The Songs That Make You Smile - David Carroll's Chattanooga Radio and TV

We all have them, tucked away in our memory bank. The songs that make us smile, often many decades after we first heard them. Songs that remind us of happier days. In many cases, we heard them when we were growing up. They were blaring from the car radio, or our older sibling’s transistor radio, hidden and tucked under the pillow, late at night. We didn’t have a care in the world, or we were blind to the realities of it. We had our health, our cherished family members were alive, and we did everything together. We sang the songs during family road trips, or “American Bandstand” living room dance sessions. Sometimes we didn’t even know the words, and we definitely didn’t know the meanings. It didn’t matter.

Later, we became teens. That radio was always in the background. We heard a song when we fell in love. We heard another song when we broke up. To this day, those songs, both happy and sad, take us back to those days. We associate a face, or a place with those tunes, from the moment we hear the first note.

Considering our recent collective state of mind, which hasn’t been particularly jubilant, I asked some friends and listeners of my weekend radio show to identify the songs that make them smile. (The top 30 songs are listed at the end of this blog).

To my surprise, the most-mentioned song was not a radio hit when it was released. Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” didn’t even crack the Hot 100 in 1968. The president of ABC Records reportedly hated it, having hoped the famed trumpeter-turned-singer would record another “Hello Dolly” type of song.

Twenty years later, the song was featured in the Robin Williams movie, “Good Morning Vietnam,” and this time it took off. Unfortunately, Armstrong had long since passed away, but his voice, and the song’s message still makes people smile today.

My friend Kay Parish wrote, “It’s a simple reminder that creation is beautiful, and people interacting with people is invigorating. They feed the soul. Kelly Cotton agreed, calling it “a great song to remind us to slow down, smile, and savor life.” Lydia Knight added, “Yes, bad things happen to good people, but we are still blessed by the bright, blessed days and the dark, sacred nights.”

Pam Holloway lost her husband in 2015, but one song always makes her smile: “My Girl” by the Temptations. She said, “Every time we heard this in our 43 years of marriage, we stopped in our tracks, and started dancing. Even now, when I hear it, I smile real big, and I remember our dances, anywhere, and everywhere.” No wonder.

Gentlemen, if you tell a lady that she’s your sunshine on a cloudy day, you’ve hit a home run.

Clint Powell still loves to hear CCR sing “Down on the Corner,” about the fictional band “Willy and the Poor Boys.”

He said, “My parents always played that around the house, and would dance to it while they worked. Now I do that with my kids, and they love it too.” Now there’s a smile song that spans generations.

For Beth Green, her smile song is Chicago’s “Saturday in the Park.” She wrote, “I had a college roommate who was Italian. We would lay around and sing along with the radio. Whenever that song came on, we would sing her favorite line “…singing Italian songs…” at the top of our lungs! Every time I hear it, I can’t help but smile. It was such a happy time in our lives.”

And how can you not smile while visualizing, “people dancing, people laughing, and a man selling ice cream?”

Sue Roman recalls “A Beautiful Morning” by The Rascals.

“It came out when I was 9, growing up in Florida,” she said. We would listen to it while looking out over the lake, and it was indeed a beautiful morning. The lyrics are carefree, and the instrumentation, harmonies, and melody are magical. It will always make me smile.”

One of the most-played songs of all time brings a smile to the face of Joanie Sompayrac. She can’t help but sing along to “Respect” by Aretha Franklin. She wrote, “It makes me happy because she sang it with such power. I think many of us relate to that song at multiple stages of our lives, and I always feel more empowered when I hear it.”

And who hasn’t spelled out R-E-S-P-E-C-T at full volume, with the windows down on a summer day?

Others mentioned songs that have basically become anthems since the 1960s, encouraging every member of the family to join in. You don’t have to be a good singer to enjoy a true smile song. For instance, “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond, “Happy Together” by the Turtles, “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” by John Denver, “Old Time Rock and Roll” by Bob Seger, and “Joy to the World” by Three Dog Night have been known to induce smiles from people ranging in age from 2 to 102.

Why did I write this column? Because if you’re like me, you’re overwhelmed by the word “pandemic” in every other news story. If thinking about a wine-drinking frog named Jeremiah makes you smile, I’m glad I took you there. What are your happy songs? I’d love to know.

THE TOP 30 SONGS THAT MAKE YOU SMILE, AS VOTED BY VINYL EXPRESS LISTENERS: