"Way Less Sad" is a song by American

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

band

AJR AJR may refer to: * AJR (motorcycle), Scotland * AJR (band), a pop band from New York City, United States * Abdominojugular test, to measure venous pressure * Academy for Jewish Religion (New York) * '' American Journal of Roentgenology'' * '' A ...

. It was released on February 17, 2021 via

S-Curve Records S-Curve Records was founded in 2000 by former Mercury Records executive Steve Greenberg. It is based in New York City. In 2001 the label established a distribution and licensing agreement with EMI Records. Among the hits released by S-Curve be ...

as the fourth single from the band's fourth studio album ''

OK Orchestra ''OK Orchestra'' (stylized in all caps) is the fourth studio album by American pop band AJR. It was released on March 26, 2021, by the band's own label AJR Productions. The album was produced by group member Ryan Met. The album features the Blue ...

''.

Composition and content

AJR created the song in the living room of their apartment in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. In an interview with

ABC News Radio ABC News Radio is the news radio service of ABC Audio, a division of ABC News in the United States. Formerly known as ABC Radio News, ABC News Radio feeds, through Skyview Networks, five minute newscasts on the hour and news briefs at half- ...

, they said, "So much of last year felt apocalyptic and this year we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Things aren't back to normal yet but we should be celebrating the small wins, even if they seem trivial." "Way Less Sad" is a happy pop song with lyrics that describe the path of discussing mental health. The song features a trumpet with an upbeat tempo, sampled from

Simon and Garfunkel Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music groups of the 1960s, and their biggest hits—including the electric remix of "T ...

’s “

My Little Town "My Little Town" is a 1975 song by the American duo Simon & Garfunkel. It was written by Paul Simon, who produced the track along with Art Garfunkel and Phil Ramone. The song was included on the 1975 solo releases from both Simon (''Still Crazy ...

”.

Music video

The official music video was released on February 17, 2021. They performed at a number of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

well-known locations, including the TWA terminal at the

John F. Kennedy International Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the Ne ...

and

Jane's Carousel Jane's Carousel (formerly Idora Park Merry-Go-Round) is a carved wooden 48-horse carousel in Brooklyn, New York City, built in 1922 by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company (PTC) for the Idora Park amusement park in Youngstown, Ohio. It was carved by ...

in Brooklyn. The video is AJR's fastest growing

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

video, grossing over 18 million views as of June 2022.

Other uses

The song, along with Bummerland, was used in American baseball promotions for

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

as their official anthem for the

2021 Major League Baseball season The 2021 Major League Baseball season began on April 1, while the regular season ended on October 3. The postseason began on October 5. The World Series then began on October 26 and ended on November 2 with the Atlanta Braves defeating the Houston ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control AJR (band) songs 2021 songs 2021 singles Songs written by Paul Simon Pop ballads