Stay in and cheer up: My Top Ten feelgood songs

Cheer up, friends – all right, it’s Sunday and the spring sun is shining, but we MUST stay at home nevertheless; Coronavirus is ransacking our cities and towns and we’ve got to help slowing down its spread. But then – what’s so bad about staying home? Lots of things to do indoors! And one of the best ways to pass the time is listening to music; and to help you cheer up, I’ve made a list of my favourite feelgood songs – cheerful songs that I’m sure will paint a smile on your face and make you sing along! They aren’t in any particular order, because I think they’re all simply wonderful…

 

Bobby McFerrin: Don’t Worry, Be Happy

This irresistible tune from my teenage days still sounds as fresh as ever after more than thirty years; and, of course, its lyrics certainly are more up-to-date than ever…

 

The Beatles: Yellow Submarine

How about that as an example for complete self-isolation – living in a submarine!! Yet the boys, John, Macca, George and Ringo, seem to be enjoying themselves a lot…

 

James Brown: I Feel Good

Here’s the Godfather of Soul feeling good – what a voice, what a sound, eh?! Simply makes us feel good as well!

 

Beach Boys: Good Vibrations

And here are the Beach Boys’ good vibrations reaching out to all of us, taking us back to the good old hippie days and making us feel one with the whole universe…

 

Timon & Pumbaa: Hakuna Matata

Everybody’s favourite song from “The Lion King”: Hakuna matata – no problems! Just keep telling yourself it’s true…

 

Dave Clark Five: Glad All Over

The London equivalent to the Beatles, the Dave Clark Five sure have got a captivating rhythm of their own – and a wonderfully optimistic outlook on life!

 

Bing Crosby: Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep

Now let’s go waaay back into time – to good old Bing Crosby… And let’s all count our blessings, because even in those restricting and somewhat scary times, we’ve still got a lot of them left that nobody can take away from us!

 

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers: Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off

This one’s especially for all the couples cooped up together right now who are maybe already on the brink of a row because of all those strange circumstances… Just remember HOW much you need each other, and let’s call the calling off off!

 

Josephine Baker: Bye Bye Blackbird

And EVEN further back into time, right back to a 1920s Charleston! Because there have always been people who had cares and woes, and there’s always been a silver lining to every cloud…

 

George Ezra: Hey Pretty Shining People

Back to the present, and George Ezra’s wonderful message to all you pretty shining people out there: we’re all right together!! We’ll get through this if everybody does their part, from the heroes at the health care frontline to volunteers helping people in isolation to just us ordinary citizens staying indoors and finding ways to keep ourselves busy and happy at home, dear friends!