Suggest some mood enhancing music

March 23, 2008 1:51 AM

Suggest some mood enhancing music. I find music to be therapeutic, especially after a long day, when I need to keep going. An ideal example would be Frank Sinatra's "That's Life".

Not very particular about the genre of music - it could be anything from gospel to classic rock to pop. Simple, uncomplicated songs with peppy lyrics are much appreciated. Please mention artist and song name - if a particular version is the one that suits the purpose - do mention the album name too. Thanks for your time.

posted by stashdot to media & arts (26 answers total)

Some of these are more "peppy" and bouncy than "therapeutic" or mellow, but here's what might make my personal "Makes you glad to feel alive" playlist:

Beatles "Here Comes the Sun" (I'm sure there's ton of others but that's the first that pops into my head)
Fleetwood Mac "Don't Stop"
Foo Fighters "Times Like These," "Ain't It the Life" and "Long Road to Ruin"
Jack Johnson "Upside Down"
Jimmy Eat World "The Middle" and "Authority Song"
OK Go "Do What You Want"
Weezer "Island in the Sun"

Oh, and almost anything Motown
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 3:04 AM on March 23, 2008 [1 favorite]

Jpop makes good mood enhancing music as you don't have to worry about the lyrics (unless you speak Japanese) and it's nearly always upbeat and "peppy". Check out the artist Ayumi Hamasaki.

Daylight by Alison Krauss always puts a big grin on my face, it's kindof country but it's wonderfully happy and her voice is angelic.

Love Remains by Amber Claire is another good one - pop / vocal genre.

Don't give up by Chicane

The Eureka 7 soundtrack (an anime series) is fantastically upbeat and fun.

A lot of John Mayers stuff is quite uplifting, particularly:
No such thing
Belief
The heart of life
Stop this train
Why Georgia
3x5

Thankful by Kelly Clarkson

Most songs by Michael Buble or Diana Krall

Like wow by Leslie Carter

Wonderboy by Tenacious D

Because of you by Ne-Yo

Alive and Satellite by P.O.D.

The entire Robbie Williams "Swing when you're winning" jazz album is fantastically upbeat and fun :)

Face of the earth by Toby Mac, and also TruDog: The Return on the album is so cute.

Hope that helps!
posted by katala at 3:39 AM on March 23, 2008 [1 favorite]

This thread might give you some ideas, even though it's more specifically about pickmeup songs when you're feeling down. I found some pretty cool stuff in there.
posted by missjenny at 3:43 AM on March 23, 2008 [2 favorites]

Peppy lyrics? Funny peppy lyrics? Any Gilbert & Sullivan opera.
posted by orthogonality at 4:06 AM on March 23, 2008 [1 favorite]

Bobby Darin - Dont Rain on my parade.
Always picks me up.
posted by Neonshock at 4:44 AM on March 23, 2008 [1 favorite]

Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine
posted by acorncup at 6:35 AM on March 23, 2008 [2 favorites]

If you can listen to disco, listen to Dmitri from Paris - After the Playboy Mansion. Shit will lift you up.
posted by mammary16 at 7:25 AM on March 23, 2008 [2 favorites]

Sam Cooke with the Soul Stirrers (there's an anthology record worth its weight in gold; I'm no believer but the young Mr. Soul thrills me)

Rancid - "Let's Go!"

The Beach Boys "Summer Days and Summer Nights"

Anything by Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes

Shoot, if you like Sinatra, the whole "Songs for Swinging Lovers" record is tops.

Solomon Burke: "Home in Your Heart: The Best of Solomon Burke"

Mando Diao: "Ode to Ochrasy"

Cheap Trick "At Budokan"

Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band: "Live Bullet" or "Nine Tonight"

Notice a trend? Live albums pump me up.

The Commodores: "Live!"

Blue Oyster Cult: "Extraterrestrial Live"

Jerry Lee Lewis: "Live at the Star Club" is my best answer, actually. I defy anyone to listen to this whole record without jumpin', jivin', and "Oh, my, my"-in'.

I can't sit still when I listen to "Off the Wall" or "Thriller" by Michael Jackson.

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers: "Damn the Torpedos"

I guess it's clear; these are all albums full of the kind of songs you seek. And now I have to go listen to them all. Woohoo!
posted by breezeway at 7:32 AM on March 23, 2008 [1 favorite]

Jessica - The Allman Brothers Band

It don't mean a thing... There are many good versions of this song. I like the Dick Hyman instrumental arrangement as well.

The "In" Crowd - Ramsey Lewis Trio

Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams

When You're Smiling - I like the Dick Hyman version
posted by LoriFLA at 7:48 AM on March 23, 2008 [2 favorites]

Oops, screwed some of my links up. You can listen to them on Amazon or itunes.

Here is Don't mean a thing and When You're Smiling.
posted by LoriFLA at 7:53 AM on March 23, 2008 [1 favorite]

thanks a ton, people! appreciate all of your suggestions. do keep posting, if you got more ideas. thanks again!
posted by stashdot at 8:14 AM on March 23, 2008 [1 favorite]

I like stuff that makes me want to boogie :)

Jamiroquai - Canned Heat
Ben Folds Five - Kate
Daler Mehndi - Bolo Ta Ra Ra
Anything by Fantastic Plastic Machine
Kylie Minogue - Love At First Sight
Outkast - Hey Ya!
Village People - In Hollywood (Everybody Is A Star)

Others:
John Mayer - Clarity, Bigger Than My Body
Kiri te Kanawa with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir - Climb Every Mountain (oh, do I get happily misty at this version)
Nessun dorma from Turandot
Make Our Garden Grow (finale) from Candide
Au fond du temple saint from The Pearl Fishers
Rufus Wainwright - He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother
Jason Falkner - Both Sides Now
Dandy Warhols - Every Day Should Be A Holiday
just about anything by Miriam Makeba -- I have loved "Pata Pata" and "Ring Bell" since I was 4
Sounds of Blackness - I'll Fly Away
Arcade Fire - Intervention
DeVotchKa - Until the End of Time
Stevie Wonder - pretty much anything :) I Believe (When I Fall In Love With You It Will Be Forever)
Barry White - You're the First, the Last, My Everything
Nina Simone - My Baby Just Cares For Me
Queen - Don't Stop Me Now, We Are the Champions
Liz Phair - Extraordinary
The Police - Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
posted by Madamina at 8:15 AM on March 23, 2008 [1 favorite]

The comedienne Moms Mabley cut a song called 'It's Alright,' which for some unexplained reason always makes me feel positive. "Speedo" by the Cadillacs has the same effect.
posted by jonmc at 8:23 AM on March 23, 2008 [1 favorite]

If Sinatra gets you unwound - I suggest Nat King Cole, Tony Bennett and Burt Bachrach and any variation thereof, including later duets, remixes and covers.
posted by watercarrier at 8:59 AM on March 23, 2008

I'd also add 'Quarter To Three' by Gary 'US' Bonds and 'Twist & Shout' (both the Isley Brothers and the Beatles versions). I find it nigh impossible to remain gloomy when I hear those.
posted by jonmc at 9:08 AM on March 23, 2008

Israel Kamakawiwo's version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" always puts me a good mood.
posted by waxboy at 9:31 AM on March 23, 2008

A few songs that always work for me:

Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing, Stevie Wonder
Love and Hope, Ozomatli
Hang On Little Tomato, Pink Martini
posted by chicainthecity at 9:34 AM on March 23, 2008

LoriFLA is not shitting you about Ramsey Lewis' The "In" Crowd. I suggest the live version, from the album of the same name, for the frisson that comes from the snatches of crowd noise the engineer allows to leak in from time to time. Unlike most other live tracks, it makes me feel like I'm there.

I also heartily recommend Aguas de Março / The Waters of March as performed by Tom Jobim and Elis Regina on the Elis and Tom album. Here's a video of the recording session of that track. That bit where Elis almost loses it in laughter towards the end makes it for me. I hadn't seen the video until I was searching for a link just now, but that's pretty much how I always imagined it looked when they were laying down that track.

Anything by S.E. Rogie. You will have the easiest time finding his last album, Dead Men Don't Smoke Marijuana, but don't let the title lead you into thinking it's reggae, or all about the dube. 'Tis pure awesome palm wine guitar music from Sierra Leone, and it will make you happy whether you want it to or not.
posted by mumkin at 10:18 AM on March 23, 2008 [1 favorite]

Oh, this has been asked quite a few times before on AskMe. Examples are here, here, here, and here. There are slight variations on the theme, but all those threads have what you're looking for. And this is possibly relevant. All those are from the first page in the Google search results for happy music on AskMe, so I would recommend Googling for even more.
posted by jejune at 11:15 AM on March 23, 2008

There's also a song by Love Affair called 'Rainbow Valley,' that always cheers me.
posted by jonmc at 11:52 AM on March 23, 2008

The album Use Your Voice by Mason Jennings. Or, to choose the two best songs from it (because they're that much better if you listen to both in a row), "Empire Builder" followed by "Lemon Grove Avenue" (chosen in that order because it's better that way, not ordered according to goodness).
posted by gauchodaspampas at 12:17 PM on March 23, 2008

I listed my happy more current pop songs from the other thread that missjenny linked.

More :

You Never Can Tell - Chuck Berry (Try not to look at Uma and John Travolta. I like them, but they kind of ruin the song. Buy it and happily listen. Most songs by Chuck Berry lift the mood)

It's All Right - Impressions

Rock This Town - Stray Cats

Personality - Lloyd Price

Shaggin' on the Grandstand - Hank Ballard
posted by LoriFLA at 12:32 PM on March 23, 2008 [1 favorite]

Bo Diddley's version of Sixteen Tons from the album Bo Diddley is a Gunslinger always makes me feel better about being another day older and deeper in debt.

The following always cheer me up and have been known to induce singing-into-a-hairbrush-itis:
I Can't Help Myself (Sugarpie, Honeybunch), The Four Tops, 20th Century Masters - The Millenium Collection: Motown 1960s, Vol. 1.
Jailhouse Rock, Elvis Presley, Elvis 30 #1 Hits.
Come Rain or Come Shine, Ray Charles, The Genius of Ray Charles.
Jerusalem (Album Version), Matisyahu, Youth

Also You Get What You Give by the New Radicals from Maybe You've Been Brainwashed, Too. I'm still cool, guys, shutup!

posted by the littlest brussels sprout at 12:36 PM on March 23, 2008

Cool Jazz................
posted by watercarrier at 12:59 PM on March 23, 2008

This might be wildly off the mark, but I'd recommend Stile Antico's Music for Compline. This is an incredible recording of 16th century English liturgical chorales that were traditionally performed after work to help the day laborers chill out. It's the most un-peppy recommendation you're likely to get -- serenity is the goal, after all -- but I find it to be really therapeutic, especially after a hard day. Amazon has the spendy import; iTunes has it a lot cheaper.
posted by JohnFredra at 1:45 PM on March 23, 2008

Norah Jones' The Long Day is Over
posted by howiamdifferent at 6:21 PM on March 23, 2008