"Let's get happy!"

[muckefuck]

Question from spookyfruit last night: What is the most cheerful song in the world?

My immediate response was "Walking on Sunshine". But, later in the conversation, he clarified that it had to be the most cheerful song in every context. Any song about the joys of being in love is not at all cheerful when your love life is in tatters. That wipes out about 99% of all carefree pop right there, doesn't it? I still made a good case for one-hit wonders, though. How can you be 100% cheerful listening to the Cocteau Twins' "Carolyn's Fingers" is you're inevitably reminded of "Blue Bell Knoll" or "Blood Bitch"? (When I say "you", I mean "me" of course.) You'd be better off with Aqua, which knows no nuance or variety.

After discarding dozens of possibilities, I finally settled on "Skokian"--not necessarily the Brave Combo version, though you can make a case for it being the best. As someone on the Web sez:

""Skokian" is a truly perfect song that has been done and redone by any number of bands. Although everyone has heard the song, not everyone remembers it. (It's popular in movie soundtracks and at weddings, but not on radio stations.)

According to another blurb, it's actually based on a Zulu song, which explains all the guff about "happy happy Africa".

Of course, if even mention of Africa makes you think of Rwanda, Congo, and Idi Amin, then this song isn't going to work either. So can I have some further nominees, please?

Comments

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

I'd have to dump every single one of these on my "other associations" criteria. How can I hear VotB without thinking of "The Moon is Made of Dust"? Robert Smith without thinking of, well, any other song he's ever done (ignoring for a moment the fact that "Just Like Heaven" itself is a song about loss anyway)? Much as I love "Mysterious Ways", there's something creepy and threatening about it, and those sensations are the opposite of cheer.

[snowy-owlet.livejournal.com]

Oh hey---I guess "Just Like Heaven" IS about loss, isn't it? I never think about that, because it makes me stand in one place and spin, and I get too dizzy to think about the words.

What's your other association with "These Are Days"?

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

Merchant's big hit song about child abuse, for a start!