you." Thomson finds that due to the tense recording sessions, the album's title "seemed more a desperate hope than a playful instruction". The band amassed a large amount of songs during the sessions, with 20 filling the original album; almost all are under two-and-a-half minutes in length. According to Costello, the vinyl cutting and pressing process had to be precise to fit all of them on the two sides of the LP. Two cover versions made the final tracklist: the Sam & Dave B-side "I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down" and the Merseybeats' "I Stand Accused". Although covers had appeared in Costello's live sets and as B-sides, Get Happy!! marked the first appearance of a non-original on one of his UK studio albums. The Archipelago recording of "New Amsterdam" was kept for the final album, as Costello felt it could not be improved upon. Outtakes that appeared as B-sides included "Girls Talk", a second version of "Clowntime Is Over" and a cover of Betty Everett's "Getting Mighty Crowded". Music and lyrics Musically, Get Happy!! represents a departure from Costello's previous records, taking influences from the R&B and soul sound of the 1960s, as well as ska. Michael Gallucci of Ultimate Classic Rock described it as "a throwback to '60s R&B music played with new wave bite". In his book Let Them All Talk: The Music of Elvis Costello, biographer Brian Hinton states that with Get Happy!!, the artist invested in "soul sources with an introspection and bitterness previously alien to the genre". However, not all the tracks took direct influence from R&B and soul. Costello stated that "Human Touch" was influenced by his recent work producing the Specials, while "Men Called Uncle" and "Beaten to the Punch" were influenced by the 1960s Liverpool sound that drew the same styles as the Merseybeats' "I Stand Accused". Some commentators saw the songs on Get Happy!! as a response to the events of the Armed Funk tour, although in the 2003 reissue liner notes for the album, Costello stated that "Riot Act" was the only track on the album to refer to the incident, further commenting: The album's title is taken from the song of the same name, written by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler. Biographer Tony Clayton-Lea finds it an ironic comment on the LP's lyrical content, which is "steeped in discontent". Indeed, the upbeat songs provide a stark contrast to