Joe Biden’s campaign hosted the virtual I Will Vote Concert over the weekend, and the event’s final performer was Cher. She decided to make her presence known by modifying a decades-old song, “Happiness Is Just A Thing Called Joe,” to better suit the presidential candidate. Following the performance, she shared a studio version of the song as well.
The song was originally written by Harold Arlen and Yip Hapburn for the 1943 musical Cabin In The Sky, and Cher changed the lyrics some for her rendition. The first verse was kept mostly the same, as Cher sang, “It seems like happiness is just a thing called Joe / He’s got a smile that makes the lilacs want to grow / He’s got a way that makes the angels heave a sigh / When they know, President Joe’s passin’ by.”
She took more liberties with the chorus, though, on which she sings, “Right now, our country’s gloomy, fear is in the air / But when Joe’s president, hope is everywhere / Trouble’s fly away and life will easy flow / Joe will keep us safe, that’s all I need to know.” The original chorus goes, “Sometimes the cabin’s gloomy and the table’s bare / But then he’ll kiss me and it’s Christmas everywhere / Trouble’s fly away and life is easy go / Does he love me good, that’s all I need to know.”
Watch the performance above and stream the studio version below.
Cher is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.