly I just woke up to The Happening.

When you find that you left the future behind.
‘Cause when you got a tender love you don’t take care of,
then you better beware of,
The Happening.

One day you’re up, when you turn around,
You find your world is tumbling down.
It happened to me and it can happen to you.

I was sure, I felt secure until love took a detour.
Yeah! Riding high on top of the world, it happened.
Suddenly it just happened,

I saw my dreams torn apart
when love walked away from my heart.
And when you lose a precious love you need to guide you
something happens inside you,
The Happening.

Now I see life for what it is.
It’s not of dreams, it’s not of bliss.
It happened to me and it can happen to you

And then it happened.
Oo, and then it happened.
Oo, and then it happened.

Is it real? Is it fake?
Is this game of life a mistake?
‘Cause when I lost the love I thought was mine for certain,
Suddenly it starts hurtin’.

I saw the light too late when that fickle finger of fate.
Yeah! It came and broke my pretty balloon,
I woke up, suddenly I just woke up, so sure,
I felt secure until love took a detour.
‘Cause when you got a tender love you don’t take care of,
then you better beware of,
The Happening.
The Happening.

Songwriters: FRANK DE VOL, EDDIE HOLLAND, BRIAN HOLLAND, LAMONT DOZIER
The Happening lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

21 thoughts on “♫ The Happening ♫ (Redux)”

  2. Pingback: THE HAPPENING ( REDUX ) |jilldennison.com | Ramblings of an Occupy Liberal

  3. There is a much bigger story behind the title. Young people have events these days, can’t remember what they call them, but somebody tweets sn address and people converge on it. Whatever happens, happens.
    In the mid-Sixties we had Happenings, where people of like mind suddenly realized they were there in large numbers in a place or area, didn’t matter where, and a party would start. Sort of like a Be-In, or a Love-In, or a Sit-In, only more lively, and totally unscripted.
    The movie, The Happening, tried to portray a happening, but the writers didn’t get it. They tried to script a happening, but it was so fake it hurt. Spontaneity was the key. I went to see the movie when it came out, just to see what Hollywood would do with the idea. I walked out before the movie was half-over, and I was not the only one walking out. So we had a happening outside the theatre. It was much more fun outside than inside.
    As for the song, we did not think it was much better than the movie. It was okay, but it wasn’t “a happening” song in Winnipeg!

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    • Thanks for the enlightenment! I was never part of any ‘happening’, for I began working full-time at age 13 and didn’t have time for much in the way of activities. Likely I wouldn’t have anyway, for I was never a particularly ‘social animal’, preferring the quiet company of one or two friends rather than a crowd.

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      • Crowds could be awful, but they could also be fun. Anything could happen at a happening, and usually did. I cannot describe any particular one that I was involved in, they all run together (all 4 or 5 of them), but I did some thi gs I would never have tried in normal life.

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          • Nothing openly sexual, Jill. Just role-playing, or causing a few eye-brows to be raised, that kind of thing. We may have occasionally caused rush-hour traffic to slow down even more than normal, but only because drivers wanted to see what came next. Happenings. Thst was what they were, and they drpended heavily on who was involved in them.

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      • He was supposed to be one of your best – doesn’t say much for the others! Hard question as I wasn’t a big fan. Probably if pushed I’d go for Reflections. Baby Love, You Can’t Hurry Love, Stop In The Name Of Love were all good too.

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