"Happier Than Ever" is a song by American singer-songwriter Billie Eilish from her second studio album of the same name (2021). It was released as the album's sixth single on July 30, 2021, through Darkroom and Interscope Records. An emo pop-punk song, it is about Eilish's anger towards a former partner due to a toxic relationship. It opens with soft vocals backed by classical and bass guitars before it transitions into a more distorted punk sound. She wrote the song with its producer, Finneas O'Connell, after completing the American leg of her When We All Fall Asleep Tour (2019).
Upon release, many music journalists lauded "Happier Than Ever" as an album highlight. Critics praised Eilish's vocal performance, which they perceived as cathartic and louder than her previous work, as well as its rock-infused production. Multiple publications such as Billboard, Pitchfork, and Rolling Stone listed it as one of her best songs to date. At the 64th Annual Grammy Awards, it received four nominations, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year. It won Song of the Year at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards. "Happier Than Ever" peaked at number 11 and number six on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Global 200 charts, respectively.
An accompanying music video for "Happier Than Ever" premiered the same day as the single's release. In it, Eilish performs the song through a telephone conversation, after which she climbs a rooftop and dances in the rain and ends it with screaming while lying on the roof. She performed the song live on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and Saturday Night Live in 2021, and at the 2022 Coachella and Glastonbury festivals. Eilish included performances of it in a concert film and a world tour in support of the album.
Background and development Billie Eilish won five awards at the 62nd annual ceremony of the Grammy Awards for her first full-length album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (2019) and its single "Bad Guy". An avant-pop album with a horror-like atmosphere and whispery vocals, it debuted atop record charts in various countries and brought Eilish to mainstream fame. Her soft singing style became recognized as her signature sound.
In a January 2020 interview, Eilish stated she would begin working on her second studio album during the year. Her brother Finneas O'Connell confirmed this during a March 2020 interview, stating that it would be "pretty pure in its intention" and something that they would appreciate making and performing live. Eilish released the singles "My Future" and "Therefore I Am" in 2020. Eilish said in February 2021 that she had worked on 16 tracks for the project, and she cited self-reflection and life during the COVID-19 pandemic as her biggest inspirations. During a cover story for Rolling Stone, she prefaced that "almost none of the songs on this album are joyful".
"Happier Than Ever" was the first song Eilish and Finneas wrote for her second full-length album Happier Than Ever, initially titled "Away from Me". In the summer of 2019, after completing the American leg of her When We All Fall Asleep Tour, Eilish flew to Middelfart with Finneas. They wrote the melody for the song's first chorus on a cheap $80 guitar, and a lyric about a situation Eilish was going through: "When I'm away from you, I'm happier than ever." The two picked the song back up eight months later upon beginning work for the album, and completed it in May or June 2020. Finneas wanted the style to be dynamic and propel Eilish's emotionality instead of overshadowing it. He used plugins to add texture to the acoustic intro of "Happier Than Ever", and Eilish digitally edited her own vocal takes for its vocal programming.
The song was first used in the 2021 documentary film Billie Eilish: The World's a Little Blurry, revealing the lyrics "when I'm away from you, I'm happier than ever, wish I could explain it better. Wish it wasn't true". During an interview with NPR, Eilish commented that it was one of the most important songs she had written. She explained that the recording process felt like finding the best way to tell a person something she wished to tell them for a while: "You don't really know what you want to say or how to say it—and then maybe you have a conversation with somebody else, or you think a little bit about it, and you figure out what it is..."
Composition and lyrics
"Happier Than Ever" is a sentimental power ballad. Music journalists classified it as an emo pop-punk song. Others wrote that the song incorporates arena rock, alternative rock, grunge, and blue-eyed soul elements. Billboard writer Glenn Rowley described its musical style as "genre-shifting".
"Happier Than Ever" runs for 4 minutes and 58 seconds. The song opens with sparse acoustic instrumentation, as Eilish sings softly over a classical guitar. The bass in its second verse evokes annoyance according to MTV News's Athena Serrano. Around its third verse, "Happier Than Ever" transitions into a distorted pop-punk and rock production. During the stylistic change, crashing snare drums and electric guitars can be heard in the background. In an act of catharsis, Eilish continues the song by yelling some of its lyrics to express her pain, with a multitracking technique applied to her voice.
Multiple critics noted that Eilish's screams and Finneas's rock-infused production marked a significant departure from both of their previous musical styles. Lindsay Zoladz of The New York Times wrote that "Happier Than Ever" showcases Eilish at her loudest yet. Eilish described the song: "[It was] probably the most therapeutic song I've ever written or recorded, like ever, ever, ever, 'cause I just screamed my lungs out and could barely talk afterwards, which was very satisfying to me somehow. I had wanted to get those screams out for a very long time and it was very nice to."
According to a comment Eilish made on The World's a Little Blurry, "Happier Than Ever" is about "nothing even specific that they did, you’re just not happy being with them. You can't even explain it". Like other tracks in the album, the song's themes include growing up and healing as time passes. The lyrics to "Happier Than Ever" recount Eilish's experiences with an unhealthy, failed romantic relationship. The track is a "kiss-off" directed at her former partner, whom she condemns for committing several misdeeds—gaslighting her, showing up late to meetings with her, and driving home while drunk. The song begins with the gently delivered lines "When I'm away from you / I'm happier than ever", and it culminates with Eilish shouting "just fucking leave me alone", with her cursing some more over the outro.
Release Eilish teased an upcoming release in April 2021, posting "things are comingggg" on her Instagram account. On April 26, she released a 15-second long snippet of "Happier Than Ever" on her Instagram account, featuring visuals of her sitting in a chair with her back to the camera. DIY described the clip as "stripped-back", speculating that it is "welcoming Billie's brand new era". The song was released alongside the album on July 30, 2021, as its sixth single.Source that states "Happier Than Ever" was a single released the same time as the album:
Source that states it was the sixth single off Happier Than Ever:
An edit comprising only its second part was released for digital download and streaming on September 4, 2021, and a different radio edit which adds the chorus at the beginning of the song and the build up into the second half solicited to contemporary hit radio in Italy six days later.
Reception Many music reviewers lauded "Happier Than Ever" as the album's standout song. Critics who dubbed the song a highlight included Consequence Mary Siroky, Pitchfork Quinn Moreland, and Complex Jessica McKinney. Jason Lipshutz, a staff editor for Billboard, thought that it "best captures the essence of the album" due to demonstrating Eilish's songwriting and vocal talents, which he believed was a defiance of traditional expectations from pop music. In an article for NME, El Hunt argued that Eilish's performance in the song offered powerful emotional impact and proved that her voice had improved throughout the years. Evaluating the album for Stereogum, Tom Breihan opined that "Happier Than Ever" provided it with the "only real moment of greatness, and he lamented that the rest of its tracks were not as vocally loud and cathartic. Insider Callie Ahlgrim, who dubbed "Happier Than Ever" as the best song in Eilish's discography to date, shared a similar opinion: "Eilish fully casts aside her cool-girl exterior and just f---ing goes for it. I only wish she'd done that more."
The Line of Best Fits Matthew Kent viewed the transition of "Happier Than Ever" as "the album's biggest surprise", and noted its second part as "not only a highlight of the album but a highlight of Eilish's entire discography thus far", which proved Eilish could achieve pop radio hits if she pleased. Tim Sentz of Beats Per Minute called the song a powerful "'S-tier' level Eilish track", and opined that, while Eilish sounds like she needs an exorcism, it perfectly captures her appeal and personality. Zoladz thought the song is the album's "most exhilarating moment" and a "disarmingly earnest torrent of bottled-up grievances", a full display of Eilish's versatility. Writing for The Guardian, Alexis Petridis deemed "Happier Than Ever" a "discomfiting and alienating" track, which gets nearest amongst the album tracks to replicating the "sonic firework display" of "Bury a Friend" (2019).
In 2022, Rolling Stone and NME ranked "Happier Than Ever" as Eilish's best song ever. The former magazine's Brittany Spanos stated that the song is "pure angst and a departure [from her] usually cool-headed" demeanor, and likened its beginning to a lamb and its outro to "a whole pack of lions". Thomas Smith of NME named it "the quintessential Billie Eilish song" and a "crowning glory of a song", which listeners would feel like singing "at the top of [their] lungs", but never quite be able to. For MTV Australia, Jackson Langford honed "Happier Than Ever" as her second-best song and a "volcanic outpour of anger and emotion", noting it replaced any previous release that may have contended as "the song that would define Billie Eilish's artistry and career". Uproxxs Rachel Brodsky placed the song 11th in Eilish's discography.
Rankings + Select year-end rankings for "Happier Than Ever" Publication AccoladeRank American Songwriter Top 22 Best Songs of 2021 N/A Billboard Best Songs of 2021 9 Coup De Main The Best Songs of 20212DIYThe Best Tracks of 20215 Entertainment Weekly The 10 Best Songs of 2021 8 The Fader The 100 Best Songs of 2021 36 Gigwise 20 Best Tracks of 2021 7 NME The 50 Best Songs of 2021 8 Pitchfork The 100 Best Songs of 2021 52 The Ringer The 11 Best Songs of 20216 Rolling Stone The 50 Best Songs of 2021 8 Slant Magazine The 50 Best Songs of 2021 42 The Sydney Morning Herald The 21 Best Songs of 2021 7
+Decade's-best listings for "Happier Than Ever" Publication List Rank Pitchfork The 100 Best Songs of the 2020s So Far 92
In 2025, "Happier Than Ever" was listed at number 183 on Rolling Stones Top 250 Greatest Songs of the 21st Century so far.
Accolades "Happier Than Ever" received several awards and nominations. The song was nominated for the MTV Video Music Award for Song of Summer in 2021, and Best Pop, Best Direction, Best Visual Effects, and Song of the Year at the 2022 ceremony, winning the latter. It additionally earned nominations for Best Music Video at the NME Awards 2022, and Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Music Video, and Best Pop Solo Performance at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards.