There are some pop songs that are guaranteed to put a smile on your
face. These are Dorian Lynskey’s favourites; tell us about yours. Which songs always give
you a lift?
Nothing can change your mood as dramatically in just three or four
minutes as a pop song. Happy songs are potent capsules of joy that can
intensify a good mood or relieve a bad one, and give you the reassuring
sensation of being in benevolent company. These 10 tracks are
unfailingly effective for me. Do they work for you — and, if not, what
would you choose to play instead? Tell us about your favourites in the
comments below.
Frank Wilson: Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)
Shelved at the last minute until the northern soul scene rescued it
from oblivion, Motown staff producer Frank Wilson’s only solo single
could be the label’s most heart-poundingly emphatic love song. Every
time Wilson asks “Do I love you?” the music answers before he does: yes yes YES.
The Turtles: Happy Together
A song so delighted by the way that it bursts from black-and-white
verse to Technicolor chorus that it can’t stop repeating the trick,
Happy Together is a series of explosions, increasing in magnitude until
the harmonies light up the sky. Behind the simple story of a boy and a
girl you can hear the wonderfully out-of-proportion optimism of the
Summer of Love in full bloom.
Stevie Wonder
has a rare gift for happiness that gives his love songs an elevating,
airborne quality. For Once in My Life is structured as an ascent from
disappointment to bliss, shrugging off the past bit by bit. Wonder was
only 18 when he recorded it but sounded like he’d been waiting twice
that long for a love worth singing about.
Curtis Mayfield: Move on Up
It’s hard to write a truly happy protest song and only someone as
optimistic as Curtis Mayfield could consider the worst while still
believing in the best. Move on Up forms a bridge between gospel and
disco, its busy, brassy, unstoppable groove acting as a metaphor for
perseverance. The title makes a promise that the music keeps.
ELO: Mr Blue Sky
Nobody has ever sounded more pleased to see the sun coming out from
behind the clouds than ELO’s Jeff Lynne on this extravagant work of
Beatles fan art, larded with orchestra, choir and vocoder. Taking a
simple conceit to stratospheric heights, it sounds like somebody trying
to portray happiness from every possible angle before the clock runs
out.
Deee-Lite: Groove Is in the Heart
Groove Is in the Heart has been filling dancefloors for 15 years
because it’s just too eventful to grow old. Deee-Lite’s utopian party
groove refracts disco through Daisy Age hip hop, creating a space where
Funkadelic and Q-Tip can play with Dr Seuss while hook follows hook. It
declares at the outset, “We are going to dance and have some fun” and
delivers every time.
Björk: Big Time Sensuality
Björk is an emotional maximalist: her sorrow is devastating and her
happiness volcanic. This song is about taking the plunge after a first
date and her growling, swooping vocal conveys a spirit of reckless
adventure. It captures both the thrill of the moment and the electric
anticipation of greater joy to come.
Supergrass: Alright
A bottle rocket of youthful exuberance that represents Britpop’s long
summer at its giddy peak. There’s no particular event in the lyrics to
explain the trio’s irrepressible jollity but nothing can dent it.
Propelled by rollicking Chas & Dave piano, they are the geezer
Monkees, capering around, seeing the sights, high on youth itself.
Daft Punk: Get Lucky
Pharrell Williams wrote Happy for kids but his vocal here,
half-spiritual, half-frisky, is the grownup version, orbiting a perfect,
endless groove. As warm, spacious and impeccably crafted as any of the
disco classics it homages, Get Lucky is a deluxe item with a generous
populist mission. It celebrates whoever dances to it.
Todd Terje: Oh Joy
Norwegian producer Todd Terje makes dance music that’s as bright as a
cartoon and as buoyant as a balloon. Oh Joy piles melody upon melody
for three delirious minutes before finally dropping the beat, then
proceeds to chase peak after peak. The kind of relentlessly
pleasure-seeking song that turns your life into a feelgood movie for as
long as it lasts.
