Getting Ready

You know, for such a relentlessly up-tempo number, "Get Happy" has, when you think about it, an almost bizarrely dark lyric. It presumes, from the get-go, that the singer - and presumably her audience, whom she exhorts - are in a place that's by definition not happy. It's about a place that's "quiet and peaceful" - but there, on the other side, where we're not, yet. And, when we do get there, what we'll get is The Judgment Day. It almost ought to be called "Get Ready."

But what Judy Garland doesn't know about, against all odds, chasing one's cares away isn't worth knowing. She knows, and shares with us, her wisdom: getting happy doesn't just happen. On the worst and even on the best days, it's something you have to shout for, cross the river for, and be ready for. The sun is shining, c'mon...