I have a confession.
I like Coldplay. I know, they are so vanilla and a lot of people don’t like them, but I do.
I have a confession.
I like Coldplay. I know, they are so vanilla and a lot of people don’t like them, but I do.
Found him. Sasha Koledin.
All in the Mind, by the Verve. Every. single. time.
Pretty much anything by Oingo Boingo but Little Girls is downright joyful (despite it pedophile subject matter). And if you look closely at the video, I believe that is is Mr. Peter Dinklage playing one of the house guests.
“Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” Wham! For some reason, the tempo seems slower in this video than it is in the version of the song I have. Or else I just have a case of the Fridays and my ears are playing tricks on me.
So this is a no-brainer for me—Patrick Wolf, The Magic Position. The song is made to perk you up, starting with a few major scales, which recurs as a theme in the lyrics, as well. Plus, few people know how to construct songs like Patrick Wolf.
“Joy to the World” by Three Dog Night.
Takes me right back to summers in high school, driving up to the lake with a car full of friends, singing along to the radio at the top of our lungs.
I love this band! Good call!
Beethoven, 7th Symphony, 1st movement.
His 9th symphony famously has an Ode to Joy. This rollicking romp of a symphonic movement IS joy.
Nothing wrong with *any *of that!
“Only Makes Me Laugh” from Oingo Boingo’s *Alive *album. It’s gotta be this track, from this album. Danny’s studio version does not -even remotely- invoke the same level of joy.
The Uninvited’s, “Too High for the Supermarket”, always brings a smile to my face, too.
Wagon Wheel, the version by Darius Rucker. Darius Rucker - Wagon Wheel - YouTube
(Other songs too, but that’s the first that came to mind.) I don’t even like the lyrics that much, but it’s such a cheerful melody.
Pretenders - Don’t Get Me Wrong
Much toe-tapping happiness.
I was going to mention Mendelssohn’s “Italian” Symphony, 1st movement. Total exuberant joy.
Even in your dark moments, how could this not lift your spirits?
If we’re doing Ahhhhht Music, I’ll shout out the Rondo from Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto.
For everyday pop/rock, The Kinks probably make me happier than almost any other band. “Waterloo Sunset,” “Picture Book,” “Village Green Preservation Society”…but hands down the best is “Victoria.” Especially at the 2:58 minute mark, where Dave Davies starts…screaming with glee.
And this one just came up in the “Best Music Video” thread. REM’s “Stand.” Great on its own, but if you watch the video over and over it will always make you think of pretty young 1980s people dancing up and down, and baby ducks.
A lesser known composer and piece of note is Sir Arnold Bax and his tone-poem Tintagel (birthplace of King Arthur). The first two and a half minutes alone are like having the orchestra reach out and give you a gonad-shattering blow job.
America - Ventura Highway
Whoa, Ike, that sounds NSFW. I’ll listen to it at home.
The Tintagel link above has lotsa pretty pictures, but THIS is the definitive recording (so far)…Sir John Barbirolli conducting the London in 1967 (remastered):
No pretty pictures, though…
Great choice, it’s one of the many I considered, as well as most of their hits. Ray Davies’ lyrics have a knack for making me smile even when he is describing depressing situations. In this case, he’s a man who knows his country is screwed up, but he loves it anyway. Just awesome, plus it has a fantastic bass part.
When I saw REM on this tour, Michael Stipe introduced this song as “the stupidest song ever written by man”, and that always makes me happy when I hear it.