# Turtles, "Happy Together"...Creepy or Sweet? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 24, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtles-happy-together-creepy-or-sweet/593930 "2011-08-24T18:15:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtles-happy-together-creepy-or-sweet/593930/1 "2011-08-24T18:15:51Z")
So much like The Police’s “Every Breath You Take”, I have always thought the Turtles “Happy Togehter” is a misunderstood song, being really creepy, but most thinking it is sweet and happy. After all it is called “Happy Together”, right [Here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZEURntrQOg) it is, with t lyrics. In my mind it is always about some guy who is basically stalking some woman. The singer sings it in kind of a creepy way and the opening line is " Imagine me and you / I do / I think about you day and night". Then there is the line indicating the guy might not be all there, “If you should call me up / invest a dime / and say you belong to me / and ease my mind” me that you love" And then the non-sequiter, “So happy together / How is the weather?” And much more of the song just seems creepy to me. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtles-happy-together-creepy-or-sweet/593930/2 "2011-08-24T18:19:42Z")
Lots of songs get creepier the longer you think about the lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtles-happy-together-creepy-or-sweet/593930/3 "2011-08-24T18:21:56Z")
You are waaaaaay over-thinking the lyrics. I think it’s sweet. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtles-happy-together-creepy-or-sweet/593930/4 "2011-08-24T18:23:02Z")
In which country or U.S. state is thinking about a person day and night grounds for stalking? ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtles-happy-together-creepy-or-sweet/593930/5 "2011-08-24T18:28:33Z")
It’s not the least bit creepy. > [@hogarth](#): > > In which country or U.S. state is thinking about a person day and night grounds for stalking? Which state does \*\*Minority Report \*\*take place in? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtles-happy-together-creepy-or-sweet/593930/6 "2011-08-24T18:28:38Z")
Back when the song first came out, nobody would ever have any doubt about its meaning. It’s only in the years since, that things like stalking have entered into our collective consciousness. I think the OP is saying more about himself than about the song. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtles-happy-together-creepy-or-sweet/593930/7 "2011-08-24T18:34:30Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Which state does \*\*Minority Report \*\*take place in? A state of _mind_, man. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtles-happy-together-creepy-or-sweet/593930/8 "2011-08-24T18:35:38Z")
If you want creepy, how about _[Young Girl](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn0ZJHVH17I)_? ---
**Author:** ![Chopper9760](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Chopper9760](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chopper9760)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtles-happy-together-creepy-or-sweet/593930/9 "2011-08-24T18:35:50Z")
I think it’s sweet but I only ever listen to it on Cruisin’ 1967 with Dr. Don Rose on WQXI, nothing’s creepy on WQXI in Atlanta! ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtles-happy-together-creepy-or-sweet/593930/10 "2011-08-24T18:38:08Z")
It’s rather sad that the idea of being infatuated with someone means you’re stalking them. The singer has a crush on the woman and is expressing that and nothing more. Even the lyrics you quote are perfectly innocuous. Not only that, but you’re misquoting them: the line is “If I should call you up.” That’s typical of teenage love – you want to make the move, but are afraid of rejection. Thus, the singer is asking first to try to get an idea how the subject might react. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtles-happy-together-creepy-or-sweet/593930/11 "2011-08-24T18:40:31Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Back when the song first came out, nobody would ever have any doubt about its meaning. It’s only in the years since, that things like stalking have entered into our collective consciousness. I think the OP is saying more about himself than about the song. Probably true. But I am generally an upbeat guy, but it might be one of those things where you start thinking about it one way, for whatever reason, and it just always has that association, whether real or not. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtles-happy-together-creepy-or-sweet/593930/12 "2011-08-24T18:57:27Z")
Calling it sweet. How is it sweet? Is it really only right to imagine day and night about a girl who (seemingly) doesn’t like him back. He is obsessed, and not in a way that ends happily. Even the melody of the song is sort of subdued / sad. Great song though, and the creepiness doesn’t detract from it. ---
**Author:** ![MilTan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@MilTan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MilTan)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtles-happy-together-creepy-or-sweet/593930/13 "2011-08-24T19:02:50Z")
My problem with that song has always been the line: “The only one for me is you, and you for me.” When you first hear it, you think he’s saying that the only one for him is the girl, and vice versa. But he’s only actually saying the former, twice. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtles-happy-together-creepy-or-sweet/593930/14 "2011-08-24T19:26:42Z")
Yeah, which makes sense. He is not the one for her. Clever lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtles-happy-together-creepy-or-sweet/593930/15 "2011-08-24T19:51:44Z")
Sweet. Come on, when you first fall in love, of course you think of them all the time. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtles-happy-together-creepy-or-sweet/593930/16 "2011-08-24T20:01:23Z")
> [@mr.jp](#): > > Calling it sweet. How is it sweet? > > Is it really only right to imagine day and night about a girl who (seemingly) doesn’t like him back. How do you know she doesn’t like her back? Nothing in the song indicates this. He’s just telling her he loves her. Is there any indication this is unwanted or unreciprocated? No. The lyrics presuppose that they are in love with each other and he is declaring it and wanting reassurance. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtles-happy-together-creepy-or-sweet/593930/17 "2011-08-24T20:08:00Z")
I said “both”, but ONLY because given who [Flo & Eddie](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flo_%26_Eddie) are, I could see them potentially being a bit subversive with it. Not saying they were, but I could see it. Check out their version ( in context ) with Zappa at [Filmore East - June. 1971](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fillmore_East_-_June_1971). ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtles-happy-together-creepy-or-sweet/593930/18 "2011-08-24T20:12:52Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > How do you know she doesn’t like her back? Nothing in the song indicates this. He’s just telling her he loves her. Is there any indication this is unwanted or unreciprocated? No. The lyrics presuppose that they are in love with each other and he is declaring it and wanting reassurance. Well, I heard her name was Eve and she was very destructive. She kept saying to him “It Ain’t Me Babe” and “Let Me Be”. ---
**Author:** ![AndyLee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@AndyLee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyLee)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtles-happy-together-creepy-or-sweet/593930/19 "2011-08-24T20:15:02Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > It’s rather sad that the idea of being infatuated with someone means you’re stalking them. The singer has a crush on the woman and is expressing that and nothing more. Even the lyrics you quote are perfectly innocuous. I think that’s true. Remember the episode of the Brady Bunch where Bobby pretends to be Cindy’s secret admirer? The parents would be freaking out today, but back then everyone thought it was cool Or when Jan gets a locket from a secret admirer. No one thinks Jan is in danger and being stalked. Or when the boys are tied up and held hostage by Vincent Price. Does Mr Brady even get the slightest bit upset. No he understand and they become friends. What’s creepy now, wasn’t creepy then. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtles-happy-together-creepy-or-sweet/593930/20 "2011-08-24T20:17:42Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > If you want creepy, how about _[Young Girl](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn0ZJHVH17I)_? “Young Girl” sounds creepy until you realize its about a teenager who’s dressed like an adult and she’s the one pursuing the narrator (even going so far as to lie about her age). She’s actually stalking him. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtles-happy-together-creepy-or-sweet/593930.md?page=2)