Cheerful but not upbeat
June 29, 2018 10:17 AM   Subscribe

Please recommend some quiet, slow, happy songs.

I'm looking for happy songs that aren't boisterous, loud, or fast. (I mostly mean happy within the lyrics - minor keys or whatever are fine.) Preferably in English. Bonus points if the song isn't a love song.

Thanks!
posted by darchildre to Media & Arts (38 answers total) 32 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: Nina Simone's Feeling Good comes to mind.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 10:19 AM on June 29, 2018 [3 favorites]


Best answer: The Book of Love by The Magnetic Fields isn't going to win any bonus points but it's slow and happy.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 10:26 AM on June 29, 2018 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Make You Feel That Way by Blackalicious is borderline upbeat but it's not loud, and it's one of the happiest songs I know. And bonus points for not being a love song.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 10:27 AM on June 29, 2018 [1 favorite]


Best answer: I think Pink Martini's Clementine could fit into this. It might be a bit of a love song, and maybe it's too fast? You can find a lot of non-fast, non-boisterous songs in their library. Many, however will be in a language other than English.
posted by hydra77 at 10:28 AM on June 29, 2018 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Not Really by Homeboy Sandman isn't overtly happy, but it's about how you can enjoy life with or without money or fame and is one of my very favorite songs.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 10:31 AM on June 29, 2018


Best answer: It Was a Good Day is a classic.
posted by General Malaise at 10:37 AM on June 29, 2018 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Let me introduce you to Louis Armstrong:

When You're Smiling

What a Wonderful World

La Vie en Rose

When You Wish Upon a Star

Sleepy Time Down South
posted by clawsoon at 10:44 AM on June 29, 2018 [4 favorites]


Best answer: The first band that came to mind for me is the Innocence Mission. Here's a happy song of theirs that's not a love song: Lakes of Canada
posted by mermaidcafe at 10:45 AM on June 29, 2018 [2 favorites]


Best answer: Painting by Chagall By The Weepies also won’t get bonus points, but fits what you’re looking for, I think.
posted by epj at 10:47 AM on June 29, 2018


Best answer: The Happy Song, Otis Redding
Feels Like Summer, Al Green
You Ain't Going Nowhere (is it too upbeat?), Bob Dylan but many covers
You've Got a Friend, Carole King but I'm partial to the Donny Hathaway/Roberta Flack version
posted by CiaoMela at 10:54 AM on June 29, 2018


Best answer: You can take your pick of songs from the band Superorganism's YouTube channel, which all have an agreeably low-key emotional tone that feels just right to me. Their recent Tiny Desk Concert and KEXP studio performance are worth checking out too.
posted by Strange Interlude at 11:00 AM on June 29, 2018 [2 favorites]


Best answer: It's quiet, slow, and imho, beautiful. But instead of "happy," I might say "hopeful." So I don't know if it's what you are looking for, but just in case, I am putting it out here: Waiting for My Real Life to Begin, Colin Hay.
posted by merejane at 11:03 AM on June 29, 2018 [2 favorites]




Best answer: Oh, also, how about James Taylor? Some possibilities: Shower the People, Secret of Life.

I'm thinking there must be some Paul Simon songs that fit the bill as well. I am not thinking of one at the moment, but Simon and Garfunkel's The 59th Street Bridge Song is the very essence of cheerul (although it's not quite slow; it's more sweetly peppy).
posted by merejane at 11:14 AM on June 29, 2018 [6 favorites]


Best answer: As corny as it is, I feel like the "yacht rock" genre may yield a lot of hits for you. Jimmy Buffet's Son of a Son of a Sailor seems like it would apply, for instance - it's mellow, but happy, all about how pleased he is with a seagoing, rambley life.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:35 AM on June 29, 2018 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Adding on non-preview - Colin Hay's Beautiful World.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:37 AM on June 29, 2018 [1 favorite]




Best answer: Smokey Robinson, Cruising
Five Stairsteps, Ooh Child
Jackson Five, I'll Be There
Stevie Wonder, I Believe (When I Fall in Love, It Will Be Forever)
Johnny Nash, I Can See Clearly

Joe Purdy, Wash Away
Nick Drake, Pink Moon
posted by praemunire at 11:41 AM on June 29, 2018 [2 favorites]


Best answer: Because by The Beatles might lean more melancholy in tone, but the lyrics are simple, beautiful, and lovely.
posted by QuakerMel at 11:44 AM on June 29, 2018


Best answer: Alexi Murdoch, All of My Days
posted by maggiemaggie at 12:07 PM on June 29, 2018


Best answer: You might enjoy one of the thousands of covers of Gershwin's Summertime.
posted by clawsoon at 12:11 PM on June 29, 2018


Best answer: A lot of Norah Jones qualifies. And thanks to you, my brain has been humming Don't Know Why all afternoon.
posted by Dashy at 12:15 PM on June 29, 2018 [3 favorites]


Best answer: There's a style of gospel that slows everything down almost to a standstill in a way that is utterly joyful. Aretha Franklin's live gospel album has some stellar examples.
posted by nebulawindphone at 12:29 PM on June 29, 2018 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwoʻole
posted by belladonna at 12:37 PM on June 29, 2018 [3 favorites]


Best answer: Sandy Denny's "Who Knows Where the Time Goes" is a beautiful piece. Denny has a version, but Judy Collins also does a very good job of it.
posted by ubiquity at 1:09 PM on June 29, 2018 [4 favorites]


Best answer: There are a lot of Christian hymns that might fit what you're looking for; I'd say that you've described an entire genre of hymns. A random selection: Because He Lives, The Love of God, I Know Who Holds Tomorrow, In the Garden, I Love You, Lord, It Is Well With My Soul, etc. etc. etc.
posted by clawsoon at 1:25 PM on June 29, 2018 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Wild Wood, Paul Weller
posted by the return of the thin white sock at 2:12 PM on June 29, 2018


Best answer: Simple Gifts with Yo Yo Ma and Alison Krauss
posted by kitten magic at 3:20 PM on June 29, 2018 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Lived in bars - Cat Power
Perfect Day - Lou Reed
posted by Waiting for Pierce Inverarity at 3:51 PM on June 29, 2018


Best answer: Not sure if Bill Withers - Lovely Day would be too fast.
posted by clawsoon at 3:58 PM on June 29, 2018


Best answer: Holy, Jamila Woods (woke up this morning with my mind set on lovin' me)
As I Rise, The Decemberists
Misty, Ella Fitzgerald
Dream a Little Dream of Me, Doris Day (has to be Doris Day--the Mama Cass version gets loud/energetic as it continues and the Ella version is always energetic)

Maybe slightly too energetic: Teenage Fury, Washington? There's a pretty excited piano in the second part and a loud click track.
'Deed I Do, Lena Horne (I checked and this is the lowest tempo version I could find that was still good--not fast, maybe mid-tempo)
posted by peppercorn at 5:33 PM on June 29, 2018


Best answer: "Willow" by Richie Havens

I've GOTTA learn how to link! 😝
posted by sundrop at 5:44 PM on June 29, 2018


Response by poster: Thanks, everybody! These are so great - I'm marking them best answer as I listen down the list. 8)
posted by darchildre at 7:22 PM on June 29, 2018


Best answer: Van Morrison’s In The Garden is one of my all time favorites.

Lots of Van Morrison’s songs work for me when I’m in the mood for slow but joyous music.
posted by marsha56 at 8:43 PM on June 29, 2018 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Hey Mr Sky.
posted by middlethird at 11:43 PM on June 29, 2018


Best answer: starfire - Low
posted by bertran at 12:17 AM on June 30, 2018 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Since it's been mentioned about "Who Knows Where the Time Goes" -- how about something wild and free?

Transatlantic Sessions 1 (this one with Emmylou Harris and Kathy Mattea)
Transatlantic Sessions 2 (this one with Maura O'Connell and Nanci Griffith)

There are more on this YouTube list. Very nice.
posted by TrishaU at 2:33 AM on June 30, 2018


Best answer: Morning Has Broken
Joy is Like the Rain

If you really want to slow it down and smooth it out, you might be interested in choral settings of various songs.

Morning Has Broken
Sweet Child of Mine
What a Wonderful World
Light of a Clear Blue Morning
posted by clawsoon at 4:39 AM on July 1, 2018


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