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My (American) kids love this song. :D
This one immediately came to mind. They have a lot more good songs too.
99 Luftballons is upbeat and fun, and about some balloons inadvertently kicking off a cataclysmic war that leaves the world in ruins.
It's about the cold war paranoia. Sound is all synth pop upbeat, though.
The English version is called "99 Red Balloons".
Semi-Charmed Life by Third Eye Blind is the usual one I see brought up.
Push by Matchbox 20 and Possum Kingdom by Toadies are arguable ones.
Also, Richard Cheese covers a lot of raunchy and dark stuff in a vegas lounge singer style. Rape Me sung in a cheesy upbeat tone is a trip.
Hey Ya by Outkast.
Also pretty much everything I have ever heard by Steely Dan.
Hey Ya is an excellent example.
Steely Dan seems more low key. And he hates on my alma mater lol. And he acted like kind of a dick when I saw him live. But I do love his sound, like warm tea with honey and a lil splash of bourbon.
People forget that Today by The Smashing Pumpkins is literally about suicide.
But it's about the euphoria one may experience after deciding to go through with it. Ya^a^^y^^y^
/s
PS, I have witnessed the euphoria, but I didn't recognize it for what it was at the time. They were calling to say goodbye. Fuck, that still gets to me.
I wouldn't call the smashing pumpkins upbeat. Some are up tempo, .maybe, but upbeat is not their style. Their biggest album was titled Mellon Collie and the infinite sadness. Not exactly cheerful stuff.
Semi-Charmed Life is the first thing that always comes to my mind
hey ya -- Outkast It's about relationships that aren't working out, but you still stay together.
" thank God for Mom and Dad / for sticking two together cause we don't know how"
Then later
" are we so in denial when we know we're not happy here? / y'all don't want to hear me, y'all just want to dance"
Born in the USA
Someone's boat was blasting that at the 4th of July on the water. My brother in Christ, I understood the lyrics back in 1984. It's a jammin' tune, but damn.
90% of ska/ska punk music is like this. A few examples:
"The Science of Selling Yourself Short" - Less Than Jake
"Beer" - Reel Big Fish
"Struggler" and "I Don't Love You Anymore" - Bomb the Music Industry!
"The Last Bell I Will Ever Hear", "1-800-ALARM-ME" and "Last on my List" - The Arrogant Sons of Bitches
"Ska Dream" and "Checkerboard Ashtray" - Jeff Rosenstock
"A Better Place, a Better Time" and "As the Footsteps Die Out Forever" - Streetlight Manifesto
Pumped up kicks by foster the people
pumped up kicks
The Macarena I'd about a woman cheating on her BF getting drafted into the military with 2 other guys
Which is pretty intense for a song they taught to kids in grade school
Every Stromae's songs.
It's always funny to see non-french-speaking people being so hyped by Stromae's songs, like they think it's joyful af and all... While his songs lyrics are litterally about :
- a man who drinks and dances a lot in order to forget his shitty life ( Alors on danse )
- a song about his father who was killed during Rwanda's genocide ( Papaoutai )
- other songs about suicide, cancer, breakups, addictions, depression etc... But always with an upbeat melody !
Talking Heads - Life During Wartime and Once in a Lifetime spring to mind.
It's probably easier to list the Talking Heads songs that are not upbeat and depressing.
Bad Moon Rising by Creedence.
It's about the apocalypse, but you wouldn't know it from how upbeat it is.
Pick any Smiths song
🎶 if a ten-ton truck 🌈 🎤 killed the both of us 🎶
- El Fusilado - Chumbawumba. A happy clappy sunshiney recounting of the life and times of one Wenceslao Moguel, a soldier of Pancho Villa's who was captured, executed by firing squad, and lived to tell the tale. Short version: He got knocked down, but he got up again.
- Scarborough Fair - Folk; often associated with Simon and Garfunkel. I'm stretching the definition of "upbeat" here, but it baffles me that this is counted by anyone as a love song. It's a song about two ex-lovers expressing how much they hate each other by assigning each other impossible tasks as conditions for taking them back. He says "tell her I'll take her back if she sews me a shirt with no seams, washes it in a dry well and hangs it to dry on a vine with no thorns." She says "O RLY? Well you tell him that if he finds an acre of land between the ocean and the beach, sews it all with one seed and reaps it with a leather scythe, I'll take him back. And I'll even make him his damn shirt." It's a bitter song.
- Another Day In Paradise - Phil Collins. Again I'm stretching the definition of "upbeat," it's slow in tempo, kind of heavy, but it has that big sexy hook, manages to feel kind of breezy, it feels designed for first dances at wedding receptions, and the refrain is "It's just another day for you and me in paradise." It feels like a competitor to Fields of Gold by Sting. It's not! The verses are about the humanity crushing power of abject poverty.
I don't like Mondays by boomtown rats
https://open.spotify.com/track/7JFoeg0arawADjGcz9gBnq
Quite a chill and happy song about a school shooting
Glory Days by Bruce Springsteen. It's about realizing that you've peaked and your best days are behind you.
Jonathan Coulton has a bunch of these. "I Feel Fantastic" "Betty and Me" "Blue Sunny Day" "Shop Vac" "Chiron Beta Prime" "Future Soon" off the top of my head. "Skullcrusher Mountain" and "Re: Your Brains" to a lesser degree.
David Bowie - Five Years Tennessee Ernie Ford - 16 Tons Iron Maiden - 2 Minutes to Midnight
And about half of Pink's oeuvre.
Hey Ya
Plenty of ABBA songs... Maybe Chiquitita?
No Rain by Blind Melon... literally a song about deep depression with upbeat music
Semi-charmed Life
Little talks - of monsters and men
It sounds very chill and upbeat but it’s about the loss of a loved one
You are my sunshine (The Dead South do an excellent job illustrating how dark the song really is)
Nothing but Flowers by Talking Heads is a cheerful song about post-apocalyptic life.
Billy Idol - Dancing with Myself Loneliness masked as liberation.
Bulletproof - La Roux Emotional numbness disguised as empowerment
Some Linkin Park songs (Bleed it out, Up from the Bottom, etc.)
There's so many such songs...