Happy Songs

Do you have any songs that just instantly make you happy? Whether it reminds you of a good time you had or it's just fun to listen to, I can't help but get in a good mood when these songs come on. So here are a few of mine. You're more than welcome to listen to any for your listening pleasure. Maybe it will even make you feel a little happy.

1) Centerfold by the J Giles Band - I've heard this in the car on the radio going to work twice in the last week, and each time I've turned it up to max volume and jammed alone in my car. Both nights, I felt fantastic the rest of the night. My sister burned me a CD with Centerfold on it the summer before my freshman year of high school and I used to listen to it all the time. That CD is long gone now, but I still remember that summer of going to the pool every day with my friends and being excited for high school. I also like any song with "Na na na" or "Sha la la" or something like that in it. It instantly makes me happy.

2) When the World Ends by Dave Matthews Band - This has sentimental value because it's my song with John. The night we started dating, I went to see Dave in concert with Alli and I remember Alli planted the seed in my head about this song. I shrugged it off at first, but the more I listened to it, the more I loved it. Now, it brings me back to the exciting days of having a new relationship. While I love the rhythm of my relationship now, the first few months of it provided feelings I had never had before that have only grown, so it's nice to hear a song and feel that way again.

3) Hotel California by the Eagles - This song reminds me of my family. I'm not entirely sure why except that every member in my family adores this song. When we would go to Hilton Head every summer, there was an outdoor bar/grill that had a few different guitar players and singers sing Jimmy Buffett songs and the like, but no one got more excited when someone would sing Hotel California than my parents.

4) Send Me On My Way by Rusted Root - Honestly, I just like how this sounds. The beat just kind of gets me moving and it's kind of silly trying to sing it since I can't really understand what the guy is saying.

5) Aux Champs Elysees by Joe Dassin - One of the last days I was in La Rochelle, my teacher gave us printed lyrics to this french song and let us listen to it. We tried singing it all together, but this well-known song was too fast for our slow-talking American ways. I have a hard time comparing this song to well-known American songs. It's a song every man, woman, and child in France knows. Not like Itsy Bitsy Spider, but not like Hit Me Baby One More Time either. Some sort of hybrid. Listening to it reminds me of summer, France, and my teacher Nelly.

6) We're At The Top of the World by Juliana Theory - Once again, another song with a "Sha la la la" in it. Something about those songs just gets me.

7) Most Frank Sinatra songs - I work in a restaurant that plays this sort of music 24/7. I know every word and when I hear these songs somewhere else, I can't help but feel a little bit more sophisticated than the rest of the crowd for knowing these classics so well. It also just reminds me of work, where all of the employees make up a kind of family. I absolutely adore my job, and I don't mind being reminded of it any time.

8) Come On! Feel The Illinoise! by Sufjan Stevens - I used to take my enormous variety of Sufjan songs for granted. I would only listen to the songs I really liked, like Chicago and For the Widows in Paradise, For the Fatherless in Ypsilanti. On my frequent trips to Charlottesville when I was in college, however, I started opening up my mind to more. This song would always come on randomly right as I was about 5 minutes from Charlottesville. That alone would have been enough to make it one of my happy songs, but the more I listen to it, the more I appreciate that upbeat feel to it.

So there's a basic list of songs that make me feel good. Now go turn on your iTunes and listen to yours!