My playlist is pretty cool, but epic trailer style, gothy metal (Nightwish etc.), black humor and sarcasm do not make for a good mix when I just need cheering up. Any suggestions? Not rap, not country, and not too much in the way of percussion-focus like techno because it tends to give me a headache.
Hm. I don't have the time to dig up YouTube links because I'm at work, but I can pull at least a few individual songs out of the MP3 collection I carry around on a thumbdrive, and you can look them up at your leisure. I'll skip some of the more obvious stuff, like the Beatles, though.
2nu -- This Is Ponderous
5.6.7.8's, The -- Woo Hoo
Adam Ant -- Goody Two Shoes
a-ha -- Take On Me
Alan O'Day -- Undercover Angel
Alice Cooper -- School's Out
America -- Sister Golden Hair
Andy Kim -- Rock Me Gently
Anna Kendrick -- Cups (Pitch Perfect's 'When I'm Gone')
Aqua -- Cartoon Heroes
Aqua -- Doctor Jones
Arlo Guthrie -- The Motorcycle Song (Live/long version)
Ash Koley -- Don't Let Your Feet Touch Ground
B-52's -- Love Shack
Bad Company -- Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy
Baltimora -- Tarzan Boy
Band, The -- Up On Cripple Creek
Bangles -- Walk Like An Egyptian
Barenaked Ladies -- Another Postcard
Barenaked Ladies -- If I Had $1000000
Barnes & Barnes -- Fish Heads
Beach Boys -- Good Vibrations
Beach Boys -- Kokomo
Beat Farmers -- Happy Boy
Belinda Carlisle -- Leave A Light On
Bellamy Brothers -- Let Your Love Flow
Bertie Higgins -- Key Largo
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy -- Mr. Pinstripe Suit
Almost anything by Big Daddy
Billy Taylor -- I Don't Ask Questions, I Just Have Fun
Blessid Union Of Souls -- Hey Leonardo (She Likes Me For Me)
Blood, Sweat and Tears -- Spinning Wheel
Blue Swede -- Hooked On A Feeling
Blues Brothers -- Rubber Biscuit
Blues Image -- Ride Captain Ride
Bob and Doug MacKenzie and Geddy Lee -- Take Off
Bob Seger -- Old Time Rock and Roll
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band -- Katmandu
Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band -- I'm The Urban Spaceman
Boots Randolph -- Yakkety Sax
Boston -- More Than A Feeling
Boz Scaggs -- Lido Shuffle
Bree Sharp -- David Duchovny
Brownsville Station -- Martian Boogie
Bruce Willis and Danny Aiello -- Swinging On A Star (Hudson Hawk)
Calexico -- Splitter
Caramba -- Hubba Hubba Zoot Zoot
Caravan Palace -- Rock It For Me
Cat Stevens -- Another Saturday Night
Chad Mitchell Trio -- I Was Not A Nazi Polka
Chad Mitchell Trio -- James James Morrison Morrison
Chad Mitchell Trio -- Lizzie Borden
Chance Waters -- Maybe Tomorrow feat. Lilian Blue
Cheap Trick -- I Want You To Want Me (Live)
Chicago -- 25 or Six to Four
Chicago -- Saturday In The Park
Christine Lavin -- Good Thing He Can't Read My Mind (and follow that up with Tom Smith -- I Wish I Couldn't Read Her Mind)
Chumbawumba -- Tubthumping
Clams -- Close To You
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen -- Hot Rod Lincoln
Corrs -- Breathless
Cruella de Ville -- Those Two Dreadful Children
Cutting Crew -- One For The Mockingbird
Cyndi Lauper -- She Bop
David Allen Baker -- City of Heroes
David Bowie -- Magic Dance
David Lee Roth -- Just A Gigolo
Dickies -- Gigantor
Dollyrots, The -- Because I'm Awesome
Donald Fagen -- IGY
Donovan -- Mellow Yellow
Doobie Brothers -- China Grove
Dr. Hook -- Freakin' At The Freaker's Ball
Dr. Hook -- The Cover of the Rolling Stone
Earth, Wind & Fire -- September
Eric Burdon and War -- Spill The Wine
Everclear -- AM Radio
Extras -- Circular Impressions
Lambert Hendricks and Ross -- Twisted
I've got almost 3300 MP3s in my usual playlist; those have been cherrypicked from the first third or so of it. (That last one is out of alphabetical order because the file is actually under "Annie Ross" instead of the trio's name.) They should prove pretty cheery.
Surf rock has a good beat to it, and tends to be upbeat.
(I like
The Reverb Syndicate - they're local to me, and they have four albums out now.)
My Chemical Romance- Danger Days: The true lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, the entire album
Definitely good stuff in here - thanks guys. No need to stop if you have some more suggestions, either
Well, I do have about 2/3s of my collection yet to pick from... <grin>
Some of Mine:
Ai Oboete Imasu ka - Mari Ijima
Alive - Meat Loaf
Called Some Friends to Help - Blake Neely, The Flash Soundtrack
Cha-La Head Cha-la - AmaLee version
Everything Louder than Everything Else - Meat Loaf
Fire Wars - Jam Project
The First Round of Battle - Akira Ifukube
Flash - Queen
The Force Theme - Galactic Empire
Moon Pride - Mommoiro Clover Z
Godzilla Appears - Akira Ifukube
Godzilla - Akira Ifukube
Guile's Theme - Street Fighter Soundtrack
Ken's Theme - Street Fighter Soundtrack
Holy Thunderforce - Rhapsody
A Hush Like 200 Million Years - Kaneko Mika
I Am the Doctor - Murray Gold
Kings of the Nordic Twilight - Luca Turilli
Konya Wa Hariken - Oomori Kinuko
Majin Kenzan! - Jam Project
Mind Storm - Joe Satriani
Pacific Rim - Ramin Djawadi & Tom Morello
Power of the Dragonflame - Rhapsody
Princes of the Universe - Queen
Say Yes - Hashimoto Maiko
To Be Alive Again - Journey
The Touch - Stan Bush
Word Crimes - Weird Al Yankovic
You've Got a Chance - Bad Religion
And I'll have to leave out some of those...
I just laughed so loudly that Peggy, at the other end of the house, came to ask me why.
Kinda surprised no one's suggested any Coldplay.
Up and Up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPNTC7uZYrI
The visuals are pretty trippy, and don't go too well with the lyrics. The lyrics, on the other hand, are something that have been very helpful for me, right from the very first words, "Fixing up a car to drive in it again, searching for the water, hoping for the rain..."
Charlie Brown
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTFBJgnNgU4
Everytime I hear this, I like to think of a young adult version of everyone's favorite kid with a beagle, throwing caution to the wind and finally going after the cute red-headed girl.
Flobots are a rap band, yes....
...But they are as different from the rest of the crowd as can be. For one thing, they don't do 'canned music' just for the sake of having a beat to rap to. Instead, they do ACTUAL MUSIC, with actual drums and guitars. Hell, the girl in their group PLAYS A VIOLA. Thematically, they're also radically different from most other rappers. (Put it this way - Bernie Sanders campaigned on a lot of the things they believe in.)
If I...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0njjxJjDJE
This isn't a happy song per se. What it is about is surviving despite all the terrible things that have happened to you and getting stronger from it despite all the pain it causes.
The following is probably more of what you're after, though...
Jim's Big Ego - Stress
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGQmmDEDYiI
UTTER
FREAKIN'
HILARITY.
Quote:I'm trying to cut down on my caffeine consumption
So when I get up, I just have one cup of coffee
And I like to have another cup of coffee with my breakfast
And on my way to work, I like to get a cup of coffee
Like the kinda cup of coffee you get with the donuts
Except I don't get the donut, I just have a cup of coffee
And when I get to work I like to have a cup of coffee
Because I like to have a coffee when I'm talking on the phone
But usually it goes cold and I need to get another cup of coffee
And then it's lunch and I have an espresso...
When I get back, it's not morning anymore.
So I have a diet cola and another diet cola
But then I feel fine, I'm feeling pretty sharp
I'm feeling pretty wired and I'm getting things done
But right about Two, I get this little tiny migraine
It starts behind my eyes and moves to the back of my neck
And it moves to the bottom of my spine
But it doesn't get there until about 5 or 6 o'clock which is the end of the day
So I'm fine! So I'M FINE!!! So I'm Fine! So I'm fine! So I'm fine.
Except when I have to work late, when I have to work late?
Which I usually do...
And then the chorus kicks in and I'm practically giggling like a lunatic!
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Go Robot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI-8CVixZ5o
This bouncy tune is great for when you don't mind thinking about the possibilities of cybernetic love and transhumanism. Video is a BIT NSFW because of RHCP lead singer Anthony Kiedis going around in nothing but white body paint, sneakers, a bowler hat, and a codpiece.
An odd one I'll recommend is the soundtrack for Log Horizon. While the anime does have it's action oriented bits, there is a LOT of slice-of-life fun thrown in as well, and so the soundtrack reflects these moments as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gddkFavQTcE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMo3so98EyM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfWNZLFkLX4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSI5_AicRqw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9VMnCmyT0w (Note: This is the default "Shenanigans Happen" track.
)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOkJc4BK25g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJXUFq5eELI
That's all I have time for now. I'll dig a bit more into my collection later when I'm back from work.
Happy music? Most of Weird Al's songs come to mind
Oh, let's not forget They Might Be Giants.
Got another one, though it's not so funny as such. Well, the video has some humour going on:
(
non-embedded)
There's also a series of pretty cool animated shorts for
My Metal Family that have not-horrible uPotato English subtitles available. (The dialogue is in Russian.)
Heh. That stuff's funny. Episode 5 doesn't have subs for some reason, though. I bet this show would be a huge hit here in the US if she could get a producer like the McFarlain Bros to pick her up. The humor is not so puerile, but it'd be something I'd enjoy watching.
More on topic...
Lana del Rey has an utterly gorgeous voice, but her moody tone and dark lyrics aren't exactly everyone's cuppa.
This song, though, while maintaining her dark, moody sound, is nonetheless a happy song about a woman being completely in love with a man who makes her a part of his life.
Swinging in the backyard
Pull up in your fast car
Whistling my name
Open up a beer
And you say, "Get over here
And play a video game."
I'm in his favorite sun dress
Watching me get undressed
Take that body downtown
I say, "You the bestest."
Lean in for a big kiss
Put his favorite perfume on
Go play a video game
It's you, it's you, it's all for you
Everything I do
I tell you all the time
Heaven is a place on earth with you
Tell me all the things you wanna do
I heard that you like the bad girls
Honey, is that true?
It's better than I ever even knew
They say that the world was built for two
Only worth living if somebody is loving you
Baby, now you do
Singing in the old bars
Swinging with the old stars
Living for the fame
Kissing in the blue dark
Playing pool and wild darts
Video games
He holds me in his big arms
Drunk and I am seeing stars
This is all I think of
Watching all our friends fall
In and out of Old Paul's
This is my idea of fun
Playing video games
It's you, it's you, it's all for you
Everything I do
I tell you all the time
Heaven is a place on earth with you
Tell me all the things you wanna do
I heard that you like the bad girls
Honey, is that true?
It's better than I ever even knew
They say that the world was built for two
Only worth living if somebody is loving you
Baby, now you do
Now you do
Now you do
Now you do
Now, now you do
Now you do
Now you do
It's you, it's you, it's all for you
Everything I do
I tell you all the time
Heaven is a place on earth with you
Tell me all the things you wanna do
I heard that you like the bad girls
Honey, is that true?
It's better than I ever even knew
They say that the world was built for two
Only worth living if somebody is loving you
Baby, now you do
Now, Now you do
Now you do
Now you do
(Now you do)
Now, Now you do
Now you do
Now you do
Okay, I have a chance to get through more of my MP3 collection... let's see what I can suggest from the next third or so, leaving out anything someone else has already suggested. (As before, this is strictly music; I'm skipping comedy sketches and the like.)
Falco -- Rock Me Amadeus
Feeder -- Buck Rogers
Felix Figueroa (Freddy Martin and his Orchestra) -- Pico and Sepulveda
The Fibs -- Paranoid
Fiona Apple -- Extraordinary Machine
Fire Inc. (Streets of Fire Soundtrack) -- Tonight Is What It Means To Be Young
The Firm -- Star Trekkin'
First Class -- Beach Baby
Flanders & Swann -- A Transport of Delight
Flanders & Swann -- First and Second Law
Flanders & Swann -- The Gnu Song
Fleet Street Singers -- Schoolhouse Rock Medley
Fletcher Peck Trio -- Salt
FLOW -- Colors
Focus -- Hocus Pocus
The Folksmen -- Old Joe's Place
The Fools -- Psycho Chicken
Forbidden Broadway -- Andrew Lloyd Superstar
Forbidden Broadway -- Don't Cry For Me (Barbara Striesand)
Forbidden Broadway -- Into the Words
Forbidden Broadway -- Parody Tonight
Forbidden Hollywood -- Stupidcarelessfictionalnonsensicalverboseness
Four Bitchin' Babes -- Cheerleaders On Drugs
Frank Gallop -- The Ballad of Irving
Frank Hayes -- Never Set the Cat On Fire
Frank Sinatra -- High Hopes
Frank Zappa -- Be In My Video
Frank Zappa -- Dancing Fool
Frank Zappa -- Dirty Love
Frank Zappa -- I'm The Slime
Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons -- Oh What a Night (December 1963)
The Frantics -- Gas Station Washroom
The Frantics -- I Shot Bambi's Mother
Freddie Mercury & Montserrat Caballe -- Barcelona
Freddy Cannon -- Palisades Park
Freddy Martin and His Orchestra (ft. Merv Griffin) -- I've Got A Lovely Bunch Of Coconuts
Friends Of Distinction -- Grazing In The Grass
Futari wa Pretty Cure MAX HEART -- DANZEN
Gary Lee & Showdown -- The Rodeo Song (warning: monumentally NSFW)
Gary Muller -- My Name Is Not Merv Griffin
Gary Portnoy -- Cheers (Where Everybody knows Your Name)
Gene Kardos and his Orchestra -- Freddy the Freshman
Genesis -- I Can't Dance
Genesis -- Invisible Touch
George Uetz -- Music, Sex And Cookies
Girls Aloud -- St. Trinian's Theme
Glencoves -- It's Sister Ginny's Turn To Throw The Bomb
Glenn Super & The Jay Levvy Blues Band -- Good Sex
Gnarls Barkley -- Crazy
Go-Gos -- Vacation
Gold Coast Singers -- Plastic Jesus
Golden Earring -- Radar Love
The Goodies -- The Funky Gibbon
The Gourds -- Gin and Juice
Grateful Dead -- Uncle John's Band
Grease 2 -- Back To School Again
The Great Luke Ski -- 88 Lines About 44 Simpsons
The Great Luke Ski -- Stealing Like A Hobbit
Green Jelly -- Three Little Pigs
The Guild (ft. Felicia Day) -- (Do You Wanna Date My) Avatar
Gunnar Madsen-Leslie Fish -- Surprise
Gunther -- The Ding Dong Song
Guttermouth -- I'm Destroying the World
Guy Clark -- The Cape
Harry Belafonte & Odetta -- Dear Liza
Harvey Danger -- Flagpole Sitta
Hayseed Dixie -- Centerfold
Hayseed Dixie -- Walk This Way
Heart -- I've Got The Music In Me
Heather Alexander -- Heather on the Moor
Heather Alexander -- High Barbary
Henry Phillips -- Sweet Little Blossom of Mine
Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass -- A Taste of Honey
Hermes House Band -- Come On, Eileen (In fact, anything by Hermes House Band -- they're a party cover band, everything they do is fun)
Heywood Banks -- Yeah Toast
Hives -- Tick Tick Boom
Hoagy Carmichael -- Huggin' and Chalkin'
Hoku -- Perfect Day
Homer & Jethro -- The Battle Of Kookamonga
Hot Butter -- Popcorn
Huey Lewis and The News -- Hip To Be Square
Huey Lewis and The News -- The Heart Of Rock And Roll
Huey Lewis and The News -- The Power of Love
Hurricane Smith -- Oh Babe, What Would You Say
Ian Dury & the Blockheads -- Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick
Ides Of March -- Vehicle
Information Society -- What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy)
Inva Mula-Tchako (from The Fifth Element) -- Diva Opera Mix
Irish Rovers -- Lily The Pink
Irish Rovers -- Snoopy vs The Red Baron
Italo Brothers -- Stamp On The Ground
Ivan Dixon, Robert Clary, Richard Dawson and Larry Hovis -- Hogan's Heroes March
Ivor Biggun -- Bras On 45
Ivy Three -- Yogi
Jack Blanchard and Misty Morgan -- Tennessee Birdwalk
Jackson Browne -- Lawyers In Love
Jackyl -- Lumberjack
James and Gang -- Pepsiman
The Jamies -- Summertime, Summertime
Jan & Dean -- Schlock Rod Part 1
Jan & Dean -- Schlock Rod Part 2
Jan & Dean -- The Little Old Lady From Pasadena
Janet Jackson -- Escapade
Jeff Williams & Casey Lee Williams feat. Lamar Hall -- Caffeine
Jeff Williams feat. Casey Williams & Lamar Hall -- I Burn
Jeff Williams, Casey Lee Williams -- Boop
Jemaine Clement -- Shiny
Jenny Rom -- Senorita (Speed Mix)
Jenny Rom vs. The Zippers -- Waka Laka (E=MC2 Mix)
Jerry Lewis -- Sunday Driving
Jim Stafford -- Spiders and Snakes
Jim Stafford -- Wildwood Weed
Jim Steinman -- Bad For Good
Jim Steinman -- Dance In My Pants
Jim Steinman -- Wonderful Toys
Jimmy Buffett -- Cheeseburger In Paradise
Jimmy Buffett -- Volcano
Joe Bethancourt -- When I Was A Boy
Joe Dolce -- Shaddup Your Face
Joe Jackson -- Stepping Out
Joe Walsh -- Life's Been Good to Me So Far
John Denver -- Calypso
John Fogerty -- Centerfield
John Fred & His Playboy Band -- Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)
John Parr -- Man In Motion (St. Elmo's Fire)
John Wesley Harding -- Hamlet
Jonathan Coulton -- Ikea
Jonathan Coulton -- Mandelbrot Set
Julie Brown -- 'Cause I'm a Blonde
Julie Brown -- Earth Girls Are Easy
Julie Fowlis, from the Brave OST -- Touch The Sky
Jump 'N The Saddle Band -- The Curly Shuffle
Kaleido Star -- Tattoo Kiss
Katrina and The Waves -- Walking On Sunshine
Kenny Loggins -- Danger Zone
Kenny Loggins -- Return To Pooh Corner
Kerry Ellis -- Defying Gravity
King Harvest -- Dancing In the Moonlight
The Kingston Trio -- Coplas (original 1958)
The Kingston Trio -- Coplas Revisited
The Kingston Trio -- The Merry Minuet
The Kingston Trio -- Zombie Jamboree
Kiske-Somerville -- City of Heroes
Korn -- Word Up!
Kylie Minogue -- Can't Get You Out Of My Head
Larry Groce -- Junk Food Junkie
Lauryn Hill -- Joyful, Joyful (Sister Act 2)
Lemon Demon -- The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny
Lemon Pipers -- Green Tambourine
Lenny & The Squigtones -- Night After Night
Leon Redbone -- I Want To Be Seduced
Leonard Nimoy -- The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins
Leroy Anderson -- The Typewriter
Leroy Pullins -- I'm A Nut
Lesley Gore -- Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (No, really.)
Leslie Fish -- Bashing the Balrog
Leslie Fish -- Grandma Went out with a Bang
Limeliters -- Have Some Madeira, M'Dear
Lindsey Stirling (ft. Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness) -- Something Wild
Lisa Lougheed -- Run With Us
Little River Band -- Cool Change
Little Roger & The Goosebumps -- Gilligan's Island (Stairway)
Lonnie Donegan & His Skiffle Group -- Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavor On The Bedpost Overnight
Lou Bagel -- Matzoh Number 5
Lou Bega -- Mambo Number 5
Lou Monte -- Lazy Mary
Lumineers, The -- Ho Hey
Lyle Lovett -- Here I Am
And that takes me just past halfway through my collection. Let me know what you find and like.
YouTube has decided to break itself again so I probably won't be able to check intensively through those for a bit, but I do appreciate them, Bob.
BA: Only the 18+ version of Metal Family ep5 has subtitles from what I remember - try looking at the user's posted video list if it didn't come up in the sidebar. That account is only for that series.
By The Frantics (they
really liked that phrase, 2 skits and a song titled 'Boot to the Head')
![[+]](/images/collapse_collapsed.png "[+]")
Lyrics