Two 10's !!!Originally Posted by Roy Tucker
She’s a 10
Two 10's !!!She’s a 10
" He wants to dream like a young man, with the wisdom of an old man. " ---Bob Seger
" I did something ten times better than watching this overpaid cabal of maladroit baseball practitioners bumble and stumble their way to yet another predictable L. I don’t even remember what I did, but it was better than watching this dreck. " ---TBL
You never know what you're gonna get on RZ music thread and today you get something different. This is about my favorite time of the year . Winter is winding down, the sun is out, warmer weather is on the way, birds are chirping, BB tournaments are heating up, and Reds baseball on the horizon. If you are like me, when the dreary, cloudy, rain gives way to sunshine, my mood changes from down in the dumps to happy and more upbeat. Got me to thinking about this question---what kind of music makes you happy? For you, what elements of a song makes it a happy song ?
Well, I think I'm gonna see if you can name me the happiest song ever recorded. I mean , like, for real. Like scientifically. I'm a mathematician and I obviously love formulas, so I'll even show the "feel good" song formula, shortly , and let you know how this song was determined to be the happiest song in the world.
First, allow me to give you just a little bit of the backstory for the song:
109. The singer/songwriter had secluded himself in a remote chalet in the Swiss Alps, hoping to write songs for his band's next album. But the weather had put a damper on his creativity. You see, for two weeks there had been nothing but dark, dreary, cloudy, misty weather , contributing to a "functional" depression and the dreaded "writer's block." The songwriter described the weather for those two weeks as "vile." He hadn't been able to come up with anything useful for two weeks when, all of sudden , the clouds parted and the glorious sunshine appeared over the Alps.
He felt a burst of energy and an inspiration to put down the lyrics to , not only this song, but thirteen other songs, as well. The writer's block was gone with the clouds and mist and an entire album of songs was born, including the world's happiest song. Now, you'd think that the world's happiest song would have climbed the charts to #1. However, it only made it to #35 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album , which was released on the day of my 15th birthday , peaked at #4 on the Billboard 200 album chart in 1977, and produced two top 20 hits, in addition to the world's happiest song.
Now, how was the song determined to be the world's happiest song ? Back several years ago, a scientist and researcher was determined to find out what made for happy songs. He joined with a couple of other scientists from the University of Missouri and they interviewed 2,000 people, asking them questions about what elements in upbeat songs played to them made them feel happy. They then asked the study participants to rate the parts of the songs that made them happiest. The researcher then derived a formula to match what these upbeat pop songs had in common, and then applied the formula back to the songs they used to make the formula. After narrowing down the list of the happiest songs to, I believe , 126 songs over a period of 50 years , they developed , and then refined, a formula to rank these feel good songs.
Here's the " feel good" formula:
Rating = 60 + (0.00165 * BPM – 120)^2 + (4.376 * Major) + 0.78 * nChords – (Major * nChords)
Now, when they first came up with a formula, Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" was ranked #1. But after refining the formula, the song I described above went from #2 to the top spot. If I'm not mistaken, "Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boys was #3, according to this particular algorithm.
I know this is a wordy question but I hope you enjoyed the story. Now, can you tell me the name of the world's happiest song? Btw, seems like I read somewhere that a survey about happy songs was done in the UK back around the year 2020 and the survey agreed with the science. This same song won the survey/poll for the happiest song ever.
I double dare you to try to not tap your feet to this song... Science says it's physically impossible!
Last edited by Ky Fried Redleg; 03-12-2026 at 06:46 PM.
" He wants to dream like a young man, with the wisdom of an old man. " ---Bob Seger
" I did something ten times better than watching this overpaid cabal of maladroit baseball practitioners bumble and stumble their way to yet another predictable L. I don’t even remember what I did, but it was better than watching this dreck. " ---TBL
I swear you mentioned this already on this forum.
“The forest was shrinking but the trees kept voting for the axe, for the axe was clever and convinced the trees that because his handle was made of wood he was one of them.” - Turkish Proverb.
Picking the happiest song is an impossible task, IMO.
For me these two songs have to be high up the list.
First would be Ballroom Blitz by Sweet.
And then another Jeff Lynne/ELO rocker.
Last edited by texasdave; 03-12-2026 at 09:27 PM.
“The forest was shrinking but the trees kept voting for the axe, for the axe was clever and convinced the trees that because his handle was made of wood he was one of them.” - Turkish Proverb.
Well, when you're sitting back in your rose pink Cadillac
Making bets on Kentucky Derby Day
texasdave (03-12-2026)
.
I don't think I did. i believe you as just that damn smart!Great job! I thought that one might fool a few people.
What do you all think? Does Mr. Blue Sky make you happy? I think it's a great song but it's not the one that tops my "Happy" list. I feel another question on the way. As much as I like "Mr Blue Sky," I like the other two hits on that album even better- " Turn to Stone" and "Sweet Talkin' Woman." Man, I'm so glad the clouds parted that day in the Swiss Alps.
Also, listen to the song again. Listen for that odd percussion sound. It's a clanging sound. You know what it is? It drumsticks hitting a fire extinguisher.
My God, I've turned into the Chico Ruiz of useless trivial music info. Chico , what is Jeff Lynne's favorite seafood dish? lol
Btw, editorial note: Jeff Lynne is a freaking musical genius. That term is often overused, but in Jeff's case it's most appropriate.
Last edited by Ky Fried Redleg; 03-12-2026 at 11:09 PM.
" He wants to dream like a young man, with the wisdom of an old man. " ---Bob Seger
" I did something ten times better than watching this overpaid cabal of maladroit baseball practitioners bumble and stumble their way to yet another predictable L. I don’t even remember what I did, but it was better than watching this dreck. " ---TBL
Jeff Lynne is a freaking genius.
Hits be damned... Jungle, Wild West Hero and Birmingham Blues are the three best songs on that album.
"Even a bad day at the ballpark beats the snot out of most other good days. I'll take my scorecard and pencil and beer and hot dog and rage at the dips and cheer at the highs, but I'm not ever going to stop loving this game and this team and nobody will ever take that away from me." Roy Tucker October 2010
texasdave (03-12-2026)
110. Okay, here's your chance to guess the song that tops my "Happy Song" list. I've loved this song for over 50 years. It never grows old and never fails to make me smile. The song was the band's first big hit record. It peaked at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 but it was a global sensation, reaching #1 on the charts in the UK, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, West Germany, Ireland, Norway, South Africa and Switzerland. The song won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974 for their home country, besting Italy's song entry by a score of 24-18 . The song propelled the band to international stardom. Stonewall Jackson, a country artist, had a song by the same title back in the late 50's.. That song didn't make me as happy, though. Plus, Stonewall didn't look nearly as good in a kitty cat dress.
Ironically, the first few seconds of my happiest song sounds very much like the first seconds of ELO's "Turn to Stone"(At least to my ears it does). Just think, if it weren't for the Little General, we might not have ever heard this song.
Can you name the song that tops my happy list ?
Last edited by Ky Fried Redleg; 03-13-2026 at 07:58 AM.
" He wants to dream like a young man, with the wisdom of an old man. " ---Bob Seger
" I did something ten times better than watching this overpaid cabal of maladroit baseball practitioners bumble and stumble their way to yet another predictable L. I don’t even remember what I did, but it was better than watching this dreck. " ---TBL
I’m a fan of a little bit earlier ELO like Eldorado, Can't Get It Out of My Head, Telephone Line, Do Ya, and more.
Well, when you're sitting back in your rose pink Cadillac
Making bets on Kentucky Derby Day
Ky Fried Redleg (03-13-2026)
That's how I see it as well. From Eldorado to A New World Record is peak ELO.
“The forest was shrinking but the trees kept voting for the axe, for the axe was clever and convinced the trees that because his handle was made of wood he was one of them.” - Turkish Proverb.
Whenever I hear that song , I think of THIS song:
" He wants to dream like a young man, with the wisdom of an old man. " ---Bob Seger
" I did something ten times better than watching this overpaid cabal of maladroit baseball practitioners bumble and stumble their way to yet another predictable L. I don’t even remember what I did, but it was better than watching this dreck. " ---TBL
Roy Tucker (03-13-2026),texasdave (03-13-2026)
Criminally underrated EJ album - Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player.
Criminally overrated EJ album - Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy.
Best EJ album - Tumbleweed Connection.
“The forest was shrinking but the trees kept voting for the axe, for the axe was clever and convinced the trees that because his handle was made of wood he was one of them.” - Turkish Proverb.
I remember hearing that Elton John song with the pedal steel while tripping my brains out at OSU circa 1973. Got me into a Grateful Dead and NRPS binge.
I’ve mentioned it before but I saw Elton John at OSU St John’s arena the day after they released Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album. They opened with Funeral for a Friend and I’d never heard it before. We were like WTF.
Well, when you're sitting back in your rose pink Cadillac
Making bets on Kentucky Derby Day
Ky Fried Redleg (03-13-2026)
"Don't Shoot Me..." is one of my top five EJ albums. LOVE that album.
Last edited by Ky Fried Redleg; 03-13-2026 at 03:11 PM.
" He wants to dream like a young man, with the wisdom of an old man. " ---Bob Seger
" I did something ten times better than watching this overpaid cabal of maladroit baseball practitioners bumble and stumble their way to yet another predictable L. I don’t even remember what I did, but it was better than watching this dreck. " ---TBL
Tumbleweed's a great album.
" He wants to dream like a young man, with the wisdom of an old man. " ---Bob Seger
" I did something ten times better than watching this overpaid cabal of maladroit baseball practitioners bumble and stumble their way to yet another predictable L. I don’t even remember what I did, but it was better than watching this dreck. " ---TBL
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