I Want My Beloved To Be Happy / Music

• The standard "I Wish You Love", recorded by everyone from Frank Sinatra to Rod Stewart.
  My breaking heart and I agree
  That you and I could never be
  So with my best, my very best
  I set you free
• The Arthur Alexander song (Covered Up by The Beatles) "Anna (Go To Him)" could be an example of this, with an engaged man breaking it off with his fiancée Anna because another man loves her more. However, it could simply be that he's used to every woman he loves leaving him.
• "Don't Make My Baby Blue" was a hit in the UK for the Shadows and has also been covered by Frankie Laine and the Move. The singer gives his blessing to his ex and her new love, but warns him to treat her well.
• "You're in Love" by Wilson Phillips is definitely an example of this, though. The speaker's unrequited crush (who is stated to be an old friend) has moved on and she's willing to let them go to be with the one they love.
  But now I see that you're so happy
  And ooh, it just sets me free.
  And I'd like to see
  Us as good of friends
  As we used to be
• "Diary" by Bread appears to be this, as well, though it could simply be a man giving in gracefully to the impending loss of his love to someone else.
• ABBA's "The Winner Takes It All".
• Frankie Valli's "Opus 17 (Don't You Worry 'Bout Me)" where the narrator tells his girlfriend to go ahead with that guy instead of loving him in sympathy yet he assures her he'll deal with it.
• Belle and Sebastian's song "Jonathan David" is an example of this, though the Biblical theme in the song ("I was Jonathan to your David") gives way to another interpretation.
• Ne-Yo's song "Fade Into The Background" is about the singer attending the wedding of the woman he loves, deciding he's just going to let her be happy with somebody else and "smile and fade into the background." Also Back to What You Know from the same album deals with this. He even sings in the bridge "I'd rather you be happy\Then you be miserable with me".
• Subverted in Mariah Carey's song "Butterfly" — she sings that she'll allow her lover to fly away and experience other things because if he's truly hers, he'll come back to her eventually.
• In Chiodos' "Lindsay Quit Lollygagging" the singer is coming from the second version of this perspective.
  Bite my tongue, right now the perfect time
  Do anything to make her happy
  Even if it means my being miserable
  As long as she's loving life
• Alanis Morissette's "You Oughta Know" subverts this trope with the opening lines, followed by an extended F-U to the guy she's singing to.
  I want you to know
  I'm happy for you
  I wish nothing but
  The best for you both
• Taylor Swift:
  • "Teardrops On My Guitar," inspired by a guy she knew in Real Life before she became famous, is about a girl who's in love with her best friend, but he's dating someone else, so she swallows her pain and hopes that his girlfriend knows how lucky she is.
  • "the 1" is a Love Nostalgia Song in which the narrator misses her former lover but dreams about him being happy without her:
    I have this dream you're doing cool shit
    Having adventures on your own
    You meet some woman on the Internet and take her home
  • "champagne problems" is from the perspective of a woman who turns down her boyfriend's marriage proposal, but genuinely hates the fact that she hurt him, and hopes that he'll meet someone else who can give him what she couldn't.
    You'll find the real thing instead
    She'll patch up your tapestry that I shred
  • "happiness" is a case of "I Want to Want My Beloved to be Happy," as it's a Break-Up Song where no one's really at fault; the relationship just wasn't working, even though they both really loved each other. The narrator lashes out in anger and hurt a few times, but immediately backpedals and admits, "I didn't mean that." She wants to do the right thing and wish him well, but the wounds are too raw for her to manage it at the moment.
• Almost Lovers by A Fine Frenzy. The narrator dumps her boyfriend because she believes he's un-happy.
• Thomas Rhett's Marry Me. The narrator has been secretly in love with his friend for years, but rather than confess and make things awkward when she's getting married, he does his best to support her. (Slightly less so in the music video— he still doesn't confess or make a scene, but he walks out before the ceremony. Then the bride apparently walks out too and comes to find him.)
• The Frou Frou song "It's Good To Be In Love" is about the long, slow path toward this.
• Cat Stevens' "Wild World," though it is mainly about finding peace in such a crazy world.
• John Mayer has an unreleased song called "Man on the Side" that invokes this:
  I fell in love with the dream that I built of you
  Playing the part of the queen
  Taking my own advice
  I'm giving up tonight
  Good luck to you and the king
• Snow Patrol's "You Could Be Happy".
  You could be happy; I hope you are
  You made me happier than I'd been by far
• This trope is implied in the chorus of Journey's "Separate Ways":
  Someday, love will find you
  Break those chains that bind you
  One night will remind you
  How we touched and went our separate ways
  If he ever hurts you
  True love won't desert you
  You know I still love you
  Though we touched and went our separate ways
• "She Will Be Loved" by Maroon 5.
• "Say Good-bye" by Skillet is a man begging his girlfriend to put off "saying good-bye", but the bridge says
  But if it's over
  It hurts but I'm giving you my word
  I hope that you're always
  Happy like we were
  Happy like we were
• Robert Schumann's setting of Antonio von Chamisso's Frauenliebe und -leben, in the second song "Er, Der Herrlichste von Allen". Some of the lines translate as:
  Hear not my silent prayer, consecrated only to thy happiness,
  thou mays't not know me, lowly maid, lofty star of glory!
  Only the worthiest of all may make happy thy choice,
  and I will bless her, the lofty one, many thousand times.
  I will rejoice then and weep, blissful, blissful I'll be then;
  if my heart should also break, break, O heart, what of it?
  • The pathetic thing here, though, is that at this point in the narrative, the Man of her Dreams has made NO indication that he was interested in, or involved with, anyone. The protagonist is merely assuming she's unworthy a priori.
• Sister Hazel's "Champagne High" both uses and subverts this trope. It's about a man who's realized that he still loves his ex-girlfriend, but he's realized this at her wedding to someone else. He says he'll "smile and remember" the good times they had, then turn and go. However, he also won't toast to the couple's future, suggesting that he may hope things won't work out for them.
• Blue October's "Hate Me" is this in spades. The whole song is the speaker leaving his girlfriend, asking her to hate him because he recognizes that he's a terrible person, and he'd rather her be happy than let him drag her down. In fairness, it sounds like he's right.
• "She's in Love" by Mark Wills, as indicated in the second verse:
  Told everyone I'm doing fine
  Learned to get on with my life
  I just want what's best for her, so I lied...
• Chuck Berry's "Have Mercy, Judge" is about a guy who knows his girlfriend will cheat on him while he's in jail; he's okay with it, and says he'll love her all the more once he gets out.
• "Smile" by Lonestar:
  I'm gonna smile 'cause I wanna make you happy
  Laugh, so you can't see me cry
  I'm gonna let you go in style
  And even if it kills me, I'm gonna smile
• Death Cab for Cutie's "Someday You Will Be Loved".
• Adele's "Someone Like You". The whole song is heartbreaking—how much she wants her love back—then includes these lines at the start of the chorus:
  Never mind I'll find someone like you
  I wish nothing but the best for you two
• "I'll Be Around", by The Spinners:
  This is our fork in the road. Love's last episode
  There's nowhere to go
  You made your choice. Now it's up to me
  To bow out gracefully
• David Cassidy's "I Think I Love You" mentions this toward the end of the song:
  I only want to make you happy
  And if you say, "Hey, go away," I will
  But I think better still
  I'd better stay around and love you
• "Good Life" by Francis Dunnery. The first verse is about how he cares about her but the relationship clearly isn't working out. The second is about how she's now married, and that's great even though how he feels hasn't changed.
  Enough of my problems; they only cause fights.
  Forget that I rang you,
  And promise you'll have such a
  Beautifully happy and painlessly romantic
  Good life, from me.
• "I Will Always Love You," originally by Dolly Parton and covered by Whitney Houston.
  Bittersweet memories
  That is all I'm taking with me
  So good-bye, please don't cry
  We both know I'm not what you, you need
• "Your New Beloved" by Lovelife implies this. The singer seems resigned to the fact that they can't be together anymore, and seems selflessly, helplessly in love rather than outright depressed or angry.
  And one day we will meet after everything
  And we will drink and make amends
  Raise a toast to your old beloved
• A-Hole by Bowling for Soup, while mostly being about a guy reminiscing about how he messed up his relationship, features this.
  And I can’t help but think of how things could be (how things could be)
  And I hope she’s happy, happy without me
  And please don’t think I'm complaining
  I was just happy to have her for a time
  And if you see her tell her I said
  "hello" and that I'm doing just fine
• "Anything for You" by Gloria Estefan. She also hopes her ex-lover finds someone new, and pretends to be over them in order to spare their feelings.
  I'd do anything for you
  I'll give you up
  If that's what I should do
  To make you happy.
• "When I Was Your Man" by Bruno Mars ends this way, with the singer hoping that his girl's new lover treats her the way he never did, but should have.
  I hope he buys you flowers
  I hope he holds your hand [...]
  Do all the things I should have done
  When I was your man
• The dying man in Johnny Cash's "Give My Love to Rose" tells the narrator to tell the man's wife to go find another man after he dies since it wouldn't be fair to her to force her to live alone after he's gone.
• Tim McGraw, "Just To See You Smile":
  And yesterday I knew just what you wanted
  When you came walkin' up to me with him
  So I told you that I was happy for you
  And given the chance I'd lie again
  Just to see you smile
  I'd do anything
  That you wanted me to
  • And "Please Remember Me", which can be summarized as "I want my beloved to be happy, so I'll Break His Heart to Save Him from myself."
    When I can't hurt you anymore
    You'll find better love
• Freddie Fender:, "Before the Last Teardrop Falls" (Similar to Bobby Vee's "Take Good Care Of My Baby", it includes an implication that he doesn't expect to ever love anyone else.)
  If he brings you happiness
  Then I wish you all the best
  It's your happiness that matters most of all...
  I'll be there anytime
  You need me by your side
• "Happier" by Bastille and Marshmello. Notably, this isn't a situation where the speaker's love interest has already moved on and he is giving his blessing; he's proactively recognizing that their relationship has run its course and she'd be better off without him. It's an unusually sad and mature message for such an upbeat pop song. (The music video about a teenage girl and her beloved dog is even more of a punch to the gut!)
  I wanna raise your spirits
  I want to see you smile but
  Know that means I'll have to leave.
  Lately, I've been, I've been thinking
  I want you to be happier, I want you to be happier.
• "Let Me Go" by Hailee Steinfeld, Alesso, and Florida Georgia Line:
  I've been hoping somebody loves you in the ways I couldn't
  Somebody's taking care of all of the mess I made
  Someone you don't have to change
  I've been hoping someone will love you, let me go.
• In to evolve, and the whole thing repeats all over again.
• "Happiness", Hobo Johnson and the Lovemakers: Hobo wishes his ex happiness and success in her career, and acknowledges that her life was worse with him around than without him.
• "If You See Her, Say Hello" by Bob Dylan.
• "Creep" by Radiohead builds to this. The singer is obsessed with a woman, and goes to extremes to make himself appealing to her. When he actually makes his move, though, she runs away from him ("She's running out the door"). Even as this crushes his soul, he still forlornly sings, "Whatever makes you happy... whatever you want..."
• "happier" by Olivia Rodrigo is a downplayed version, with the narrator's ex-boyfriend having a new girlfriend only a month after their breakup. The narrator says she wants him to be happy, and that the new girl seems really great... but she still hopes he won't be as happy as he was with her. She sadly acknowledges that she's being selfish and unfair, but can't help herself because she still misses him so much.
• From the traditional folksong "Lovely Molly":
  You may go to the market, you may go to the fair
  You may go to church on Sunday and meet your new love there
  And if anybody loves you half as much as I do
  Then I won't stop your marriage, farewell, love, adieu.
• Anaïs Mitchell: The protagonist of "Your Fonder Heart" is unsure whether the object of her affections loves her back, but will respectfully take them in any way they'll have her.
  Come out, come inspired
  You will not come to harm
  If I cannot take you for a liar or a lover
  I'll take you for my brother-in-arms
• The song “A Mess (Happy 4 U)” by Little Mix is from the point of view of a girl who still loves her ex-boyfriend, but is trying her best to be the bigger person and support him and his new girlfriend.
  I’m still a mess
  Oh, since you left
  If I can’t be happy, happy with you
  I’ll be happy, happy for you, I guess
• "Wish You The Best" by Lewis Capaldi is likewise from the perspective of someone who isn't happy that his ex is better off without him, but is determined to respect it, despite having a strong urge not to:
  I wanna say I wish that you never left,
  Oh, but instead, I only wish you the best.
• Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me," in which the singer knows the person she's with doesn't love her the way she loves him, but since he can't bring himself to end it, she will so he can be happy.
  I'll close my eyes, then I won't see
  The love you don't feel when you're holdin' me
  Mornin' will come, and I'll do what's right
  Just give me 'til then to give up this fight
  And I will give up this fight
• Céline Dion has one song, "I Love You, Goodbye", that is basically this.
  Oh, I could say that I'd be all you need, but that would be a lie
  I know I'd only hurt you, I know I'd only make you cry
• Riproducer's "It Should've Been Me" is an interesting case. Told from the perspective of someone who is utterly obsessed with a crush who chose someone else, the song begins with the Green-Eyed Monster, while acting happy, stewing in jealousy about how it "should've been [her]" the person chose, before finally unleashing all of her suppressed feelings at the end...and then realizing that for all their jealousy and entitlement, she doesn't "deserve" the person more than whoever is actually with them, and in fact might be worse for them. She backs down, with this as the reason.
  It shouldn't be me
  And I'm okay with that because
  I truly only want the best for you
  And I am not the one
  It couldn't be me...