☝️ Key Points
- The song is about overwhelming joy and happiness, so intense that it almost hurts.
- The singer describes the freedom and excitement of traveling, particularly a car ride.
- He feels enchanted by an unnamed person or situation, which contributes to his extreme feeling of happiness.
- The song expresses a kind of irony that this happiness is so intense that it almost feels like a curse.
- Despite the pain, the singer is glad to experience this overwhelming feeling of happiness.
Interpretation
The lyrics of 'So Happy It Hurts' by
Bryan Adams describe a feeling of overwhelming joy and happiness that is so intense it almost hurts. It is about the freedom and excitement of traveling, as in the lines 'Driving down Trans-Canada One / Top down, I got the radio on, alright / Gonna get there tonight'. The singer is so happy and excited about his journey and what lies ahead that it physically hurts him, but in a good way.
In the repeated chorus lines 'I'm so happy it hurts / I'm so happy it hurts / I'm so glad it's outrageous / I'm so happy it hurts', the singer expresses his overwhelming feeling of happiness, which is almost unbearable but desirable. He feels enchanted by an undefined person or situation ('You put a spell on me, baby'), which contributes to this extreme feeling of happiness.
Furthermore, in the lines 'That stupid grin on my face / Must be some kind of curse', a kind of irony is expressed, that this happiness is so intense that it almost feels like a curse. However, it is a 'curse' that the singer gladly accepts, as he is so happy.