Happy Songs

A list of songs that, if come on a radio, immediately make me crank it up and sing along, no matter what my mood is, who's in the car with me, or how silly singing the song makes me. Here they are, in no particular order.

"We Shall be Free" by Garth Brooks - I guess Brooks gets some flak for this song being preachy, but no flak from these quarters. This song makes me bounce in my seat.

"All Right" by Darius Rucker - So, he'll always be Hootie to me, but this "country" song, released by the former lead singer of Hootie and the Blowfish, throws it down. Hootie's gonna have a hard time following up his freshman country album.

"Bubba Shot the Jukebox" by Mark Chestnutt - The lyrics go:
Reckless discharge of a gun
That's what the officers are claiming
Bubba hollered, "reckless, hell, I hit just where I was aiming."
Inevitably, I will laugh. Because it's improbably and hilarious.

"Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi - Do I even have to explain this? I even like the remixed, slower version found on the Cross Road CD. Tommy and Gina are truly my friends.

"Angel of the Morning" by Juice Newton - When BB and I were dating, I used to drive back and forth from his place to mine at all hours of the day (and night). For my birthday one year, he got me a best of Juice Newton CD and I would play this song on repeat, as loud as possible, to help keep me awake.

"If I Had a Hammer" by Peter, Paul, and Mary - Living in a house with five other adults made for some pretty raucous evenings. We were cleaning the shared living area one night and we found a mixed CD one of the roommates had made for another when they were dating in college. This song was on it and we all sang and danced to it, Cosby Show-style. Too fun.

"Downtown" by Petula Clark - My MIL sometimes sings this with me. It makes my husband roll his eyes at both of us.

"Love Will Find a Way" by Blessid Union of Souls - There's something about the sweet naivete of this song that makes me happy. I know that love doesn't always find a way, but damn it, maybe it should.

"Love Can Build a Bridge" by The Judds - Did you know that LeAnn Rimes sang this on Star Search and Ed McMahon later had the BALLS to say she picked a bad song and that's why she didn't win?! Fuck you, McMahon. This song? Kicks ass. (So does LeAnn Rimes.)

And I know that leaves you with only nine songs, but those are the only ones I can think of that are reliable. I'll edit the list as I see fit, I guess.