Happiness in Song

Today's topic: Five songs from musicals that never fail to make me happy even if I just had the worst day of my entire life. I think that everyone ought to have songs like these, songs that put a smile on your face with just the expectation of the happiness that's coming your way. And, you know, musicals.

Note: No Disney songs are included, that's a whole separate category which will be covered in a future post.

(Listed in alphabetical order)

1. "Elegance" from Hello, Dolly!

I'm currently in a production of Hello, Dolly!, which is shaping up to be a fantastic good time and a great show. I love most all of the music, but I don't think there's been a single day that I haven't found myself singing at least one line of "Elegance" when I'm not thinking about anything else. It gets in your head....

2. "Henry Ford" from Ragtime
Definitely the shortest song on this list. When I was in the process of discovering Ragtime I was deciding if I wanted the soundtrack or not. Then I heard this song and the decision was made for me. Seriously, seriously, seriously love.

 
3.  "I Have Confidence" from The Sound of Music
I knew that Sound of Music would be on here, but it was a toss-up between this and "My Favorite Things". This one is a pick-me-up that I go to when days are rough, and Julie Andrews is just phenomenal.

4. "King of New York" from Newsies
This song is so absolutely and completely happy, how can you listen to it and not smile at least once? Denton sings, for a little bit! It also inspired my fantasy of dancing on a table in a restaurant, so there's that.

5. "Oh, Better Far to Live and Die" from The Pirates of Penzance
Actually, ANYTHING ANYTHING ANYTHING from Pirates of Penzance. NO other show on earth is so in-your-face happy and wonderful and perfect.

So those are five songs from musicals that have the tendency to make a bad day tolerable, a good day great, and a great day into a fantastic one for me. I hope you enjoyed and are now happier!