Here are more than 60 happy songs that will leave you feeling happier… without having to mute or talk over any of the lyrics 🙂
I love music. I love singing and dance parties and the power music can have over us. I love that it changes our mood, brings us closer to where we want to be, and motivates us, all while entertaining us.
My kids love listening to music, and they discovered on their own by Kindergarten that the right playlist on the way to school (namely “Everything is Awesome” and “Happy”, that year) could start their day off right.
Here are more than 60 songs that will leave you feeling happier… without having to mute or talk over any of the lyrics 🙂 —
- 1, 2, 3, 4 by Plain White T’s
- ABC by Jackson 5
- Ain’t no Mountain High Enough by Marvin Gaye
- Best Day of My Life by American Authors
- Boogie Shoes by KC & The Sunshine Band
- Brighter than then Sun by Colbie Caillat
- Cliffs of Dover by Eric Johnson
- Crocodile Rock by Elton John
- Dancing in the Moonlight by King Harvest
- Dancing Queen by Abba
- Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey
- Don’t Worry be Happy by Bobby McFerrin
- Everything is Awesome by Tegan and Sara
- Fallin’ for Ya from Teen Beach 2
- Feeling Good by Nina Simone (though my favorite version is Michael Buble‘s cover)
- Fireflies by Owl City
- Float On (Clean/Radio edit) by Modest Mouse
- Footloose by Kenny Loggins
- Friend Like Me from Aladdin
- Get Down by Audio Adrenaline
- Geronimo by Sheppard
- Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper
- Good Life by One Republic*
- Good Morning by Mandisa
- Good Time by Owl City and Carly Rae Jepsen
- Happy by Pharrell Williams
- Happy Together by the Turtles
- Happy Working Song from Enchanted
- Hooked on a Feeling by Blue Swede
- I’ve Had the Time of my Life from Dirty Dancing
- If I had a Million Dollars by Barenaked Ladies
- I’m a Believer by the Monkees
- Immortals by Fall Out Boy
- I’ve Got a Dream from Tangled
- I’ve got the World on a String by Frank Sinatra
- Knee Deep by Zac Brown Band
- Life’s a Happy Song from The Muppets
- Lucky by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat
- The Middle by Jimmy Eat World
- No Matter Where you Are by Us the Duo
- On top of the World by Imagine Dragons
- One More Time by Daft Punk
- Popular Song by Mika and Ariana Grande
- Roar by Katy Perry
- Say Hey (I love you) by Michael Franti & Spearhead
- Shake it Off by Taylor Swift
- Smile by Uncle Kracker
- Something Big by Shawn Mendes
- Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole
- Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious from Mary Poppins
- Surfin USA by Beach Boys
- Three Little Birds by Bob Marley
- Under the Sea from The Little Mermaid
- Upside Down by Jack Johnson
- Uptown Girl by Billy Joel
- Wake me Up Before you Go Go by Wham!
- Walking on Sunshine by KC & the Sunshine Band
- You Can’t Hurry Love by The Supremes
- You can’t Stop the Beat from Hairspray
- You Might Think by Weezer (or the original by The Cars)
- You’ve Got a Friend in Me by Randy Newman
- Wagon Wheel by Darius Rucker (or Old Crow Medicine Show)
- Waka Waka (This time for Africa) by Shakira
- What Makes you Beautiful by One Direction
- Zip-a-dee-doo-dah from Song of the South
For those times you’re kid-free and can blast your own jams in the car with the windows down and the radio up? These are the top 5 responses I got when I polled hundreds of people for their ideas:
- Shut Up and Dance by Walk the Moon**
- Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars
- Cruise by Florida Georgia Line
- I’m gonna Be (500 Miles) by the Proclaimers
- Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO
*there is one “potty word” in this one, but you can find clean versions on itunes, etc. Check for live performances and covers!
**this one is clean if you don’t mind “shut up”. If you’re like us and keep that one for grown ups for a while longer, well there’s no way around it 😉 A big congrats to Nick Petricca (from my alma mater) and Cincinnati-based Walk the Moon, too! 🙂
What else would you add to the list?
Leave a Reply