tapping my foot and smiling
Back from a crazy few days to find that I’ve been double-tagged (first by Emma of How to Italy and then by Laura of l’italia.nell.anima) to share a song that makes my heart sing.
What a great thing to think about on a gorgeous, sunny Friday in June, so here we are.
This idea was started by Hilda Carroll over at Living Out Loud, and these are the rules:
1. Post about the one song that makes your heart sing, and uplifts your spirit every time you hear it. If you can provide a link to lyrics and/or audio that would be fabulous. But it’s not essential, so don’t worry about it if you can’t.
2. Include a trackback to this post.
3. Tag three others and ask them to include a trackback to your post and this one when they post.
OK, limiting this to one song proved to be a little like trying to choose my favorite snack food (gah! they all have their good points!), but I wanted to play by the rules for once. Mostly. I’ve nailed it down to just one feel good song and five honorable mentions:
Instant Karma’s gonna get you,
Gonna knock you right on the head,
You better get yourself together,
Pretty soon you’re gonna be dead,
What in the world you thinking of,
Laughing in the face of love,
What on earth you tryin’ to do,
It’s up to you, yeah you.Instant Karma’s gonna get you,
Gonna look you right in the face,
Better get yourself together darlin’,
Join the human race,
How in the world you gonna see,
Laughin’ at fools like me,
Who on earth d’you think you are,
A super star,
Well, right you are.
Well we all shine on,
Like the moon and the stars and the sun,
Well we all shine on,
Ev’ryone come on.
Instant Karma’s gonna get you,
Gonna knock you off your feet,
Better recognize your brothers,
Ev’ryone you meet,
Why in the world are we here,
Surely not to live in pain and fear,
Why on earth are you there,
When you’re ev’rywhere,
Come and get your share.
Well we all shine on,
Like the moon and the stars and the sun,
Yeah we all shine on,
Come on and on and on on on,
Yeah yeah, alright, uh huh, ah-.
(repeat)
Honorable Mentions:
1. Ain’t Too Proud To Beg, The Temptations
2. Walking on Sunshine, Katrina and the Waves
3. Hit Me With Your Best Shot, Pat Benatar (Benatar isn’t in Blogger’s spell checker? Oh the humanity!)
4. I’m Still Standing, Elton John
5. Pink Houses, John Mellencamp
Also, please see my Seven Songs Say So Much post for more of my favorites, and don’t hate me if you can’t get one of these out of your head. I recommend just going with it and walking around like it’s the soundtrack of your life for today. I think I’m paraphrasing this idea from Ally McBeal, but be kind and don’t ruin my day by confirming that if you know it to be true.
I don’t often tag others, but this time I’m going to (kind of) because I think that the more happy songs we compile, the better off we’ll all be. But I’m not going to pick and choose from my sidebar because I think everyone should give this a go (non-bloggers included!), so if you’re reading this, you’re it!
Come on–just one song that when you hear, you can’t help but smiling. Spill it!
If you do this on your blog, please link to me and also to Hilda at Living Out Loud, so we can keep track of all the toe-tapping tunes. If not, just leave a comment and we’ll all share the good vibes.
Happy listening and buon weekend a tutti!
————–
[tags]music, happy songs, john lennon, instant karma[/tags]
19 Beans of Wisdom to “tapping my foot and smiling”
Michelle Kaminsky is an American attorney-turned-freelance writer who lived in her family's ancestral village in Calabria, Italy for 15 years. This blog is now archived.
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You’re BACK!!! YAY!!!!
Missed you very much, and so thrilled to see you back in the saddle, typing and tapping and singing along.
Good choices… I love that you put honorable mentions in, that’s so funny.
I will be singing a couple of those songs in the shower today.
OK… tagged. I’ll get to work on it pronto!
welcome home, and good morning!
Scarlett & Viaggiatore
You were missed!
Song I have been singing ALL day…is from an Ally McBeal episode about a funeral. These are the only lyrics I can remember.
And when I die,
And when I’m gone.
There will be a new child born
to carry on…carry on!
My funeral song choice at the moment. Subject to change!
Toe tapping? Good vibes? Are you channeling some Seventies chick with a see through peasant shirt and platforms?
You just got 15 years older in my mind!
I could never reduce it to one song. I like your choices.
Have a great weekend.
Welcome back! 🙂
Scarlett, woohoo! I’m here! Thanks for the great welcome back. Can’t wait to read your songs. Leonardo was really pushing for songs from the Lion King, but I had to show him who’s boss 😉
Sharon, how funny that you’ve been singing an Ally McBeal funeral song. I really don’t know what else to say about that 😉
Judith, negatory. Just transcribing what my pet rock and mood ring tells me. See you on the flipside!
NYC, glad you liked them, and I hope you have a lovely weekend as well 🙂
Thanks Giulia 🙂
Okay, I just posted my “happy” song. It comes with a comical back-story, but that makes it all the more special to me! 🙂 Have a great weekend and send some of your sunshine my way! 🙂
Christina
Oh my; so many songs to pick from! I will have to think on this. The first to spring to mind is Indigo Girls’ “Hammer and a Nail,” but I’m sure there are others that are equally good or better…
P.S. Word verification: gizm.
Ewwwwwww.
(I can’t believe I just put that in the same comment as something showing love for the amazing Indigo Girls. So sorry.)
Christina, great song and story to go with it! I really don’t have a story to go with Instant Karma other than I remember it being in a Nike ad campaign many years ago, and that’s probably where I first heard it. Oh, and then my crush throughout high school had a t-shirt from said campaign, so that made it doubly happy 🙂
Stefanie, sorry about the word verification–it’s not your fault for mixing the good with the vile. When in doubt, blame Blogger. Looking forward to your final verdict.
oh, i like this tag!
I played too…it was fun:
song that make me smile
a Nike ad campaign many years ago…
Gah!! Thank you for making me feel, like, 100 years old.
Bentornata!
you guys don’t even KNOW old.
try this:
zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay…
my, oh, my what a wonderful day!
plenty of sunshine heading my way!
zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay…
mister bluebird on my shoulder…
it’s the truth, it’s actch’ll,
everything is satisfactch’ll!
zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay,
wonderful feeling, wonderful day!
[thank you, mr. disney!]
🙂
Erin, yeah! Fun Friday game, wasn’t it?
Paolo, thanks, and perhaps “many” was exaggerated. But it’s gotta be somewhere around 15 years ago. So, you know, that means you could be like 25 and still remember it, right? Right?
SomePinkFlowers, excellent, excellent choice! Everything *is* satisfact’chll!
So glad you’re back. Hope you had a pleasant trip!
As for songs, most music I listen to makes me cry, either with sadness or happiness. I think I perfer your “toe tapping” songs better!
Happy Saturday. Welcome Home!
Here are two that always make me happy:
“This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody),” by the Talking Heads
“Little Plastic Castle,” by Ani DiFranco
They are way more fun with music, of course, but they always, always raise my spirits, every time I hear them, for different reasons.
JennieBoo, the older I’ve gotten, the more emotional music makes me too–tears flow often (more often in happiness thank goodness). A true testament to the power of music.
Sara, excellent choices! Sometimes I feel like a goldfish myself 😉
Hi Sognatrice,
thanks so much for playing along and sorry for taking so long to follow up. I hope to have the compilation complete soon and will let you know when it’s ready.
all the best,
Hilda
No worries Hilda! I look forward to the compilation!