Acoustic Cover Mixes Spoken Word with ‘Happy’ by Pharrell Williams

Chicago poet Harold Green blends spoken word, acoustic collaboration and popular songs to create a mix of personal lyrics and mainstream melody.

“It started out as 14 days of straight love poems but then we started using a live band, and the whole acoustic feel became way more digestible,” Green said.

In February, Green and his wife uploaded covers to YouTube for their annual ‘Flowers for the Living’ series.  Past covers include songs from Drake, Janelle Monae and Kanye West. “Flowers for the Living has been a consistent that has really resonated with my fan base. The music component took it to a whole other level.”

Green covered ‘Happy’ by Pharrell Williams with his friend Erthie St. James on lead vocals.

The group was able to transform the song by using backing vocals from Nycee Butler and Jasmine Sullivan with Dee Wilson on acoustic guitar. Green used his poetry to further make the composition his own. “I mean a lot of people do covers," he said, "but you don’t get to show your own versatility… I write original pieces for each of these tracks and it makes something new… and I think that’s what makes it something cool.”