B-side "Heavy Tears" Genre Country Label MCA | Released October 3, 1979 Length 2:57 Writer(s) Chuck Howard | |
"Happy Birthday Darlin' is a song written by Chuck Howard, and recorded by American country music artist Conway Twitty. It was released in October 1979 as the third and final single from his album Cross Winds. "Happy Birthday Darlin'" was Conway Twitty's 23rd number one on the country chart as solo artist. The single stayed at number one for three weeks and spent a total of 11 weeks on the country chart.
The song begins with the spoken lyric "Hello, Darlin'," calling back to Twitty's 1970 hit of the same name that starts in the same way. The song otherwise tells a narrative through the eyes of a man who vows to right a number of wrongs in his relationship. Here, instead of giving his wife a present for her birthday, he vows to take some things away, such as suspicion, lonely moments, "so-so kisses" and doubt, replacing them with such things as faith and companionship. In the end, the man confidently says that his wife can tell friends, "He didn’t give me anything but he sure took a lot of things away."