What was this song with clapping hands and happy singing?
October 4, 2011 2:05 PM   Subscribe

waste-of-a-question filter: Contemporary, upbeat song featuring hand claps.

I heard a snipped of this song in an airport a couple weeks ago, and again out of someone's open window the other day. I don't even particularly like it, but it has become the wormiest of earworms.

The problem: I heard it so indistinctly both times that I don't even have a clear melody to hum into one of those identify-my-song things. What I do know about it:

- It featured prominent hand claps in a clapclap---clap---clapclap---clap beat
- I think a group of women sang the chorus, which may or may not have included the phrase "I want to thank you". It did not seem to have complex harmonies, it just sounded like more than one voice singing the same notes.
- it was upbeat and happy-sounding, not soulful or ballad-y or heavily processed.

Can you help me, please? I am thinking that this must be a relatively new-ish song, based on the fact that the airport music switched over to Maroon 5 right after. Assume that I know *nothing* about popular music—it might be, like, the new Britney Spears song that the entire universe is aware of or something, and I would not know (I don't think it is, though).

Thank you!
posted by peachfuzz to Grab Bag (22 answers total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 
"Crayola doesn't make a color for your eyes". Many versions out there, of varying quality, but all upbeat.
posted by Midnight Skulker at 2:10 PM on October 4, 2011


The only newish song featuring hand clapping I know is "Animal" by Neon Trees. But that lyric doesn't appear in the song.
posted by DoubleLune at 2:20 PM on October 4, 2011


Perhaps it's "New Soul" by Yael Naim? Should be readily findable on Youtube and such; was featured on NPR a few months ago and has gotten some airplay.

Definitely has handclaps and a simple female vocal harmony, and is upbeat-sounding.

Good luck!
posted by brackish.line at 2:24 PM on October 4, 2011


Probably not, but...

Kimbra's Cameo Lover? Or maybe "Settle Down"?
posted by These Birds of a Feather at 2:29 PM on October 4, 2011


Response by poster: none of these so far, though kimbra has sort of the right feel, especially the Cameo Lover. And thanks, brackish.line, I'd been wondering about that one too!
posted by peachfuzz at 2:33 PM on October 4, 2011


Any chance it's Me and You? I looked high and low for this song a few months ago.
posted by ruelle at 2:33 PM on October 4, 2011


Longshot: Rumour has it by Adele? Clapping starts at 1:30 or so.
posted by swordfishtrombones at 2:34 PM on October 4, 2011


Not new but how about Feist's 1234?
posted by Athanasius at 3:11 PM on October 4, 2011


It's not Janelle Monae's Tightrope, is it?
posted by miss_kitty_fantastico at 3:40 PM on October 4, 2011


The Ting Tings, That's Not My Name?
posted by pie ninja at 3:43 PM on October 4, 2011


Response by poster: none of these. But OMG, Tightrope and That's Not My Name are both SO CLOSE in different ways—like if the girl's voice from the Ting Tings and the vibe of Tightrope were combined.
posted by peachfuzz at 3:48 PM on October 4, 2011


Nothing by The Asteroid Galaxy Tour?
posted by miss_kitty_fantastico at 3:57 PM on October 4, 2011


Crap. Link.
posted by miss_kitty_fantastico at 3:57 PM on October 4, 2011


If You Only Knew by Kathryn Calder?
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 4:20 PM on October 4, 2011


Serena Ryder, "Sing, Sing", perhaps?
posted by batmonkey at 4:21 PM on October 4, 2011


Only because nobody's mentioned it, Dido's Thank You is the sort of song you're likely to hear in an airport, and contains the phrase "I want to thank you".
posted by Horace Rumpole at 4:45 PM on October 4, 2011


long shot: i always knew by Tilly and the Wall

i have so many songs with handclaps, but none of them seem right.
posted by gursky at 6:30 PM on October 4, 2011


I Just Came to Say Hello by Martin Solveig and Dragonette? Ugh, now i have an earworm, too.
posted by gatorae at 7:13 PM on October 4, 2011


Mat Kearney - Hey Mama, lots of clapping, no female vocals though.
posted by roaring beast at 7:20 PM on October 4, 2011


Best answer: Possibly Dog Days are Over by Florence + The Machine?
posted by daikaisho at 9:40 PM on October 4, 2011


Best answer: I was coming in to suggest Dog Days are Over, too. It gets decent airplay, has the exact clappy sequence you described, women singing but not exactly always harmonies, and several lyrics that could easily be mistaken for "I want to thank you" if you don't know the song.
posted by donnagirl at 9:59 AM on October 5, 2011


Response by poster: YES OMG YES. When the video started and she said "Happiness..." I squealed at the computer and did a little fist pump, much to my officemate's bemusement. Thank you so much!!!

Now to sort out my weird half-memories about this song. I was going to come back here and say that the song sort of reminded me of "Roam" by the B-52s, if that helped. Yeah, it most emphatically would not have.
posted by peachfuzz at 10:59 AM on October 5, 2011


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