The Pursuit of Happiness are a Canadian band. Led by Edmonton, Alberta sing… Read Full Bio ↴The Pursuit of Happiness are a Canadian band. Led by Edmonton, Alberta singer/songwriter Moe Berg, The Pursuit of Happiness (TPOH) were launched in 1985 when Berg and drummer Dave Gilby moved to Toronto, Ontario. They soon met bassist Johnny Sinclair and formed the band, adding twins Tam and Tasha Amabile as backing vocalists.

Their debut single, I'm an Adult Now, quickly became a hit across Canada in 1986, sparked by a low-budget video which made it onto the Canadian music video channel MuchMusic. However, the band did not immediately sign to a record label, and released another independent single, Killed by Love, in 1988. The Amabile twins left the band that year, and were replaced by Kris Abbott and Leslie Stanwyck.

Also in 1988, they signed to Chrysalis Records. Their debut album, Love Junk, was produced by Todd Rundgren and released that year. "I'm an Adult Now" was re-recorded and released as a single again, making it to the charts a second time. The album sold over 100,000 copies in Canada, and was certified platinum, and is considered one of the classics of Canadian rock.

Stanwyck and Sinclair left, going on to form Universal Honey, after completing the band's follow-up with Rundgren, 1990's One-Sided Story.

Starting with the tour for the album, Brad Barker and Susan Murumets joined the lineup. Rachel Oldfield replaced Murumets in 1992. The band then went through difficulties with their record label, but signed to Mercury Records for 1993's The Downward Road.

Label troubles continued, and the band recorded their next two albums for the now-defunct Canadian label Iron Music. Oldfield left the band in 1995, and was replaced by Jennifer Foster, who in turn left the following year and was replaced by Renee Suchy.

Although the group never officially disbanded, after 1996 they did not record as a unit until 2005, when they recorded two new tracks for a greatest hits compilation.

Beautiful White
The Pursuit Of Happiness Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

She buys stripes and colors
She wears purple and black
Her arms jingle and jingle
Her lip kiss me go smack

Her boots stomp and clomp to my door
The boots that cowboys wear
She's got sticky little tangles

In her big yellow hair

[Chorus]
When she comes to me
In the dim morning light
She strips away the colors
Revealing beautiful white

She's got a big grey overcoat
She just dumps on a chair
But she paid a lot for those trousers
She'll handle them with more care

Bought her that sweater for Christmas
Now it lies on the floor
One black sock then the other black sock
She's hidden no more

[Chorus]

Overall Meaning

The pursuit of happiness's song "Beautiful White" is a love song that describes the singer's love interest through their unique sense of style and personality. The lyrics showcase his lover's eccentricity and the way she expresses herself through the clothes she wears. The opening lines of the song "She buys stripes and colors, she wears purple and black" are a testament to how she deliberately chooses clothes with bold patterns and contrasting colors, standing out from the traditional mild tones.

The second and third lines, "Her arms jingle and jingle, her lips kiss me go smack" are a playful description of her style, adding sound to the description in the form of her jingling bracelets, which gives the impression of a happy-go-lucky, free-spirited nature she has. The song's chorus captures the essence of her unique style, where she strips away the colors in the dim morning light, eventually revealing her beautiful white, which alludes to her pure and genuine nature.

In the bridge, the singer describes her with fondness, talking about her care and attention to what she wears, be it the boots, big yellow hair, or a pair of expensive trousers. The song's closing lines describe how, when she takes off her colorful attire, she is vulnerable and exposed, revealing her true self – beautiful white- a metaphor for her pureness.

Line by Line Meaning

She buys stripes and colors
She likes to buy clothes that are patterned and come in different colors

She wears purple and black
Her favorite colors to wear are purple and black

Her arms jingle and jingle
She wears jewelry that makes noise when she moves

Her lip kiss me go smack
She kisses with a loud smacking sound

Her boots stomp and clomp to my door
She wears loud boots when she walks to my door

The boots that cowboys wear
Her boots are similar to what cowboys wear

She's got sticky little tangles
Her hair is tangled and hard to brush

In her big yellow hair
Her hair is bright yellow

When she comes to me
When she visits me

In the dim morning light
In the early morning when it's still dark

She strips away the colors
She takes off her colorful clothes