Listen here now: Happy Friday

By 
cassette tape over wooden table ...

There are few things better than a great playlist — which is one of the reasons I still own nearly 50 cassettes (I just can't let go of those high school-era mixed tapes). Recently, I realized that there are certain themes that I revisit time and time again when creating playlists and one of those is "Happy songs for people who don't like happy songs."

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Hey Grumpy, want to hear a happy song?

Because it's Friday, I gathered up the songs in my "Reluctant Optimist" playlist, polled some friends with some eclectic musical tastes, and got way, way more recommendations than I needed (almost 70 songs in all). I've cut the list in half but did not embed all of the YouTube videos here because: I like you and I want this page to load sometime this year. If you want to hear the list is its entirety, it's available on both Spotify and Rdio but be warned: Some of these are awesome, some of these are not my jam at all and some of these may contain questionable lyrics. But hey, they can't all be German death reggae, right?

  1. "Got Nuffin" Spoon
  2. "Wake Up" Aaradhna
  3. "Blue Skies Again" Jessica Lea Mayfield
  4. "My Silver Lining" First Aid Kit
  5. "Phoebe Cates" Wakey!Wakey!
  6. "Shake It Out" Florence + the Machine
7. "Daylight" Aesop Rock
8. "Something Good Can Work" Two Door Cinema Club
9. "Safe and Sound" Capital Cities
10. "Sunrise" Norah Jones
11. "Cloud Speed" Sad Souls
12. "Let Me In" Grouplove
13. "Swim Until You Can't See Land" Frightened Rabbit
14. "Dry the Rain" The Beta Band
15. "Procession" New Order
16. "A Brief Yet Triumphant Intermission" Rise Against
17. "Eyes" Rogue Wave
18. "Anthems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl" Broken Social Scene
19. "You, Me and the Bourgeoisie" the Submarines
20. "Knowledge" the Aquabats
21. "I'm Alive" Johnny Thunder
22. "Cecilia" Simon & Garfunkel
23. "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" Bob Marley
24. "Crimson and Clover" Tommy James & the Shondells
25. "No Shows" Gerard Way
26. "Friday I'm in Love" the Cure
27. "Dream a Little Dream" the Mama's n the Papas
28. "I think I need a New Heart" Magnetic Fields
29. "A Message to Rudy" the Specials
30. "It Was A Good Day" Ice Cube
31. "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt.1" The Flaming Lips
32. "Say Hey, I love you" Michael Franti & Spearhead
33. "The woman who was also a mongoose" The Dead Milkmen
34. "Get Better" Mates of State
35. "If I Ever Feel Better" Phoenix

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