My "Impossible to Be Sad" Playlist

I am focusing over the next few weeks on being more positive and working to find ways to encourage happiness, joy and thankfulness in myself. This is not necessarily an easy task for me, as it's one thing to say "I should try to be happier" and quite another thing to actually make the decision not to wallow in my malcontent. I will be blogging a bit about that over the next few weeks, taking a brief break from being snarky (no Jessie reviews for a bit) and focus on blogging about positive things and my own journey towards embracing the positive.

In light of that, however, I'm reposting a note I wrote on Facebook back in 2010 - an "it is impossible for me to be sad now" mix that I put together of songs that just made overwhelmingly happy. I've included YouTube links to the songs in question and added a few new favorites. These songs continue to be some of my favorites when I'm feeling down. It's amazing, the power that music can have over us.

Original List


1. "Footloose" by Rockapella. [Note: I could not find Rockapella's version on YouTube, so I have linked to the original by Kenny Loggins.] Really, most versions of this song would work. This one just happened to the one I had at hand. An extremely triumphant movie ending with an extremely triumphant song.
This song makes me want to: Get up and dance!

2. "That's How You Know" from Enchanted. I'm kind of a sucker for songs that build up to involving huge amounts of people in a swelling chorus at the end... This one is so ridiculously happy.
This song makes me want to: Go skipping through New York City.

3. "Hot Air Balloon" by Owl City. I think it's the instrumentation of this song I love more than anything else.
This song makes me want to: Lie on my back in a field and watch clouds.

4. "It's Your Wedding Day" from The Wedding Singer. This show is one of my guilty pleasures, and it was very difficult to narrow it down to just having one song from there on my list. (Honorable mentions go to songs such as "Single" which have very sad lyrics but deliver them in a ridiculously happy way.)
This song makes me want to: Go to... well, not necessarily a wedding. But SOME sort of happy celebrating party.

5. "After Today" from A Goofy Movie. I've slowly come to the realization that A Goofy Movie features some of the all-time best songs in Disney's repertoire. And this is the best one from the movie.
This song makes me want to: Be done with school! Heh. Whenever I listen to this song on the last day of school, I can't stop smiling.

6. "Nothing Suits Me Like a Suit" from How I Met Your Mother. Neil Patrick Harris is a brilliant song-and-dance man, and he takes this silly little song about the brilliance of suits and makes it somehow very epically cheerful. And awesome.
This song makes me wants to: See Neil Patrick Harris in a live show. But it also makes me wish life was a musical.

7. "Nine Percent Chance" from High Fidelity. This has GOT to be one of the most optimistic songs every written. Heh. "Maybe there is a God! Maybe I've got a prayer! Maybe, oh, maybe Elvis isn't dead!"
This song makes me want to: Be more hopeful about my life.

8. "High of '75" by Relient K. This song really connects with me because my mood is sometimes very strongly connected to my atmosphere. Cloudy days or darkened rooms make me sad or angry... Sun and light in general make me happier! So it makes me think of happy sunny days.
This song makes me want to: Enjoy my life, 'cause I'm happy to be alive!

9. "That Thing You Do!" by The Wonders. It technically has sad lyrics, but it's hard to tell because the music is way too happy for it.
This song makes me want to: Dance!

10. "I'll Cover You" from Rent. Rent has a lot of great upbeat songs, but most of them have sort of a rebel feel to them. This one's just pure happy.
This song makes me want to: Be in love! But not with a gay guy with AIDS. That would end sadly for me.

11. "Linus and Lucy" by Vince Guaraldi. A lot of the awesomeness of A Charlie Brown Christmas comes from the awesome soundtrack behind it. This one's a little bit more of a mellow happy than the last few on the mix, but it's still impossible for me to be sad to!
This song makes me want to: Do the Snoopy dance. Also, celebrate Christmas.

12. "God Only Knows" by The Beach Boys. Admittedly, some of the happiness of this song comes from the fact that it's used beautifully at the end of Love Actually, my favorite chick flick ever. And it's not exactly an all-happy song, but it just fills me with a sense of joy to have the friends and family I have.
This song makes me want to: Hug people at an airport! Okay, not really. That was just in the movie. It does make me think of my loved ones, though, and breathe a sigh of contentment.

13. "Singin' in the Rain" from Singin' in the Rain. I've thought for awhile now that this is one of the happiest scenes in movie history. I can't watch this and not feel better about life. While the song is not quite as effective sans dance sequence, I still love it, especially that last chorus where the music suddenly swells. Good stuff!
This song makes me want to: ...Do I even have to say it?

14. "Upular" by Pogo. This is actually the song that inspired me to make this mix in the first place. I haven't been able to stop listening to this the past few days. It's a song using sound samples from the movie Up, and you end up with an absurdly cheerful song that is awfully hard to sing along to, heh, but sure makes *me* feel a lot better about life.
This song makes me want to: Watch clouds. Maybe I'll see a house on balloons, too.

15. The Mystery Science Theater 3000 theme song. One of my favorite theme songs of all time (and this is my favorite version of the theme: "But his boss didn't like him so he shot him into space"). Totally silly but super fun. Complete with random "la la la"s throughout.
This song makes me want to: ...Well, watch MST3K, really.

16. "You Can't Stop the Beat" from Hairspray. Hairspray was another show that almost made it into this mix a couple times...but in the end, nothing in there beats this song for sheer dancing joy. One of the most satisfying musical endings in existence.
This song makes me want to: Dance! But in TRIUMPH!

17. "The Way You Make Me Feel" by Michael Jackson. Sometimes this song gets overlooked amidst all his other hit songs, but it's becoming one of my very favorites. It's not deep or substantive, but it's airy and light and fun.
This song makes me want to: Walk, actually. This isn't a dancey song as much as it is... walking. With a spring in your step. And an occasional twirl. :-)

18. "Caramelldansen," the Speedycake remix. There's kind of a hyperactive happiness to this song that just always makes me feel a bit better about my life. And a bit more energetic, too.
This song makes me want to: Twirl around in circles for no reason.

19. "So Much Better" from Legally Blonde. This is my other guilty pleasure show. This is a great song about celebrating when something good suddenly comes your way.
This song makes me want to: Feel better about myself!

20. "Roll in the Hay" from Young Frankenstein. Despite all the awkward innuendos in the song, it's extremely fun to sing. The yodeling part is my favorite.
This song makes me want to: Go on a hayride, actually. Although I hate hayrides, so I probably wouldn't want to.

21. "I'm Not That Smart" from The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Although a portion of this song is actually fairly sad, lyrically, this character is just so happy and cheerful about life that it makes it all work. The part where he's just singing nonsense sounds makes me smile a lot. "I like it a lot!"
This song makes me want to: See my little brothers. Heh. It reminds me of them a little bit.

22. "Dear Prudence" from Across the Universe. I like this movie in general, but I LOVE what they did with this song. It became this very... peaceful, content call to enjoy how great life is.
This song makes me want to: Sit in a field of grass and just listen to music. Maybe this song in particular! I don't know. Heh.

23. "Jetzt ist Sommer" by Wise Guys. I really love these guys. They're a German a cappella group and they're great fun, but this song in particular is just great.
This song makes me want to: Speak German. Dance. Go outside. Be done with school. Not necessarily in that order.

Just a Couple Essential Additions to That List

24. "I Feel So Much Spring" from A New Brain. I discovered this just a year or two ago and fell in love with it. It's about freedom from all the things that have oppressed you. "What was dark so long had felt like winter, finally there's sun, and so I sing that I feel so much spring." This is how it feels, folks, when you suddenly realize you're not depressed today.
This song makes me want to: Feel the release and relief of all my burdens being gone.

25. "Thinkin' Bout Somethin'" by Hanson. Another song about the joys of moving past the trials, in this case a breakup. The singer is no longer preoccupied by thoughts of that relationship, and that feels awesome.
This song makes me want to: Dance around celebrating the triumphs I have had.

26. "Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen. I didn't listen to much Queen when I started this mix, but now this is one of my favorites. The song just keeps soaring and flying and getting happier all the time.
This song makes me want to: Not be stopped. Seriously. I just want to power on through everything and be awesome.

How about you guys? If you were making an "it's impossible for me to be sad when I listen to these songs" playlist, what would you include?