my happy music: blog challenge seven

This blog challenge was really difficult for me--not because I don't have music that cheers me up, but rather because I have far too much of it. When trying to gain inspiration for this post, I went through my iTunes and made a playlist of all of the songs I could think of that fit the description. I ended up with 45 or so songs. This is because I am music obsessed, and my specific taste in music is largely based on how happy it makes me. Of course, many of my favorite bands aren't exactly the cheeriest (i.e. Radiohead) but they still make me happy because the music is so good, and listening to good music in general makes me happy.

But this isn't about my favorite bands, it's about the (many) songs that cheer me up. So here goes (and again, sorry for the length).

1. American Pie - Don McLean. Simply a classic.
2. Undone (The Sweater Song) - Weezer. This song is just really funny to me. Plus it reminds me of my awesome ninth grade PE class, because they used to play it in the weight room all the time.
3. Chihuahua - DJ Bobo. This one is more of an inside joke. It's a camp thing (as in summer camp, not the English slang word); we have a dance to go with it and everything.
4. Go Cubs Go - Steve Goodman. They play this song after every Cubs home win, so naturally it makes me smile.
5. We Can Work It Out - The Beatles. Possibly my favorite song of theirs.
6. Catch My Disease - Ben Lee
7. Let It Go - The Clarks
8. MK Ultra - Exit Clov
9. In The Morning - The Coral
10. A-Punk - Vampire Weekend. I'm not a massive Vampire Weekend fan, but I heard this in Au Bon Pain this morning when I was getting coffee, and it put a smile on my face.
11. Decent Days and Nights - The Futureheads
12. Digital - Joy Division
13. Don't Ask Me - OK Go
14. Lola - The Kinks
15. Apply Some Pressure - Maximo Park
16. Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order
17. Do The Panic - Phantom Planet. Brings me back to sunny summer vacations out of high school.
18. This Charming Man - The Smiths
19. She Bangs The Drums - The Stone Roses
20. Chelsea Dagger - The Fratellis. Two years ago on New Years Eve in the Waterloo tube station in London, I saw a group of about 20 guys (clearly inebriated) dancing around and singing this song, and it made me laugh because it struck me as so quintessentially British. Well, the funniest part of the whole sitch was all the tourists on the other side of the station taking pictures of the drunk guys, but still. The song makes me happy.

So clearly I have a type when it comes to music. Yes, there's a whole lot of Britpoppy stuff, but that's not really surprising; I'm a big fan of British music because it's so upbeat and catchy, and it makes me dance around my room like a lunatic.