"I Just Can't Be Happy Today" is a song by English punk rock band the Damned from their 1979 album, Machine Gun Etiquette. Released as a single in November on Chiswick Records, it peaked at No. 46 in the UK Singles Chart.

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Quick Facts Single by the Damned, from the album Machine Gun Etiquette ...

"I Just Can't Be Happy Today"
Single by the Damned
from the album Machine Gun Etiquette
B-side	"Ballroom Blitz" "Turkey Song"
Released	November 1979
Recorded	1979
Genre	Post-punk
Length	3:34
Label	Chiswick CHIS 120 Motown CHIS 115
Songwriter(s)	Captain Sensible Giovanni Dadomo
Producer(s)	Roger Armstrong the Damned
The Damned singles chronology
"Smash It Up" (1979) "I Just Can't Be Happy Today" (1979) "White Rabbit" (1980)

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The single was heavily edited for radio airplay, removing the spoken word monologue, though the version on the record is unaltered. The first track on the B-side, a cover of Sweet's "Ballroom Blitz", was recorded with Lemmy of Motörhead fame on bass guitar. "Turkey Song" was not credited on the sleeve.

The Damned performed "I Just Can't Be Happy Today" alongside "Smash It Up" on the BBC2 television show The Old Grey Whistle Test in 1979, where they infamously trashed the stage towards the end of the song.^[1]

1. "I Just Can't Be Happy Today" (Dadomo, Scabies, Sensible, Vanian, Ward) - 2:53
2. "Ballroom Blitz" (Chapman, Chinn) - 3:30
3. "Turkey Song" (Scabies, Sensible, Vanian, Ward) - 1:32

Producers

• Roger Armstrong
• The Damned

Musicians

• Dave Vanian − vocals
• Captain Sensible − guitar, keyboards, vocals and Mandolin on "Turkey Song"
• Rat Scabies − drums
• Algy Ward − bass
• Lemmy − bass on "Ballroom Blitz"