This is part of what I love about this list... this is one of those songs I *always* skip.  It's just annoying to my ears I guess.  It will be interesting to listen to it again for the review... after reading Denise's review, I realize that aside from the cringe worthy chorus, I think the song may be too close to me (therefore prompting me to skip it)... I find I put on a happy face many times because I *know* people really don't want to know what's really going on in my head. Thanks for the review Denise... I think I'll take another listen to this song and hear it differently.

I just can't get past this title.  A few years ago, the town I live in did a community play.  They wrote a song specifically for it called "Is Everybody Happy? - well, I guess so."  I am sure you can get the drift.  I don't really care for the loud "NO!" either.  If
those two things would change, then I would really like the song. 

I tend to listen to the music first and if I like the song, then I listen to the words.  When reviewing a song, I would be the person to say "it's got a good beat - I could dance to it".  Now, I really think "Modern World" is the best dance song on this album.  If that song had been out when I was in high school, it would be one of my first choices to do a modern dance to. 

I've always liked this song.  Not necessarily the music or the way it's sung, but mostly the message of it.  I don't like the way Rick's voice is so deep in the beginning of the versus, and I don't necessarily like the way the song flows (or doesn't flow). 

The first part of the song brings to mind the way that Hollywood and the ad industry have given everyone this impossible standard that some people try to live up to.   Beautiful, skinny, yet airbrushed girls that grace all the magazines and are in a lot of the tv shows and movies.  People striving for that, thinking it'll make them happy, yet Rick, who has been called cute all of his life, would more than likely beg to differ. 

Is he happy?  NO......

There's such a fine line between people that bitch about every little thing and people standing up at the right times and saying "hey, this isn't right".
And possibly there's underlying implications of apathy, suggesting that it's just easier to pretend to be happy, rather than to try to make things better.

This songs says to me that even though people try to hide their feelings, the song says we need to let them out. It's ok to not be happy all the time. Everyone is in denial, society brushes all the ugliness under the rug, its not polite to talk of how sad or depressed you are, "Everybody's pretending Future's burning real bright."

He wants someone genuine, who's not afraid to let her feelings show. Even if she's not happy, he wants to hear about it, because it's all about honesty. "We keep too much inside, way too much inside, baby
stand up and be the one to testify, tell me how you feel." He's tired of the phoniness, the following along with everybody else, "Everybody's elected to carry the party song." Makes me think about how somebody asks you `how are you', and they really don't want to know, they are just being polite.

"You can't be too protected, you can't be too strong". I think this line of can't be too strong was intended as sarcasm. That this is what society feels you should be, not what Rick really feels. This
made me think of my sister and how strong everybody said she was being in the face of her husband's recent death. It was like some people felt she had to be strong for the kids, but I think too she
needs to let out her grief in her way as well.

The line "tell me how you feel" makes me think of lying on the couch and talking to the psychiatrist type of thing you see in movies. And of course, the whole idea of letting out your feelings, not holding
them in is what they tell you is best. I really wondered if this song is another song that speaks about Rick's depression and that it's ok to be depressed and to feel bad and not have to be happy all the time. Like he's feeling that he has to justify his unhappiness. He had his moment of unhappiness and he's not alone, everybody else isn't all that happy either.

I didn't like the deep voice parts either. I thought the music was pretty peppy considering the theme of of not being happy. Kind of sarcastic again. Sounded sort of Rock of Life-ish to me too.

I find the sound of this song interesting and very appealing. It reminds me of the 80's (I LOVED THE 80'S).  I hear this as a message of someone who is frustrated with hypocrisy in the world.  People pretending to be something or someone on the outside but deep inside is the truth.  The line
"Is Everybody Happy" seems like it is just one example of how people play a role for society's sake.

My favorite line is "Baby get on up and be the one to testify"...it just grabs me like it's giving the message to someone to "be the brave one, stand
up and speak the truth, don't worry about whether it's something that society doesn't want to hear, just speak the truth!"