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The Most Uplifting Songs In Music History.

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Lean on Me/Love’s in Need of Love Today, Stevie Wonder – Emotions are raw in this extraordinary medley from the iconic Stevie Wonder – one of the great living treasures of world music. He starts with a heartfelt cover of “Lean on Me” – written by his close friend Bill Withers who passed away at the end of March. Wonder then eases into his own classic “Love’s in Need of Love”, closing with the prescient line: “People, let’s give the world love.”

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The Most Uplifting Songs In Music History.

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Let It Be, The Beatles – The contribution of The Beatles to the sum of human happiness must be incalculable, but arguably never more so than with this masterpiece. This stripped back studio rehearsal sees John, Paul, George and Ringo at their very best, with an astonishing performance from Paul McCartney as he reflects on the loss of his mother and focuses on a message of hope and acceptance, allowing himself to just “let it be.”

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The Most Uplifting Songs In Music History.

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Happy, Pharrell Williams – It might be less than a decade since this classic modern pop song was released, but it feels much farther away in present circumstances. However, this deceptively simple song and lyrics have hidden depth: Beneath the catchy rhythm is a universal truth that inner happiness is as much a matter of personal perspective as based on any measurable criteria. Like the man says, “Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth”…

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The Most Uplifting Songs In Music History.

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Sunny, Bobby Hebb – Like all the true classic summer hits, “Sunny” has been covered hundreds of times. The simplicity of the melody and lyrics, however, mask a darker background. Hebb wrote his paean to hope and optimism after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the murder of his brother Harold the next day. Hebb’s message is a simple one: Whatever troubles we face, we can choose to focus on sunnier times ahead.

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The Most Uplifting Songs In Music History.

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Walking on Sunshine, Katrina & The Waves – Surprisingly, for one of the most energetic hit singles of the 1980s, this ever-popular song was originally conceived as a ballad. Not convinced by the results, the band’s lead singer Katrina Leskanich decided to inject it with more tempo – a lot more tempo – and the rest is pop history. The song has been covered by countless artists, but country music fans might be interested to check out Dolly Parton’s effervescent cover version.

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The Most Uplifting Songs In Music History.

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Don’t Stop Me Now, Queen – We’re proud to confirm that this next song on our list is officially ‘the most feel-good song of all time’. There, our work is done. Thank you and good night… Sorry, how do we know that? Well, the results are based on a poll conducted five years ago by cognitive neuroscientist Dr Jacob Jolij, which confirmed that the Queen hit contains all the ingredients of a perfect feel-good song – from a fast tempo, to being in a major key. We’re assuming the miraculous vocals of Freddie Mercury might have helped as well…

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The Most Uplifting Songs In Music History.

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Beautiful Day, U2 – This is a song that takes its time to build and then just keeps building and building and… Yes, you guessed it, this is U2 at their anthemic best, with soaring vocals and a guitar sound reminiscent of their early days. It might not be to everyone’s taste, but Grammys for Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group suggest that it definitely took most listeners “to that other place” – just as Bono’s vocals beseeched in the song’s lyrics.

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The Most Uplifting Songs In Music History.

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Don’t Worry Be Happy, Bobby McFerrin – Okay, if you’re not convinced by the bombast of Bono and co, then how about a quieter and more contemplative message of optimism? It’s hard to imagine now, but it was this gentle acapella song that knocked Guns n’ Roses’ epic “Sweet Child o’ Mine” off the top of the Billboard charts in the USA. The simplicity of the song might seem trite to some, but others found solace in that same simple wisdom, and McFerrin’s repetitive mantra of “Don’t worry, be happy.”

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The Most Uplifting Songs In Music History.

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Never Give Up, Sia – Few contemporary artists specialise in uplifting anthems as much as Sia Kate Isobelle Furler, known to her millions of fans across the world simply as Sia. Her usual blend of pop, electronica and power ballads acquire an additional influence here with a hint of Bollywood melodies to create an even more exotic and compelling musical blend. This element is unsurprising, as the song was written for the soundtrack of the profoundly emotional and uplifting movie Lion – based on the true story of an Indian-born man trying to find his birth family 25 years after his adoption.

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The Most Uplifting Songs In Music History.

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Movin’ On Up, Primal Scream – Is it rock? Alternative rock? Dance-rock? Neo-psychedelia? Any shouts for ‘Madchester’, maybe? Who knows, the simple truth is that this era-defining track is probably a combination of all those labels and more. Together with the album it came from, Screamadelica, this marked the collision of different musical worlds – and the results were powerful, uplifting and hugely danceable. Alongside the Glasgow band themselves, great credit also goes to its producer, the iconic house DJ Andrew Weatherall who died in February this year.

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The Most Uplifting Songs In Music History.

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Heroes, David Bowie – Written and recorded during the iconic singer’s mid-1970s Berlin period, this is one of Bowie’s most inspirational songs, and a paean to the triumph of the human spirit. On his death in 2016, the German government thanked Bowie for “helping to bring down the Wall”, suggesting that “you are now among Heroes”. The message of his song, however, is that the capacity for heroism lies within all of us – visible today in the heroic efforts of medical staff and frontline workers. This memorable performance from the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992 marks one of the last major performances of guitar legend Mick Ronson.

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The Most Uplifting Songs In Music History.

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Scars to Your Beautiful, Alessia Cara – In an age when popular music has become increasingly manufactured and dominated by packaged artists and musical ‘product’, Canadian singer/songwriter Alessia Cara bucked the trend with a song of real substance that spoke deeply about body image, mental health and positive-thinking. The empowering lyrical message is supported by the song’s powerful beat and resounding chorus.

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The Most Uplifting Songs In Music History.

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Symphony, Clean Bandit – The song marked a collaboration between the Cambridge electro-pop band and Swedish singer Zara Larsson. The popularity of the song around the world emphasised the extent to which it struck a chord in people, even though the lyrics are quite elusive and open to interpretation. That in itself might be the secret of its popularity, allowing the listener to draw their own conclusions and to hear their own symphony when before all they “heard was silence”.

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The Most Uplifting Songs In Music History.

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Dancing Queen, ABBA – This landmark song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2015, enshrining the importance of ABBA – and this song in particular – to popular music. Their artful (and apparently effortless) amalgamation of absurdly danceable beats, addictive melodies and classical flourishes had long been under-appreciated by some music critics, but fans always recognised their particular strand of musical genius. “Dancing Queen” might recount a trip to a 1970s discotheque, but more than that, it is a hymn to the transformative power of dance.

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The Most Uplifting Songs In Music History.

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Touch the Sky, Kanye West – This groundbreaking hip-hop track from Kanye’s second album certainly doesn’t lack confidence, announcing his polymathic mindset as a bonafide “hip-hop legend” and already “top of the world, baby, top of the world!” But, listening to the infectious groove, it’s hard to disagree. The track is elevated by a sample from the late great Curtis Mayfield’s “Move on Up” with wailing Latin horns. As Kanye declares his intention to “touch the sky”, the listener is invited to share the same dream.

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The Most Uplifting Songs In Music History.

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Mi Gente, J Balvin/Willy WIlliam – Similar to ABBA’s Dancing Queen, Colombian reggaetón artist J Balvin’s “Mi Gente” – created with French artist Willy William, celebrates the primal power of music, rhythm and dance. More than that, Balvin’s lyrics call on people to unite and reject discrimination in all its forms. The resulting song is a Latin crossover phenomenon that lifts listeners and gets them moving to the same beat, wherever they may be.

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The Most Uplifting Songs In Music History.

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Levels, Avicii – “Levels” is today acclaimed as one of the great landmarks of progressive house and the wider EDM scene. The sadly departed DJ Avicii created one of the most memorable synth riffs of this or any era, but the song beautifully contrasts that infectious melody with a sample from Etta James’s “Something’s Got a Hold on Me”. The lyric’s insistent call to “get a good feeling” and “get a feeling that I never, never, never, never had before” plants a powerful thought in listeners’ minds – and hearts.

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The Most Uplifting Songs In Music History.

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Do you Realize??, The Flaming Lips – This might, just might, be the most popular live song of The Flaming Lips. Written as a message of hope to band member Steven Drozd during a period of extreme personal difficulty, the song’s lyrics are universal, movingly contrasting the harsh realities of life (and death) with the intrinsic wonder of existence and the universe.

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The Most Uplifting Songs In Music History.

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Guantanamera, Various Artists (Playing For Change) – Playing For Change describes itself as “a movement created to inspire and connect the world through music, born from the shared belief that music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people.” We start a trio of uniquely uplifting Playing For Changes recordings with the Cuban folk song Guantanamera. Watch, sing, dance or just tap your feet, and fall in love all over again with the power of music.

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The Most Uplifting Songs In Music History.

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La Bamba, Los Lobos & Various Artists (Playing For Change) – The most famous version of this Mexican folk song may have been from teenage rocker Ritchie Valens, who tragically died in a plane crash with Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper, but many other artists have also recorded it. This version, recorded by Playing For Change and featuring Los Lobos, Andrés Calamaro and many other artists, captures its importance to Mexican culture as well as its essential life-affirming magic.

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The Most Uplifting Songs In Music History.

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The Weight, Robbie Robertson, Ringo Starr & Various Artists (Playing For Change) – Almost all the music of The Band, who wrote “The Weight”, is drenched in Americana and roots music. Not bad for a group of Canadians, albeit buoyed by the superlative contribution of Arkansas-born drummer and vocalist Levon Helm. However, “The Weight” today belongs as much to the world as to The Band, underlined here by musicians drawn from right across the globe, ably backed by original songwriter Robbie Robertson on electric guitar and an up-and-coming drummer from Liverpool called Ringo Starr…

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The Most Uplifting Songs In Music History.

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Redemption Song, Bob Marley – Written and performed by one of the greatest of all musical legends, Marley’s powerful and thought-provoking words are given additional depth in hindsight, with the knowledge that Marley wrote this having already been diagnosed with the cancer that eventually took his life – and the knowledge that he had precious little time left to share his timeless message of freedom, truth and hope. His cry to “Emancipate yourself from mental slavery” still echoes just as strongly today and far into the future.

Culture

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The Most Uplifting Songs In Music History.

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God Only Knows, Brian Wilson & Many, Many More – Genius is an overstated word in popular music, but if it belongs to a handful of artists, then Brian Wilson is almost certainly one of them. “God Only Knows” – written by Wilson together with collaborator Tony Asher, meditates on life, love and loss. While the original version is from The Beach Boys, this version to celebrate BBC Music is a rare treat and features Wilson alongside the likes of Stevie Wonder, Elton John and, ahem, One Direction.

Culture

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The Most Uplifting Songs In Music History.

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Here Comes the Sun, The Beatles – George Harrison revealed himself in “Here Comes The Sun” as a songwriter every bit as remarkable as Paul McCartney and John Lennon, but with a distinctively spiritual and philosophical leaning. You could enjoy this mesmerising track as a literal celebration of the return of spring after winter, or you could take it as a metaphor for the cyclical nature of life and the eventual return of hope and happiness after despair. Listen, enjoy and search for your own meaning.

Culture

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The Most Uplifting Songs In Music History.

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Lovely Day, Bill Withers – We started the list with an epic – and epically emotional – Stevie Wonder performance of the late Bill Withers’ “Lean on Me”. It would be remiss of us not to finish our list with another timeless Withers classic. The magic of “Lovely Day” is not just that it instantly engenders a positive mood in any listener, but that any day in which one hears “Lovely Day” is in itself, by definition, a lovely day. We wish you a good one, too.

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