ANNA MARIA Win Over the Internet with Their New Hit "Buty Shchaslyvymy" ("To Be Happy")

The sisters of the Ukrainian duo ANNA MARIA have released the song “Buty Shchaslyvymy” (“To Be Happy”), which instantly won over the internet and captured listeners’ hearts. The song has already passed 1 million streams on streaming platforms, and more than 80,000 videos have been made with this sound on TikTok. Alongside the song, the singers premiered a video on YouTube. “Buty Shchaslyvymy” is a song about life. It carries simple truths that matter to every one of us, the singers say. Because however different we all may be, we are always equally happy when we love… and we all hurt the same way when we lose… If you strip away everything unnecessary, you understand what truly has value in the end. We want to hold on to hope: this world is not terminally ill, and Love will prevail after all. ANNA MARIA: “Here’s how we wrote this song. One day, when we were in a really bad mood and feeling heavy-hearted, we went out for a walk around the city… We always do that. We just walk, it doesn’t matter where, and watch all the different people. That’s when this thought came to us: ‘We are all so different… yet we all want the same thing – to be happy. It’s that simple!’ Right there on the street we turned on a voice recorder and quietly hummed a few lines: that became the chorus of the song.” Anna: “Through these difficult years of war, we have all come to appreciate simple things even more. Our whole system of values has changed… Happiness lies precisely in those simple things: when your family is near, and friends who will never betray you; when you wake up in the morning; when you can create; when you can hug your children; when you hear ‘I love you’; when you see two check marks – message read; when you smile sincerely… That is what our song is about. With no certainty about what tomorrow will bring, we Ukrainians have learned to be happy here and now, with a powerful faith in our country and in one another. It’s a song that makes you want to hug, to hold hands – we feel it lifts the mood. We would really love for this song not just to be liked, but to have the power to help in some way, to make people remember what matters most.” The sisters worked on the single with renowned sound producer Ivan Rozin (former frontman of the Ukrainian band Gouash). Anna and Maria believe this is a song that will bring people together – one you can sing with friends around a guitar, or at a big open-air concert. “We want to communicate through songs, to open our souls and share our thoughts, which we are sure will resonate with someone else too,” the singers say. Music and lyrics: ANNA MARIA