# What's up with people not being able to sing Happy Birthday? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 4, 2017, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-people-not-being-able-to-sing-happy-birthday/795458 "2017-09-04T05:30:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2017, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-people-not-being-able-to-sing-happy-birthday/795458/101 "2017-09-14T20:33:02Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > No offense, I hope, but critiquing the singing of Happy Birthday kind of misses the point of singing Happy Birthday. It’s a birthday party, not a flash mob of _Les Miserables_. Regards, > Shodan You miss the point. I am in no way attacking people who _can’t_ sing it right, I’m accusing people of _deliberately_ making an utter hash of it, for reasons I’m not clear about. To whatever extent people are genuinely unable to do any better, I harbor no contempt. I just flat-out don’t believe that _that_ high a percent of the people I’ve heard “singing” happy birthday can possibly be that bad at it natively. Regards back at ya, AHunter3 ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2017, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-people-not-being-able-to-sing-happy-birthday/795458/102 "2017-09-14T20:33:13Z")
The “bad cat” is way worse than I’ve ever heard anyone sing Happy Birthday, by an order of magnitude. The second cat is better than what I’d do. Here’s my [cat](https://sketch.io/render/sk-e6f4914e3229c2a326704f2033435a92.jpeg). I think that’s probably on the bad side as cats go, but within a standard deviation. I completely disagree that people sing Happy Birthday worse than they do anything else they do maybe once a year. This thread, to me, is like someone complaining that the average person can’t juggle. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2017, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-people-not-being-able-to-sing-happy-birthday/795458/103 "2017-09-14T21:25:10Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > Sorry – if that’s the right word in this backassed context – but the version you sang in the above link is WAY closer to being on pitch throughout than my second example. Your high note (“ **BIRTH** day dear so and so…”) is a perfect or damn-near-perfect octave above the “Happy” immediately preceding it. Unlike my second example you aren’t restarting in a new key with every instance of “happy”. Remember, though, that this was like my fourth take or so, I got to choose the key, and I am not distracted by other singers. I just remembered, I have a recording [with me from nine years ago](https://youtu.be/m_9HTRto7Cc?t=11) (I’m recording on the camera, so my voice is the main one), singing it. I’m really not trying to purposely trash the song. And I’m pretty sure my mom isn’t trying to trash it, either. That’s what it sounds like when I sing spontaneously, and when I don’t have the luxury of singing by myself and four takes or more to get it right. I think we both can agree that that is absolutely horrendous. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2017, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-people-not-being-able-to-sing-happy-birthday/795458/104 "2017-09-14T22:50:56Z")
OK, that’s legitimately awful 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2017, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-people-not-being-able-to-sing-happy-birthday/795458/105 "2017-09-15T00:42:21Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > OK, that’s legitimately awful 🙂 Somehow, I didn’t think there would be any argument. 😉 But that’s what happens. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2017, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-people-not-being-able-to-sing-happy-birthday/795458/106 "2017-09-15T14:05:30Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > You miss the point. I am in no way attacking people who _can’t_ sing it right, I’m accusing people of _deliberately_ making an utter hash of it, for reasons I’m not clear about. To whatever extent people are genuinely unable to do any better, I harbor no contempt. I just flat-out don’t believe that _that_ high a percent of the people I’ve heard “singing” happy birthday can possibly be that bad at it natively. > > Regards back at ya, > > AHunter3 In my case at least, I really am that bad. I am a lousy singer, because I have never spent the time or energy to get even mediocre. My “audience”, so to speak, is the people at church, where I sing the hymns, and occasions like birthday parties. Nobody cares that I am a lousy singer - I am not doing solos, and I am not doing it so people can admire my performance. But I am not doing it badly on purpose, unless not caring is on purpose. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2017, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-people-not-being-able-to-sing-happy-birthday/795458/107 "2017-09-15T14:41:22Z")
If we’re looking for reasons to explain why some people appear to be singing HB intentionally bad, I blame the late George Carlin. I believe it was he that observed there was always some idiot trying to make it a better song than it is by adding harmony at the end. (yeah, I used to be that idiot) ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2017, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-people-not-being-able-to-sing-happy-birthday/795458/108 "2017-09-17T02:16:32Z")
I am not a singer and couldn’t tell you what a pitch or key is or what it means. I even had compulsory music education through 8th grade. So I could try to sing but I would lack any ability to judge my own singing or how to properly adjust anything. I have social anxiety and don’t like the sound of my voice on recordings (though oddly enough I had high school teachers tell me I had an announcer’s voice). So I pretty much mouth or lip sync in situations like that. I would also add that for some of the reasons stated above I do things intentionally badly (or at least not caring or trying not to care) as a coping mechanism for anxiety. So for example I might sing intentionally goofy or something to avoid being judged harshly for my best effort. Same thing with a lot of casual recreational activities where I have professed no expertise and don’t wish to be judged as being an expert on something trivial. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-people-not-being-able-to-sing-happy-birthday/795458.md?page=5)