Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am has revealed that part of the band’s hit I Gotta Feeling, which is ubiquitous at simchot for its iconic “mazel tov” lyric, was inspired by his relationship with a Jewish friend.
“Before I Gotta Feeling, we would play huge weddings,” he explained in an interview with UPROXX. “I noticed that between weddings, celebratory events, barmitzvahs, batmitzvahs, there's a certain playlist that plays.
“They're playing Celebration [by Kool & The Gang]. They're playing We Are Family [by Sister Sledge], Good Times [by CHIC]. I'm like, ‘Yo, I need a song that goes in there’.”
The pop star, real name William Adams, said he made the first demo for the track in his friend Binyamin’s bedroom.
“His dad Ami was really nice to us, and I always wanted to tell Ami thank you,” he said. “So I'm like, ‘Yo, check this out! I got this song, Ben, and the chorus, this is for your dad. Fill up my cup, mazel tov!’”
“He's like, ‘Well, it's fill up my cup, l’chaim, bro, not mazel tov’. [I said] ‘How about fill up my cup, mazel tov, l’chaim?’ He's like, ‘Yeah, that'll work’.”
In the song, the second time that Adams sings “mazel tov”, a voice in the background ad-libs “l’chaim”.
Adams said that he borrowed the format for the lyric – “fill up my cup, mazel tov” – from Psycho Killer by Talking Heads, which also features a lyric with four syllables in English followed by three in another language – “psycho killer, qu’est-ce que c’est”.
“You think you like it because you know, ‘Mazel tov, l’chaim’, but other people around the world, they don't know ‘mazel tov, l’chaim’, but they heard that math before,” he said.
“That type of like songwriting recipe sprinkling, I love breaking things down like that.”
He continued to explain inspiration for other parts of the tune from other classic songs, including the “easy come, easy go” lyric in the bridge from Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen and the listing of the days of the week from Rock Around The Clock by Bill Haley & His Comets.
Adams’ aim to cement Black Eyed Peas on the simchah playlist for eternity has been profoundly realised, as nowadays, it is next to impossible to attend a barmitzvah or Jewish wedding without hearing the track.
“I hunted and hunted and hunted for one of those records, and finally got it,” he said.
“We were in Minnesota and Prince came. He came to see us and he's like, ‘Congratulations, you got your one. Most people don't get their one’.”
I Gotta Feeling is Black Eyed Peas’ most popular tune on Spotify, with more than two billion streams.
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