Letters of Acceptance’s “Don’t Forget to Try to Be Happy” takes a familiar piece of advice and leaves its meaning open. Trying to be happy can sound like a kind reminder or another demand to get your life together. The title carries both readings, without making either one the answer.
A relentless pursuit is the song’s central question: does the search for happiness bring it closer, or make it harder to reach? Advice is being told how to feel does not make the feeling arrive. Even a decent intention can become another thing to worry about. It returns to a simple instruction, but there is no easy solution in it. Trying might help, or it might add pressure to an already difficult task. The difference depends on who says it, who hears it, and what they need at that moment.
