Fake Happy

Lore & Background

Discussing the inspiration behind the song, Williams stated: 'Well, I mean, the title is pretty self-explanatory. I think there's a lot of time we go out or we do things and we don't feel the way that we project, you know, that we wanna look like we feel...' In a Beats 1 interview with Zane Lowe, Williams also said: 'I hate phoniness. It's not fun to be around, it's not fun to do yourself. But then there are these moments in your life where you're professional and you have to have grace with yourself, you have to have grace with other people and work hard, but it's that self-preservation thing.' According to NPR, the song later complicates the emotion with 'the embarrassment not often explored in depression dialogue, the shame of feeling bad and the shame of feeling bad for feeling bad.'

Reader's Guide

"Fake Happy" was sent to alternative radio on August 29, 2017, serving as After Laughter's third single. The band had previously released a radio edit of the song on June 2, 2017, cutting the song's intro. The song was performed live for the first time on June 15, 2017, at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin, Ireland, as part of the band's After Laughter tour. The band also performed the song at Good Morning America on August 25, 2017, along with four other tracks from After Laughter, where it was announced as the latest single from the album.

Did You Know?

• "Fake Happy" was released as the third single from Paramore's fifth studio album After Laughter on August 29, 2017.
• The music video for "Fake Happy" was directed by the band's drummer Zac Farro.