I'm not a big fan of those "worst of threads." I like to concentrate more on the positive. That brings to mind a couple of songs that just make me feel good with their lyrics and melody. First is Bob Dylan's song New Morning. The lyrics sing of just that. It's a great song that never fials to put a smile on my face. Another of my favorites is a song by Cameo called I like the World. The words are truly inspiring. I must play that at least four or five times a week. Any songs come to mind that just make you feel good or that you play when you need to just feel good?
"The Whole of the Moon" - The Waterboys "Heavenly Pop Hit" - The Chills "Caravan" - Van Morrison "Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amelie Poulain (Amelie)" - Soundtrack by Yann Tiersen "These Important Years" - Husker Du
Without stretching my brain for more than a second -- there must be hundreds of them ("Let's Spend The Night Together" by the Stones being one) -- two of the more optimistic songs I can think of offhand are "Hey Jude" by The Beatles and "Ooh Child" by The Five Stairsteps (written by a guy named Stan Vincent, a pop producer of whom I know very little). Boiled down the latter has few lyrics:
Ooh child things are gonna get easier Ooh child things'll get brighter Someday we'll get it together and we'll get it undone Someday when the world is much brighter Someday we're gonna walk in the rays of a beautiful sun Someday when the world is much lighter Ooh child things are gonna get easier Ooh child things'll get brighter Right now
As in any optimistic song, epitomized the Beatles and the Beach Boys, the uplifting feel of the music plays an integral part in giving you that sense of hope. But at the same time, as illustrated by the preceding example, there must be an underlying implication of sorrow associated with the current condition to contrast with the feeling of optimism about the future. (Indeed the compelling repeated guitar lick from "Ooh Child" is tinged with bittersweetness, and the implied but unanswered question hangs in the background: What happened that must be "undone"? It doesn't matter; the healing will be accomplished in time.) You need something to triumph over -- simply being blatantly upbeat about everything all the time doesn't qualify.
Then again, who hasn't ever gone in a big way for a song that's just so poignant or melancholy, but with grace and not merely wallowing in self pity, that it makes you feel perversely wonderful by giving your soul solace? Along the lines of "Waterloo Sunset" by The Kinks for example. You just think, hey, if someone else can feel that way too, and make something beautiful out of it, then there must be hope of good in the world. But most songwriters who sit down to write a piece that's simply sad, or simply glad, usually come up with a piece of sentimental dreck. As the man is reputed to have once said, all great poetry is at root about death, even if it's ostensibly about love...
"Isn't She Lovely" Stevie Wonder "Lay Down" Strawbs "Peace Train" Cat Stevens "Thank You" Led Zeppelin "This Land is Your Land" Woody Guthrie "Starting Over" John Lennon "I Believe in Father Christmas" Greg Lake "My Girl" Temptations "For My Lady" Moody Blues "New Frontier" Kingston Trio "Sweet Baby James" James Taylor
Hey great thread indeed! Boa2 good call on "Caravan"! Actually I dig all of the above responses. It's early this morning so like Zaikesman, I won't stretch my brain too much either:
"Twist and Shout" The Beatles "I'm Wonderin' Where The Lions Are" Bruce Cockburn "My Ever Changing Moods" Style Council "Whatever Get's You Through The Night" John Lennon "Hallelujah" Ryan Adams and my favorite uplifting song is...
"40" by U2 (great lyrics and message, hmmmm, I wonder where they came from? :))
love train-the ojays...peace train-cat stevens....i'm a train-albert hammond....when the train comes-the sutherland bros.....people get ready-the impressions....do ya-the move(lookout baby there's a train a'comin')
"Love is the Answer" Todd Rundgren "No More Casual Sex" Kid Creole "Merry Christmas From The Family" R.E. Keene "Truly, Madly, Deeply" Marshall Crenshaw "The Christians and The Pagans" Dar Williams "Don't Tell The World" Kyle Davis
Good Day Sunshine, Here Comes the Sun -- the Beatles Ditto on the Bruce Cockburn, also I'm gonna fly someday, Bright Sky, Lord of the Starfields, Joy will find a way -- Bruce Cockburn Carry On - CSNY Jazzman -- Carol King Larry Carlton -- Smiles and Smiles to go All Good People -- Yes (a little overplayed and worn out but...)
"Theologians" - Wilco "Love Potion #9" - Herb Alpert "Jerry Was a Racecar Driver" - Primus "You're the One that I Want" - Travolta/Newton-John "Little Muscle" - Catherine Wheel "A Day in the Life" - The Beatles "Dark State of Mind" - Tuatara (not dark at all) "Crocodile Rock" - Elton John "The Fly" - U2 "Sento le Campane" - Zucchero
Tupelo Honey - Van Morrison The Sea Refuses No River - Pete Townshend Evangeline - Matthew Sweet Facist Architechture - Bruce Cockburn She's So Modern - The Boomtown Rats Earth and Sun and Moon - Midnight Oil Valentine's Day - Bruce Springsteen The American Light - Julian Cope Sandra at the Beach - Poi Dog Pondering Hot Dogs and Hamburgers - John Mellencamp Lay My Love - Brian Eno and John Cale Shooting Star - Bob Dylan Eileen - Keith Richards Banana Pancakes - Jack Johnson I'm Always in Love - Wilco We're All The Way - Eric Clapton Love Reign O'er Me - The Who
I play a fair amount of Contemporary Christian and Classical Music (not that I don't enjoy many other types). Both of these categories, however, abound with great affirming music; which to me is a lot of what this hobby is all about!
Yes, written by Nick Lowe. Great song, fantastic performance -- in sum a classic gem, and as I suggested above one of those depressing songs that's nonetheless capable of making you feel good when you hear it -- but "optimistic"? Hey, there are some (what I consider to be) off-the-mark picks in this thread, in different ways, but to me this one -- a lucid and searingly angry indictment of the world we've made and our attitudes about it, that offers no hope of change even as it acknowledges and sympathizes with our potential to see the problems -- represents the absolute antithesis of optimism. Not that there's anything wrong with that :-)
Again, I can't see "(Sitting On) The Dock Of The Bay" as being considered anything like optimistic:
Sitting in the morning sun I'll be sitting when the evening comes Watching the ships roll in And I watch 'em roll away again
[Refrain] Sitting on the dock of the bay Watching the tide roll away I'm just sitting on the dock of the bay Wasting time
I left my home in Georgia Headed for the 'Frisco bay 'Cause I had nothin to live for And look like nothing's gonna come my way
So I'm just... [Refrain]
Look like nothing's gonna change Everything still remains the same I can't do what ten people tell me to do So I guess I'll remain the same
Sittin here resting my bones And this loneliness won't leave me alone It's two thousand miles I roamed Just to make this dock my home
Now, I'm just... [Refrain]
Resigned maybe, aimless and at a loss, a touch bitter, slapped down by life -- but optimistic? Yeah, the opening stanza could be interpreted as sounding fairly idyllic if you don't read much into it, and I admit that whistling tends to sound inherently optimistic, but that's not all there is to the song. Well, then again at least half the populace thinks "Every Breath You Take" is a love song (actually about divorce, it's routinely played at weddings) and "Born In The USA" is a flag-waving patriotic anthem, so go figure. However, you won't get any argument from me that the effect music (or any art) has on people is probably more significant than the artist's lyrical intent, especially when that artist has wrapped it up in an attractive melody and compelling arrangement.
Sounds good to me, too (in both senses). Sorry to be such a thread-nanny, the debating bug is just my nature. Personally, I find "Dock Of The Bay" to provide as much or more spiritual succor than songs that truly are optimistic.
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