Vivaldi’s Gloria, Cherubini’s Requiem, Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmuzik (I know I have to have spelled that wrong) or anything by the Eagles. Mostly anything I can sing along with and really get into it. (I’ve got almost the whole vocal score of the Gloria memorized, I swear. Soprano, alto and tenor, and a lot of the bass part.)
i usually end up humming pearl jam’s “eldery woman…”, the “hearts and thoughts they fade, faaaaaade away” part over and over. i have no idea why, it’s not a favorite song or anything. failing that, any song by jimmy buffett will do.
Songs from the Pinafore
Otherside by The Chili Peppers…
it’s about how your life goes to hell in drug addiction… so my problem can’t be quite as bad eh?
Western Swing music always makes me feel better, no matter how stressed out I am. Bob Wills and Asleep at the Wheel have a happy, energetic sound that you just can’t help but smile when you hear it. It’s really, really, corny for the most part, but just try listening to it and tell me that you don’t think it’s a lot of fun.
“Be A Lion” from The Wiz really gives me a lot of confidence before job interviews and other situations that require confidence and strength.
Allman Bros. No words, but it’s the happiest song I know.
Sassy, I agree with that choice 110%! It cures every ailment of mine.
Anything by Sheryl Crow soothes my soul. She is such an obscenely talented artist.
If the world is about to end, it’s the Saint Matthew’s Passion. I forget I’m agnostic while I’m listening to that divinely inspired work.
For popular music, Elton John’s I’m Still Standing and Chumbawumba’s Tubthumping (“I get knocked down/But I get up again/You’re never gonna keep me down…”) If anything, both songs emphasize the point that I WILL be OK, no matter what’s happened, even if I don’t feel so at the time.
If I’m not in the mood to hear either, it’s Handel’s Messiah hands down. There is no way you can listen to it and be in a bad mood afterward!
Maggie May always seems to work for me.
Mine are rather embarrassing, but the two songs that never fail to lift my spirits are Daydream Believer by the Monkees, and Downtown by Petula Clark.
Where Is My Mind by the Pixies is the song to listen to while I’m stressed, though - when I listen to it I can almost feel the relief. I probably owe my sanity to that song.
Folkie stuff for me. Acoustic and/or choral folkie stuff in particular.
On The Willows from God Spell
or Marrage from Caberet
or the Song from Scrooge the musical just as Scrooge chages (Do my eyes decieve me)