The fact that most “pop” music (a construct I mean in the most expansive sense) trafficks more in downbeat emotions than upbeat emotions should hardly be a revelation to anybody. For one, it’s remarked upon extensively in both versions of HIGH FIDELITY; for another, it always struck me as more likely that a depressed person would write a song to get past their problems, while a happy person would be too busy doing whatever it is that makes them happy to get around to writing a song. (Massive oversimplification, of course, don’t get defensive if you’ve been happy and written a song before, et cetera.)
Anyway, I’ve found that I’ve surrounded myself over the years with a collection of music that often pulls me down. I won’t speak for other people, but I definitely reflect the emotional states of what I surround ourself with. Which are often not, shall we say, cheerful. Damien Jurado singing about asking his mother to burn his body for fuel, say. Or the latest Mountain Goats album, where a band that was once remarkable for writing semi-uplifiting songs about surviving child abuse manages to spend an entire album chronicling the emotional tailspin of the first few days after a breakup.*
These are not healthy places to live in.
And so I’ve been seeking out music that makes me stupidly happy lately, and so I mention two tracks here. I meant to mention four but I’m really fucking busy so you get two. Maybe you get two more next week. If you’re lucky.
The first is a song by Orbital called “Bath Time”. I know basically nothing about Orbital, but this wound up on a compilation I got and it’s absurdly silly instrumental that sounds like a tweak on video game music from the late 80′s. Some would call this a failing. (Like the Orbital fans on Amazon’s product reviews, who almost uniformly view this track as somewhere between an unfortunate aberration and a war crime, and as a result have convinced me to not investigate Orbital’s other work.) I would not call this a failing. I would call this fucking awesome. It’s catchy as all get out, and just structured enough to justify its running length. (Also the passing defender on Amazon.com who references its “underlying darkness” is insane in my opinion. This song has as much underlying darkness as a plush Totoro.
The second track, on the other end of the abrasion spectrum, is by NZ hardcore band Black Chrome. At least, I assume they’re hardcore. The divisions between hardcore, punk, and the various subgenres is completely lost on me. There’s loud fast electric guitars and screaming and it’s not metal, is what I can say. Anyway, I digress. The song is called “My Band”, and the chorus, as near as I can discern, goes:
“My band, my band, my band, whoa-oh …
My band, my band, my band, whoa-oh …
My band, my band, my band, whoa-oh …
My band, my band, my band, is a front for an Internet porn ring!”
There’s some other bits that I can’t really figure out, mostly some yelling, and then an outro of “It’s my, it’s my fucking band!”
This is glorious stupidity on a near-unparalleled level. I mean, what kind of reaction are you supposed to have to this? I can only tell you mine, which is an initial astonishment that dissolves into delight. It’s loud, it’s crude, it’s in dubious taste, and it leaves me struck with happiness every time I hear it.
(Okay, I’ll mention the other two. They are: Petra Haden’s cover of “God Only Knows” and Albert Ayler’s “Bells”, from LOVE CRY. Both deserve more discussion, but I gotta get to work.)
Ah, and if you would like to hear the rest of this happiness, our queen of the podcasts has made a 3-song special, which you can listen to here. (I think. I haven’t tried it yet. But I trust her that it works, or that she’ll fix my post if I’ve screwed up.)
Anyway: use this as a comment thread to rant about songs that make you gleefully happy beyond reason. Because we can all use more of those in our lives.
*The issue of The Mountain Goats, who are historically My Favorite Band, is one I’ll probably have to write about at great length at some point. Today is not the day.
I love happy music. I could name you a zillion happy songs. But i’ll mainly point you to look over the music in my posts of the past 12 weeks and to the New Town Drunks.
And yes the Mountain Goats are pretty awesome. I was going to do a MG post one of these weeks since Darnielle lives about 30 minutes away. Maybe we could do posts on the same week. I’m guessing your knowledge of them goes way deeper than mine, since i’ve only learned about the MG in the past 4 years since i moved to NC.
i’ve been on a ‘bubblegum’ bender for a few months now. it is definitively happy music – a sickly sweet reactionary song form that was invented by songwriters who were sick of all the depressing pychedelic music in the late 60s. producers at labels like Buddha records corralled bands into recording their over-the-top songs. you may remember “Yummy Yummy Yummy [i've got love in my tummy...]“? i know, you’re holding your stomach and going ‘that SHIT?’. go back and listen to it again ignoring the vocals. great, great rhythm part.
other EXCELLENT examples of the genre (that won’t give you diarrhea): “shake” by the Shadows of Night, “Indian Giver” by the 1910 Fruit Gum Co., and “Nighttime Lady” by Bohanna.
Some would say that de Schmog played happy music even though the ds catalog is almost entirely about separation and dysfunction. I have never been able to write a love song. Tricia pressed me to write one once and I failed. Almost all of my lyrics come directly from depression. I can write music in different states of emotion though. As one gets older especially if one is married and relatively comfortable and therefor less prone to deep mood swings, writing (if driven by depression) becomes sparse. So I have found a new method of writing where I build the framework of a song and rely on improvised lyrics. It’s more of a game than song writing. But I gotta do something.
Guilty Happy Music pleasures: Tricia and I used to wake up every day to the Beastie Boys’ “Body Moving.”
We sometimes listen to Annie‘s Chewing Gum in the car.
I’m also a big fan of Joe Raposo’s “Sing.”
Actually I see some underlying darkness in both a plush tortoro and the referenced song (but they both make me happy). The song reminds me of Wendy (William) Carlos and that reminds me of “A Clock Work Orange” and therein lies the darkness. Tortoro is a non-speaking “friendly” monster and a plush tortoro is made of petroleum by product. I’m starting to scare myself.
The first song on the podcast sort of reminds me of Art Brut’s “We Formed a Band.” Actually Art Brut is a pretty good feel good band.
I love that Petra Haden track. I’ve had that in rotation for over a year now, and when my shuffle spins it up by surprise, I can’t help but smile. My favorite song for lifting spirits is by Yo La Tengo, off their Little Honda e.p. The name escapes me at the moment, but EM will be getting it soon.
One thing I meant to say: music that is meant to make me happy often does not work in making me happy. I think particularly of the “twee” indie side of things (oh joy, another tuneless female singer going on about having lollipops and marshmallows with a cute boy in the forest!).
Kilian, just thinking of “Body Movin’” made me smile. Good call. I’ve been amused by the Art Brut stuff I’ve heard but it doesn’t really make me crazy ecstatic, but perhaps I need to pick up the album anyway.
Carlos – I’ll plan a Mountain Goats post for two posts from now. (I had thought about doing an album a week while I was on Great Barrier Island for all of March/April/May, but fourteen weeks of TMG posts might send everyone over the edge.) Next week, if all goes to plan, is hip-hop.
Recently I have been missing a song that used to make me very happy. “You’re so Fucking Great, But I Suck” by Dallas punk rock band LAST RITES. Anyone have a copy of that?
Older Autechre used to make me happy. The Safety Dance by Men Without Hats makes me happy.
Now? hmmm… I think Muscle Car by Crazy Hearse on the new NAPCAST makes me happy.
Amadeus by Falco makes me happy.
Slayer has always made me happy.
Brian Eno’s ship song makes me happy.
Nick Cave’s Mercy Seat makes me happy.
Nina Hagens Blackbird makes me happy…
Is there Anybody Out There by the DWARVES makes me happy..
But I think this is ok. the minute I start singing the “I’m going to get pizza on the island song” by AQUA.. is the day I should be taken out from behind the self help counter and shot in the back of the head.
OK BYE.
Happiness is The Clean.
Rosa, you should check out a 3 Volume set entitled “Bubblegum” on the Varese Sarabande label…it’s got pictures of a buncha gumballs on the front, and there’s also a 4th volume with a buncha soul bubblegum, as well. I have the first 3 and they’re just ridiculous…”Sweet Pea”, and “Spinning” by Tommy Roe are both bad ass…the drum beat in “Pea” is a helluva lot funkier than most James Brown records, and the way “Spinning” keeps changing keys and rising in pitch is absolutely hallucinatory. I also dig “Abracadabra” by Tony De Franco and the De Franco Family…the “Sgt Peppers” of Bubblegum. You know, Jim Morrison was once quoted as saying that he always wished the Doors could do a song where you just felt absolute joy-he even admitted that they never really pulled that one off, and Dylan also stated that he could never really understand why people loved “Blood On The Tracks” so much-he could just never figure out why people wanted to purposefully embrace all that pain if they didn’t have to. That being said, I probably have chosen more darkness over the light. I also have a thing for albums that were produced by artists who are clearly having some sort of a breakdown as the thing is actually being recorded. Syd Barrett is the obvious example…Skip Spence’ “Oar” is another…there’s tons of course, but I always felt that it was interesting the way we celebrated that myth of artists producing great work in great pain…well, actually, I mean, it’s proabably not a myth, I’ve worded that wrong. What I meant to say is that I’m fascinated as to how we’re drawn and encourage and absolutely love these tales of madness involving our favorite artists. It’s not a quality that you would find quite so charming in say, a commercial airline pilot, or during your next eyeball examination. But we love it when the li’l fuckers lose it right in front of us…admit it or not.
What do you think about the photographer Miron Zownir’s body of work? I have his book Radical Eye, and I was just looking it again the other day. I like the warning on the back cover “WARNING: Keep out of reach of children! You may consider these explicit photographs obscene, cruel, blasphemic, repulsive or even pornographic. We deny any responsibility if your moral values are offended- it carries this warning and you shouldn’t have looked! We are proud to publish Radical Eye, it’s a chilling book about life, dignity, and truth.” I don’t think the shop owners had ever looked inside. I know that.
I was approached once by this photographer in Houston. We were doing a collaborative art show. I was wrapping plastic bodies around poles up to the ceiling and having them in a plastic cocoon.. and he had these vintage Bettie Page screen prints. He painted teh whole place sea-foam green…. Anyways. One day he told me he wanted to take photographs of homeless guys masturbating in exchange for a meal or some shit…… I always felt conflicted about that. File this under Way off Topic.
Matthew everytime I hear anyone mention Dylan, I always think “donovan is better than dylan.’ Not sure why, but I think ‘The Shirt Song’ and ‘There is a mountain” might have something to do with it. To me “First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is.” has got to be the feel good lyric of the 20th century, and he does it all practically with one chord. In the end I can hear that song over and over like a mantra, whereas dylan… he seems to be working way too hard or something and i’m puerto rican, we dont like all that hard work.
EM, if you like Amadeus, you should hear Molotov’s cover of it in spanish called Amateur, I’ll send it to you for next week’s napcast. Rock me Amateur.
What I meant to say is that I’m fascinated as to how we’re drawn and encourage and absolutely love these tales of madness involving our favorite artists.
I think we use artists. If you see somebody dealing with pain–the more the better–it becomes easy to put the pain of your crappy job or how your bike chain just broke into perspective. “Well, I may have to push my bike all the way home,” you say, “but at least I’m not seeing demons. That would suck a whole lot more. I think I can handle the pushing.”
“C’mon people now,
Smile on your brother,
Everybody get together,
try to love one another
RIGHT NOW”.
ALWAYS wanted to do a thrash/punk cover of that one.
But seriously, polka music makes me happy. It’s kind of impossible to not smile when you hear a bunch of Czechs singing about drinking Shiner beer on a Texas hillside somewhere.
Oddly enough, the two specific records which make me happiest are Neil Young’s “Everbody Knows This is Nowhere” and the Velvet Underground’s first album… put either of those on, and I just feel really really GOOD…
Charlie
My vote for best Happy song: “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)” by the Talking Heads. Especially the live version on “Stop Making Sense”. Thank god they finally released a version of the album with all of the songs from the movie. Previously all I had was a cassette I had dubbed myself from a rented video.
I was 14 when the movie came out and me and my friend Chris Mitchell went and saw it five times in six weeks. I think I actually got chills during that song. There is something astoundingly beautiful about David Byrne dancing around with a floor lamp on that song. Also I think I had my first interracial crush on Lynn Mabry who was one of the backup singers in the movie. Another friend of mine claims that Lynn Mabry was her babysitter when she was growing up in NYC.
Clay, i have a DVD of talking heads videos and the video for that song is really cool, its basically the band (the extended band with backup singers, percussion, etc.) watching home movies and then they all walk to the basement and start playing the song. Very cool. Some of that talking heads catalog is really quite amazing, and a lot it is very happy.
My all-time favorite Happy Song is Oogum Boogum by that late, great soul-pop master Brenton Woods (FYI – he might not be dead). Just try listening to it without nodding your head side to side along with the chorus. My mom says the song was really scandalous back in her day because everybody thought the mumbled lyrics must be concealing something dirty. Maybe they were right: according to the Internets, one of the lyrics is “Who got the boo, says”. Seems like a big cover-up to me.
Kilian, I bought a bottle of Chateauneuf de Pape solely because the Beastie Boys give it a shout out in Body Movin’. The song’s been stuck in my head (in a good way) ever since your post. It’s definitely on my top 10 list of happy songs.
-brannon
Is that Brannon A? If so slap my hind with a melon rind and howdy doo! If not just howdy doo, sorry; and how was that stuff?
Yes! Talking Heads. I want to see those viddies.
There’s a long running band in Chicago called the polkaholics. They make me happy.
Lots of happiness, yay!
Talking Heads have always made me happy. I sense an embarrassing blog post about them down the road sometime.
Glad to have you in the neighborhood, Brannon. But you neglected to actually spill the most important info: how is Chateauneuf de Pape?
Tex-Czech polka is a great call; so, too, is zydeco. My fond but few memories of the Continental Zydeco Ballroom will last me a lifetime (and, I suppose, will have to, as I understand it’s defunct). I tried to start a zyde-core band at one point, though I’d be lying if I said I tried really hard. But Lozenge had the “accordion meets hardcore” scene in Houston wrapped up at the time anyway.
Charlie, it’s funny: EVERYBODY KNOWS THIS IS NOWHERE is my favorite Neil Young record, but it makes me feel just really content and home, rather than out of my skin jumping-joyful. I should really spend more time listening to VU records, I’ve heard them all but none of them have left a permanent impression as album.
electramummy, was that at Catal Huyuk? I remember that exhibition vividly: it was my first experience seeing bondage photography, and I think in any situation it would have left me uncomfortable. Against the mint green backdrop, I actually started feeling nauseous. (I was a sheltered youth. See my reference to my high school marching band years in Heidi’s comment thread.)
And: do the songs I posted make anyone happy or no? I won’t be offended if you say no, merely curious.
DD:
Yeah, you may be onto something… I guess that’s the thing with me… I don’t ever really get jumping up and down happy… to me, feeling all warm and tingly and supremely ultimately comfortable IS the definition of joy to me, so you and I are on the same page on Everybody Knows, just not using the same vocabulary… Now, if this post really is only about music that makes one feel jump-up-and-down giddy, then I’m just screwed…
Charlie
Chateauneuf de Pape is really, really tasty. I don’t know how to use those wine words like “oaky” and “plummy with a hint of tobacco” but I can say that I think of it as sort of the Platonic ideal of wine: it’s not too much of anything, and it’s just enough of everything. It’s pretty pricey ($25 a bottle at CostCo), but I suppose after making five albums the Boys can afford that kind of stuff. Next thing you know, they’ll be giving a shout out to Cristal.
And hi, Kilian – it’s me!
-Brannon A
DD – I think a song has to become very familiar before it can make ya jump up and down happy. Maybe only Bollywood can do the jump up and down happy instantaneously for me these days. But I think given time that they could, except “My Band” I don’t know about that one.
Yes DD, That exhibition was at Catal Huyuk. I wish I had taken pictures. I was going through my eco-friendly burning plastic phase.
god thanks for the head’s up matthew. gonna check that out. you’d like bohanna if you like the funky stuff. and oh man i love “oar” too. and syd barrett is one of my newer discoveries in the house stax. likewise a “happy for me but depressing for others” is Nico’s Chelsea Girls.
I’ve had a certain song in my head for a few days now, and I just figured out why. This post. I guess my subconscious has been searching for happy music. Well, I found it. There is one song that I can think of (only one) that seems to be happiness incarnate. And by that I mean that the song itself seems to take on a sort of corporeality. Every line in the song makes me feel it, smell it, taste it, know it.
To me, true joy is almost always experienced in relation to very simple things. Like Charlie and DD said, it’s often more about comfort than jump-up-and-down happiness. Maybe I’m just wierd, but I don’t ever experience joy from listening to incredibly involved music, or eating elaborate dishes.
My favorite sonic example of this type of simple joy is Joni Mitchell’s “Chelsea Morning.” I think it is literally impossible to listen to this song and NOT be in a good mood. I couldn’t find an mp3 link anywhere, so you’ll have to find it on your own.
Oh. The other song I mentioned, the Yo La Tengo on EM’s (hopefully) recently arrived mix is “By the Time it Gets Dark.”
I have to say that I like the bangles songs because thy are pretty happy and upbeat (if simple.) You can’t help but want to jump up and down to “walk like and Egyptian”!!