Top 65 happy songs
1.THE BIG ROCK CANDY MOUNTAINS (1928).
We start our guide to the best happy songs back in the Twenties, with a pre-Depression song first recorded by Harry McClintock in 1928. This folk music song is about a hobo’s idea of paradise and has been sung by numerous musicians including Tom Waits. The song was also used in the Coen Brothers film O, Brother Where Art Thou? The finest version of The Big Rock Candy Mountains is by Burl Ives (above).
‘In the Big Rock Candy Mountains,
All the cops have wooden legs,
And the bulldogs all have rubber teeth,
And the hens lay soft-boiled eggs.’
2.LET’S DO IT (LET’S FALL IN LOVE) 1928.
Take Cole Porter’s magnificent wordplay and Ella Fitzgerald’s unsurpassable delivery and phrasing of lyrics and the result: a joyous song. Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall in Love) was risqué for the Twenties, too, although most listeners got the message Porter, the composer of hits such as Anything Goes and I’ve Got You Under My Skin, was implying.
“Sweet guinea pigs do it . . . buy a couple and wait.”
3.HONEYSUCKLE ROSE (1929).
Written by the poet Andriamanantena Paul Razafinkarefo (usually just known as Andy Razaf), Honeysuckle Rose was a romping hit for jazz singer and pianist Fats Waller. It is a song that can’t fail to make you smile. Razaf also wrote Ain’t Misbehavin’.
4.SUMMERTIME (1936).
It is estimated that there have been more than 25,000 recordings of Summertime, originally composed by George Gershwin as an aria for the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess. The first singer to have a hit with the song was Billie Holiday in 1936. There is a melancholy to the song but enjoy thinking of wonderful summer, where the cotton is high, as you listen to the grace as Lady Day sings . . . ‘Summertime, and the livin’ is easy.’
5.AC-CENT-TCHU-ATE THE POSITIVE (1944).
Johnny Mercer, who won four Oscars for his songwriting for classics such as Moon River, wrote one of the most upbeat songs of all time with Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive. He recorded it on October 4 1944 (his version was used in the film LA Confidential) and later explained that the phrase had come from a sermon his publicity agent had heard. “Wow, that’s a colourful phrase!”, Mercer later recalled having said to him. The music was written by Harold Arlen and the song has been recorded by hundreds of musicians including Bing Crosby, Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin. Go on, eliminate the negative – and don’t mess with Mister In-Between.
6.I GOT A WOMAN (1954).
‘What is a soul? It’s like electricity – we don’t really know what it is, but it’s a force that can light a room,” said Ray Charles. He could have been describing his superb song I Got a Woman. Feel the romance.
7.DAY-O (1956).
Bask in the upbeat calypso from the peerless Harry Belafonte, who created one of the most popular songs of the Fifites with Day-O.
8.REET PETITE (THE SWEETEST GIRL IN TOWN) (1957).
Jackie Wilson could also have snuck in to the list with Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher and Higher, but it’s his dazzling love song, and first solo record, Reet Petite that deserves its place. Reet Petite was a hit again in 1986, when it was accompanied by a clay animation video.
9.LA BAMBA (1958)
Whether it is the Ritchie Valens original or the Los Lobos version from the Eighties, there is something infectiously fun about the blend of Mexican folk and rock in the song La Bamba.
10.RAWHIDE (1958).
Frankie Laine (above) had the first hit with the cowboy song written by multi-Oscar winner Ned Washington and Dimitri Zinovievich Tiomkin. The song was used in the long-running TV series Rawhide but it’s hard not to think of the jokey version performed by Elwood Brothers Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi in The Blues Brothers.
11.(WHAT A) WONDERFUL WORLD (1960).
Five days after recording his tribute album to Billie Holiday, Sam Cooke cut the song (What A) Wonderful World during an impromptu session. Lou Adler and Herb Alpert were the main composers of the song but Cooke revised versions in order to add more references to education. (What A) Wonderful World has featured in numerous film soundtracks, including Animal House and Harrison Ford’s Witness.
‘Don’t know much about geography,
Don’t know much trigonometry,
Don’t know much about algebra,
Don’t know what a slide rule is for.
But I do know one and one is two.
And if this one could be with you.
What a wonderful world this would be.’
12.ZIP-A-DEE-DOO-DAH (1962)
There have been lots of versions of the Disney song (taken from the 1946 film Song of the Sout) including those of Sun Ra, Doris Day, The Jacksons, Harry Nilsson (above) and Bill Baileu. My oh my, it’s a wonderful song despite Nilsson’s dour face.
13.OH, PRETTY WOMAN (1964).
A driving beat. A twanging guitar. A jarring 3/4 time signature. Roy Orbison’s iconic breakthrough hit secures its classic status in the space of 10 seconds, before he’s even begun singing. Orbison co-wrote Oh, Pretty Woman with Bill Dees in 1964 in tribute to Orbison’s first wife, Claudette, after the two had separated, divorced and then reunited. Speaking about the song’s genesis on NPR in 2008, Dees said: “[Claudette] came bopping down the stairs and said, ‘Give me some money’. ‘What do you need money for?’ [Roy] said. She said ‘Well, I’ve got to go to the store’, and as she walked away they were whispering and kissing bye bye, away from me. I stood up at the table, and he came back to the table, and I said ‘Does this sound funny? [singing] Pretty woman, don’t need no money’. He laughed, and he said ‘There’s nothing funny about pretty woman’. He right away started, [singing] ‘Pretty woman, walking down the street’. By the time she got back, we had it written.”
14FEELING GOOD (1965)
Nina Simone recorded the definitive, uplifting version of a song written for the stage play The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd by Londoners Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley. Simone’s version was produced by Hal Mooney, a jazz musician who had been part of the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra.
15.I GOT YOU (I FEEL GOOD) 1965.
The first version of James Brown’s song had no guitar. For a re-recording, Brown added guitar, made his screams more pronounced and put in more saxophone from Maceo Parker. It sounds good, you know that it does.
16I’M A BELIEVER (1966)
Neil Diamond’s sins are all forgiven, because he wrote this classic happy love song, which was most famously recorded by The Monkees and lives on in the affections of wedding DJs and hopeless romantics everywhere. It’s been covered countless times, but the jangly, beachy Sixties guitar riffs of the Monkees’ version are the best bet for sending your mood soaring. Diamond’s Sweet Caroline would also make a longer list.
17.GOOD VIBRATIONS (1966).
Brian Wilson used 90 hours of magnetic recording tape to perfect the Wall of Sound technique that helped make Good Vibrations such a hit for The Beach Boys. Exultations.
18.SUMMER IN THE CITY (1966).
Possibly the only song to feature on The Simpsons and Only Fools and Horses, Lovin Spoonful’s Summer in the City is full of pulsating music – and car horns.
19.SUNNY AFTERNOON (1966).
The laconic gem from Ray Davies. Why worry, even if the taxman has taken all your money? The song by The Kinks was a chart-topper in the week England won the World Cup in 1966. Now there’s a sunny afternoon to celebrate.
20.WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD (1967).
It may not have been the wisest decision by Tony Bennett to turn down a song of such optimism and tolerance. It was written by Bob Thiele, a record producer who had worked with jazz greats such as Coleman Hawkins, and George David Weiss (who also wrote the Elvis Presley hit Can’t Help Falling In Live) but Bennett did and the song was later recorded by Louis Armstrong. The genius jazz trumpeter, the man who invented scat singing, made the song his own, with a rich and moving interpretation that resonates with music fans four decades on.
21.AIN’T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH (1967).
This R&B-infused declaration of unbreakable love was Marvin Gaye’s first collaboration with Tammi Terrell. Though their partnership was purely platonic, they made a charismatic pair and recorded three albums together during her short life (Terrell died of a brain tumour when she was 24). Written by Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, it also became, three years later, a hit for Diana Ross. It’s inspirational.
22.THE BARE NECESSITIES (1967).
There has to be a place for the song from Disney’s The Jungle Book – sung by Phil Harris as Baloo and Bruce Reitherman as Mowgli – with its memorably cheery lyrics: “Forget about your worries and your strife”.
23.ITCHYKOO PARK (1967).
Psychedelic pop from The Small Faces, and a song inspired by itchy nettles in a London park. Thank you Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane.
24.THE 59TH STREET BRIDGE SONG (FEELIN’ GROOVY) (1967)
Hard to argue with the chilled message of Simon & Garfunkel’s Feelin’ Groovy: “Slow down, you move too fast”.
25.WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS (1968).
Joe Cocker revamped the classic by Beatles songwriters John Lennon and Paul McCartney, recorded it in a slower a slower, 6/8 meter, and used Procol Harum drummer BJ Wilson, guitar lines from Jimmy Page and organ by Tommy Eyre: the result was one of the feelgood rock songs of all time.
26.HERE COMES THE SUN (1969).
One of the finest Beatles songs. Composer George Harrison said in his autobiography, I, Me, Mine: “Here Comes the Sun was written at the time when Apple was getting like school, where we had to go and be businessmen: ‘Sign this’ and ‘sign that.’ Anyway, it seems as if winter in England goes on forever, by the time spring comes you really deserve it. So one day I decided I was going to sag off Apple and I went over to Eric Clapton’s house. The relief of not having to go see all those dopey accountants was wonderful, and I walked around the garden with one of Eric’s acoustic guitars and wrote Here Comes the Sun.”
27.MOVE ON UP (1970).
The late Curtis Mayfield had a nine-minute version of the exuberant Move On Up on his debut album Curtis. An edited version was also hit in the UK.
28.ABC (1970)
From that faraway neverland before the late Michael Jackson was abducted by aliens and subjected to face-altering experiments, ABC is piano and guitar-driven Motown gold. Berry Gordy and his corporation channel The Jackson 5’s childhood exuberance and innocent ecstasy into something approaching pure joy. Easy as 1, 2, 3.
29.YOU TURN ME ON I’M RADIO (1972).
Playing with the title metaphor all the way through, this upbeat country-tinged hit from Joni Mitchell is self-aware enough to transcend its cheesy country rock vibe. Mitchell admits in the chorus, with a knowing wink, that she’s “a little bit corny”. Her sense of humour shines through the summery songwriting as she plays the good-time hippy chick, promising that “if your head says forget it/But your heart’s still smoking/Call me at the station/The lines are open”.
30.THUNDER ROAD (1975).
In Bruce Springsteen’s Thunder Road, it’s Mary who “dances across the porch as the radio plays”. And Mary, as The Boss says, is a beautiful name. Uplifting Springsteen.
31.LET YOUR LOVE FLOW (1976).
Let Your Love Flow is another song rejected by a top performer. Neil Diamond decided to pass on a love song written by a former roadie called Larry E Williams. The catchy love song was taken up by The Bellamy Brothers – David and Howard from Florida – and they soon had a worldwide hit on their hands. It was No1 in America, and in the UK top for five weeks. Let Your Love Flow went back into the charts in 2008 when it was used in a Barclaycard advert.
32.SIR DUKE (1976).
Stevie Wonder’s joyous celebration of music, written as a tribute to the jazz pianist and bandleader Duke Ellington. If you want some more feel-good Wonder music, then follow this up with You Are The Sunshine of My Life.
33.AMAZING GRACE (1976).
With no MP3 available of the original 1779 version of John Newton’s hymn, we’ll happily settle for country singer Willie Nelson’s hit in 1976.
34.MR BLUE SKY (1977).
Jeff Lynne wrote this foot-tapping ditty while locked in a chalet in the Swiss alps, trying to come up with a follow-up album to Electric Light Orchestra’s hit A New World Record. After a fortnight of gloomy weather and writers’ block suddenly the sun came out and ELO’s Mr Blue Sky was born.
35.THREE LITTLE BIRDS (1977).
There is a sweet tale about the origins of Bob Marley’s hit Three Little Birds. Marley’s friend Tony Gilbert recalled: “Bob got inspired by a lot of things around him, he observed life. I remember the three little birds. They were pretty birds, canaries, who would come by the windowsill at Hope Road.” Bask in the joy.
‘Don’t worry . . . about a thing,
‘Cause every little thing gonna be alright.’
36.LOVELY DAY (1977).
When Breakfast Radio sends this song into your kitchen the bassline all but pours you a coffee and butters your toast. It is so laid back that Withers, who was a toilet seat fitter for Boeing before making it in the music world, stretches that long “daaaay” note over 18 seconds.
37.THE BRIGHT SIDE OF THE ROAD (1979).
The famously grumpy Van Morrison is in optimistic mood with The Bright Side of the Road, which included some foot-tapping harmonica from the Belfast Cowboy and a Louis Armstrong impression.
‘From the dark end of the street,
To the bright side of the road,
We’ll be lovers once again
on the Bright side of the road.’
38.GOOD TIMES (1979).
How can it fail to be jolly? Chic’s disco hit included a nod to Milton Ager’s Happy Days Are Here Again in a lyric line to that song title.
39.REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL, PART 3 (1979).
Here are some of the reasons to be cheerful included in Ian Dury’s cheeky, funny and very British Seventies hit that will make you smile in spite of yourself: the juice of a carrot, the smile of a parrot, something nice to study, phoning up a buddy, Domineker camels, all other mammals, nanny goats, equal votes, porridge oats, yellow socks, curing smallpox. Bonus reason to be cheerful: the song’s excellent use of funky cowbell.
40.ARE YOU READY FOR LOVE (1979).
You may know this song from the video game Donkey Konga 2 but it’s more likely you have smiled to the version that has the real Elton John singing a fine song written by Leroy Bell, Thom Bell and Casey James.
41.CELEBRATION (1980).
Still a favourite at weddings and parties, this No1 by Kool & The Gang was ousted off top spot by Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5. Still cause to celebrate.
42.YOU MAKE MY DREAMS (1981).
Hall & Oates’s happy love song has been widely played, featuring on King of the Hill, Saturday Night Live, Glee, The Office US and everything in between. It was also used to perfectly illustrate the joy felt after spending the night with a very special person for the first time in (500) Days of Summer.
43.START ME UP (1981).
The lead single from Tattoo You, the Rolling Stones’s 1981 album, Start Me Up is a whirligig of devil-may-care joy with the the kind of iconic opening riff that demands your limbs to move – but remember, no one dances quite like Mick Jagger. The song reached number seven in the UK singles chart and number two in the US.
44.WHERE EVERYBODY KNOWS YOUR NAME (1982).
Writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Mark Jude Tramo, neurology professor at Harvard Medical School and director of the Institute for Music & Brain Science in Boston, said: “We believe music can cause neurochemical changes in specific parts of the brain. Music is a powerful auditory stimulus.” So powerful in fact that it causes the release of dopamine, which is responsible for motivation and feelings of happiness. What songs cause that dopamine release? When Jude Tramo asked 1000 people, one of the common responses was hearing the theme tune for the Boston-based comedy Cheers, called Where Everybody Knows Your Name, written and sung by Gary Portnoy. Watch the theme tune.
45.SWEET DREAMS (ARE MADE OF THIS) (1983).
Eurythmics’ signature song is one of empowerment, telling how we all have different tastes and desires but we’re all seeking fulfillment. Lyrics such as “some of them want to abuse you/some of them want to be abused” are deliciously concupiscent.
46.GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN (1983)
Girls Just Want to Have Fun was was written and originally recorded in 1979 by male artist Robert Hazard, who performed it from the point of view of a girl-crazy bad boy. Cyndi Lauper made it her own, with an anthem-style version. She said: “I really wanted every woman to hear that song and think about their power. That’s also why it was very important that I had women of all colours in that video, so that every little girl, wherever she was from, could see herself in that video.” You will have fun.
47.THINKING OF YOU (1984).
Still hugely infectious, because Sisters’ voices dovetailed perfectly with Chic’s infinite groove machine. Has the killer line: “What do you think brought the sun out today, it’s my baby, oh help me sing.”
48.DANCING ON THE CEILING (1986)
What better song to play at parties than a song about having a really good party? Love it or loathe it, this Lionel Richie hit has become an Eighties classic. And in the music video Ritchie, who could also have got in for Easy Like Sunday Morning, even literally dances on the ceiling.
49.I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY (WHO LOVES ME) (1987).
The late Whitney Houston won the Grammy award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female for her surging dance song.
50.IF I HAD A BOAT (1987).
Most country music songs are downers but there is something cheery and silly about Lyle Lovett’s song, sparked by memories of trying to ride a pony across a pond as a child. “I think songs like that approach you,” Lovett said. “I remember being at home just playing the guitar that morning and I sort of played the chorus.” It’s full of fun imagery:
‘The mystery masked man was smart,
He got himself a Tonto,
‘Cause Tonto did the dirty work for free.
But Tonto he was smarter,
And one day said ‘Kemo Sabe’
Kiss my ass, I bought a boat
I’m going out to sea.’
51.HAVE A LITTLE FAITH IN ME (1987).
In Woody Allen’s Manhattan, there is a key moment when Tracy (played by Mariel Hemingway) tells Isacc (Allen) to believe in people. “Not everybody gets corrupted,” she says. “You’ve got to have faith in people.” There’s no upbeat tempo to John Hiatt’s 1987 song Have a Little Faith in Me, but it offers a similar message of hope and trust.
52.I’M TOO SEXY (1991).
Can’t help but think of the character CJ Cregg singing “I’m too sexy for my shirt, too sexy for my skirt” as she dances across the room in an episode of the West Wing, prompting Toby to exclaim: “What in God’s name is . . . “. The song was the only US No1 for British band Right Said Fred but retains its charm as an ironic and fun curiosity.
53.I’M GOING ALL THE WAY (1993).
From Minneapolis gospel and R&B ensemble’s 1993 album, Africa to America. In a tradition of affirmative, uplifting R&B from Curtis Mayfield’s ‘Move On Up’ to the O’Jays’ ‘Love Train’. This Sounds of Blackness hit, which was chosen for Desert Island Discs by Olympic double gold winner Dame Kelly Holmes, has exultant choir singing, a wailing lead vocal, and instrumentation that floats as light as a feather. If this doesn’t make your spirits soar, check your pulse. You may not have one.
54.LIVE FOREVER (1994).
Written by Noel Gallagher as a direct response to the depressing grunge music of early-Nineties American bands such as Nirvana, Live Forever by Oasis is a joyous ode to nothing more than the simple pleasure of being alive. As the elder Gallagher brother put it with typical eloquence: “We had f— all, and I still thought that getting up in the morning was the greatest f—ing thing ever.” The third single from debut album, Definitely Maybe, also captures Liam Gallagher’s snarling vocals at their most potent.
55.YOU AND ME SONG (1994).
Originally released in 1994, You and Me Song reached its full popularity when it was included in the soundtrack to Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet in 1996. The quiet verse suddenly gives way to an exuberant chorus from The Wannadies about being together forever, with a couple making up after having a fight. It’s still the biggest UK hit for the Swedish band.
56.YOU’VE GOT A FRIEND IN ME (1995).
Randy Newman (above, performing the Oscar-winning song We Belong Together from the sequel film Toy Story 3), has since been nominated for 20 Oscars (winning twice) including for the Toy Story theme song, You’ve Got A Friend in Me, sung with Lyle Lovett. Just think of Woody and Buzz hugging and feel the love.
57.NEVER FORGET (1995).
However successful the recent reunion, however delighted fans were to see Robbie Williams back in the fold, nothing matches the mid-Nineties Take That. Never Forget, taken from the band’s third album Nobody Else, showcases the ultimate boyband at the peak of their powers. I defy anyone not to hit the dancefloor as the first chords of this ring out. One word of warning though: the lyric “Never pretend that it’s all real” is misleading. Those shapes you pulled last night? You may not remember them but they were real.
58.LIFTED (1995).
A surprising slow-mover on the charts when it was released in 1996, Lifted by Lighthouse Family is now a staple of playlists on radio stations such as Heart and thanks to soaring synths, guitar picking and the heart-warming buzz of Tunde Baiyewu’s vocals. We challenge your spirits not to be lifted.
59.EVERYBODY’S FREE TO WEAR SUNSCREEN (1998)
I defy anyone to listen these lyrics (originally written by Mary Schmich for a graduation speech) and not become a bit misty-eyed. This song is like an old friend you can turn to whenever times are hard. Five minutes in the company of Baz Lurhmann will always make you feel like a new person. Oh, and don’t forget to “dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary.”
60.BEAUTIFUL DAY (2000).
As inspiring lyrics go, “It’s a beautiful day, don’t let it get away” takes some beating. Taken from All That You Can’t Leave Behind, U2’s 2000 album, the song reached number one in the UK. The only downside? Football fans will forever associate it with ITV’s ill-fated Saturday evening highlights show.
61.Accidentally in Love – Counting Crows (2004)Nominated for an Oscar for best original song, Accidentally in Love was written by American rock band Counting Crows for Shrek 2. The delirious, euphoric pop-rock hooks are all about the dizziness of realising you’re falling for someone you’re not really supposed to, whether you’re an ogre, a donkey or none of the above: ‘Melting under blue skies/ Belting out sunlight/ Shimmering love/ Well baby I surrender…’ Shrek 2 is still DreamWorks’ most successful film to date, and Accidentally in Love is one of Counting Crows’ biggest hits.
62.Call Me Maybe 2012Call Me Maybe exploded Carly Rae, as she became known, into a One-Hit-Wonderland in the summer of 2012. Its bullishly catchy refrain: ‘here’s my number, call me maybe?’ interrupts bold strings and a thudding disco beat in a way that really works, even if it technically shouldn’t. To the anguish of its readers, The Guardian named Carly Rae Jepsen’s viral track the best song of 2012.
63.Far Nearer, Jamie XXThe second solo release of Jamie ‘XX’ Smith is a summery ray of sunshine, building on the innovative electronic production XX lent to remixing Gil Scott-Heron’s final album, but with none of the gloom. The result, from 2011, is an infectious track with jubilant steel drumming and distorted vocals that sound angelic.
64.22 – Taylor Swift (2012)One of the few Taylor Swift songs that *isn’t* about dumping someone or being dumped. Instead, 22 is all about being silly with your friends, heading out to a party and not worrying about what the cool kids think or that you haven’t got your life figured out quite yet. ‘We’re happy, free, confused and lonely in the best way’, sings Taylor, joyfully. Everything will be all right if we just keep dancing like we’re 22.
65.Happy – Pharrell WilliamsThis worldwide No1 from 2013 does what it says on the tin. It’s HAPPY!
Yuanita Christiani and the useful posts 