Happy Returns (track)
by Steven Wilson
Year: 2015
From the album Hand. Cannot. Erase. (track #10)
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Happy Returns appears on the following album(s) by Steven Wilson:
- Hand. Cannot. Erase. (track #10) (this album) (2015)
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Happy Returns ratings
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Showing latest 3 ratings for this track. | Show all 103 ratings for this track.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Track ratings | Avg. track rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 08/02/2026 12:16 | phmusic | 73,572 | 100/100 |
| ! | 07/13/2026 03:56 | Exist-en-ciel | 175,939 | 71/100 |
| ! | 02/17/2026 21:14 | wizardalien | 10,288 | 60/100 |
Rating metrics:
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This track is rated in the top 1% of all tracks on BestEverAlbums.com. This track has a Bayesian average rating of 87.7/100, a mean average of 88.1/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 88.9/100. The standard deviation for this track is 12.6.
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Happy Returns comments
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This is THE saddest song I've ever heard in my life. I thought there's no song that can top the sadness of 'Routine", but this song did it. I have to say the first 20 times when I heard this song, I just find it very sad, but it never got me to a point that I had to weep uncontrollably like 'Routine". I only truely experience how sad this song actually is when I saw it performed live at the SW's concert. The song is a letter she wrote to her brother after she cut herself off from her family for years. She tried putting up a strong front so people would think she's ok, but she's actually very broken. It almost seemed like it's her way of crying for help, she's in the verge of breaking down. Her train-of-thoughts were very messed up... one moment she expressed her helplessness "I feel like I'm falling once again... but there's no one left to catch me..." Another moment she's talking about her financial trouble and suddenly asked if her nieces & nephews remember her... "I've got trouble with the bills... do the kids remember me?... I got gifts for them and for you... and sorrow.... but I'm feeling kinda drowsy now... so I'll finish this tomorrow..." Even though the song never implied anything.... but Joyce Carol Vincent which the fictional character of this album was based on died in her apartment with undelivered wrapped presents around her.... I lose it everytime when I thought about how she died alone and no one missed her for years.......
The feels, man. The feels. One of the saddest songs ever made. Some of the greatest lyrics ever, too; lines such as "I feel like I'm living in parenthesis" and "The years just pass like trains" hit very, very hard.
jhuik TOP 100 COMMENTER 02/25/2017 22:33 | #186344
So damned beautiful ...(... sure, this is the same comment I would put on many of these songs...)... but this. Stands with any of the best songs ever recorded. Saddest song ever? Maybe! Most beauiful thing ever recorded? Maybe!
