ABC/Randy HolmesRock artists aren’t particularly known for producing too many “happy” songs, but that doesn’t mean they don’t need a musical pick-me-up here and there. In an article for Forbes, rockers including Heart‘s Ann Wilson, Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl and Smashing Pumpkins leader Billy Corgan pick their favorite happy songs.
Wilson picks the John Lennon-penned Beatles tune “Across the Universe,” which she says is “the happiest song ever.” Ann points out that the lyrics “contain a mantra” — “Jai Guru Deva Om” or “hail the divine allness” — and adds, “This song expresses the bliss of oneness in the multiverse. You know…the simple stuff John was contemplating.”
For his choice, Grohl contemplated choosing Pharrell‘s inescapable 2013 hit “Happy,” but instead picks “C’Mon N’ Ride It (The Train)” by ’90s hip-hop group Quad City DJs, who you may also know as the artists behind the Space Jam theme song.
“Dude, that song, I swear to God, you can’t not love it!” Grohl says of “C’Mon N’ Ride It.” “It puts you in a good mood every time. It’s the groove, man.”
As you might’ve guessed, Corgan is “not a happy song fan” — “Not really my thing,” he says — but ultimately chooses the Beach Boys classic “Wouldn’t It Be Nice.”
Other artists who volunteer their happiest song picks include Beck, who names “pretty much anything in the Stevie Wonder catalog” and Michael Jackson‘s “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough”; Perry Farrell, whose selections include David Bowie‘s “Ziggy Stardust” and “Transmission” by Joy Division; and veteran electronica artist Moby, who picks Led Zeppelin‘s “Tangerine.”
Copyright © 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
