The 25 best happy songs

“This thing called life” can leave you down in the dumps. Who better to lift you up than Prince? Abandon your inhibitions, get a little crazy, and you'll be alright in no time.

A pop rush so pure and addictive that it is actually on the ballot in nine states to be made illegal.

When you need a confidence boost alongside your mood boost, this tune is what you need. Turn it up and take to heart the message about forging ahead past the doubters.

There never was a more convincing argument for tranquility than this one's exuberant “Every little thing's gonna be alright” refrain.

Bill Withers' good-natured energy permeates his funk ode to the mood-altering power of finding your soulmate.

JB and his band can hardly contain themselves, letting loose ecstatic screeches and strutting horns that pummel you in all the right places with infectious glee.

Among a bazillion covers of this song, Mark Ronson's version with Amy Winehouse is at the top. It'll get you in the mood and you won't even care if the catchy tune is stuck in your head all day.

This track brings everyone to the dance floor (or your own private dance floor). There's no denying the feels that burst forth when you're grooving like a 70s star.

How many times can you listen to this song before it gets old? It never does, and every time you hear it you'll be able to shake off that funk and get happy.

Dance, dance, dance... How can you not when listening to this tune? Justin Timberlake and the Trolls for whom the song was written are guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

Lizzo's hit song will have you feeling good about yourself, putting you in the mood to conquer the blues and the world.

Riding high on a whip-crack beat, booming with fat-bottomed synths and locomotive guitars, nothing could knock this high-flyer off its party pedestal.

Those robots really know how to have a good time, bringing celebratory, disco-infused life to all the world's cold digital souls.

Regardless of the actual weather situation, you'll be elatedly skipping out the door thanks to this tune's unwavering sunniness.

Fantasy becomes blissful reality over euphoric doo-wop and a cheerful sensibility just this side of cheesy.

Channel your inner Whitney with this upbeat, carefree tune that refuses to quit. You'll be transported to a pop paradise with 80s flare, and how can you not smile about that?

Brian Wilson brings his theremin surfing and turns a trashy B-movie-soundtrack tool into an aural ray of sunshine.

Mystikal lays down gravelly, hyper and wondrously dirty verses over Ronson's perfectly captured throwback funk for a seriously adult party track.

Johnny Nash's enraptured zydeco-soul hybrid injects images of blue skies and rainbows directly into your cerebral cortex, where they will linger for use on any rainy day.

The titular exhortation seems almost superfluous given the horn lines' uplifting, to-the-moon groove. Almost.

Lennon & McCartney's brassy, bouncy pro-harmony singalong should have instantly brought about world peace when it came out. We'll have to settle for bringing on a good mood.

A track of persistent weirdness crystallizes into joyous insanity with a simple, evil laugh. The bad guys always do seem to be having the most fun.

There's no way you don't feel great the moment Pharrell's buttery falsetto floats over the easily cantering beat into your grateful ears.

Jackson's primal screams and guttural hoots reveal themselves as the only meaningful way to express true love.

According to some one of the most annoying songs of all time as well, but relentless optimism has to count for something, right?