I still think that “Good Riddance” is upbeat. I know that at some of our school farewells our senior students use it and bop around to it with great fervour and fun.
It’s a good choice IMHO
What about ‘Alright’ by Supergrass? It’s really upbeat, it was used on the Clueless soundtrack:
Cheap Trick - “Surrender”
Nuff said.
Any song by Beat Happening. Particulary Jamboree (the song mostly, but also the entire album), Teenage Caveman, and Our Secret. The last two can be found here.
Modest Mouse can also be good for this, like with Baby Blue Sedan, The World At Large, So Much Beauty In Dirt, Styrofoam Boots, Talking Shit About A Pretty Sunset, etc etc.
Also, you could try Tilly and the Wall, who have two albums that have captured the sound of youth more consistently than any other band I have heard. Beat Happening captures silly first loves perfectly, Joy Division captures all the moments of pain and frustration of adolescence well, Modest Mouse covers all the questioning of life, religion, and anything else questionable to a young one. Tilly and the Wall, however, covers them all with their simple, lovely sound. Team Love’s website has the entire album, www.team-love.com , but it seems to be down at the moment.
Oh, and, Saves the Day. Their B-Sides album is perfect. Hell, they recorded it as teenagers, so they are as close as you can get really.
Big Star - “Thirteen.”
Won’t you let me walk you home from school
Won’t you let me meet you at the pool
Maybe Friday I can
Get tickets for the dance
And I’ll take you…
Eagles’s “Boys of Summer” always reminds me of happy teen summers…
Nitpick: not The Eagles. Don Henley.
Carry on.
Thanks for all the suggestions!
I think she wants something that the older folks will recognize, so right now it’s between Beach Boys “wouldn’t it be nice” and Beatles “I saw her standing there”
In that case, my vote goes for Beach Boys. When talking about teenagers, you’re probably better off with “Wouldn’t it be nice if we were older” rather then “I saw her [a minor] standing there.” Either one is good, but all alse being equal, I’d vote for the beach boys tune when it comes to a wedding.
Much as I hate to start a post like this, i have to say that I am appalled that no one has mentioned “I’m Eighteen” by Alice Cooper. That’s adolescence.
Woo Hooo! MY suggestions!
[does Pee Wee Herman Tequila dance]
MC5’s “High School” or “Teenage Lust”
http://www.lyricsdownload.com/mc5-high-school-lyrics.html
http://www.lyricsdownload.com/mc5-teenage-lust-lyrics.html
Or Springsteen’s “Growing Up”
I think it’s just because it’s the theme of “Veronica Mars,” but the first song to pop into my head was the Dandy Warhols’s “We Used to be Friends.”