Good vibes only: 6 songs for an instant mood boost

Things are rough, times continue to be the most, and the word "hard" has basically lost all meaning. Music can't fix everything that's wrong, but most people have that one song that is a surefire shot of serotonin. That one song that makes them smile every time and remember what's good. 

Every CBC Music producer has their own instant mood booster. Here are six songs that help lift us up. 

'Log Driver's Waltz,' Kate McGarrigle, Anna McGarrigle and the Mountain City Four

The NFB's 1979 animated short is, in and of itself, an instant heart-melter, but it's the song and this specific performance of the "Log Driver's Waltz" that give me a total mood makeover. Written by Wade Hemsworth and recorded by 1960s Montreal folk group the Mountain City Four (Kate McGarrigle, Anna McGarrigle, Jack Nissenson and Peter Weldon), Hemsworth's story is progressive (a young woman with agency who rejects rigid social and class structures) and his composition evokes the swooping dance of a lumberjack trying to stay upright on their log as the current carries them away. But it's the McGarrigle sisters' legendary vocals that deliver a dizzying duet of joy and harmony. — Andrea Warner

'Explosives,' Potatohead People, Illa J, Moka Only

The cover for Potatohead People's 2015 album, Big Luxury, pictures a metronome, which, for me, symbolizes getting back on track and not letting things go off the rails. (My piano teacher would often set one in motion whenever my playing was getting too "extra" or needed some pep.) And that's also what "Explosives" does for me, a lyrical hip-hop track with production that's reminiscent of a golden age. "She asks for my number/ now, she wants my address — perhaps we could slumber," raps Moka Only during his verse: perfectly simple and simply perfect. The song concludes with a dreamy, minute-long extro to ease you back into the real world.— Robert Rowat

'Run Away With Me,' Carly Rae Jepsen

I firmly believe that there is nothing the saxophone riff on Carly Rae Jepsen's "Run Away With Me" can't reset (at least temporarily). Its opening burst is a signal to what the next four minutes hold: a verse-by-verse build-up to a dizzying, let-it-all-go chorus, which is gravity-defying in its demand for dancing. Dear friends of mine played this song three times at their wedding, and it was not at all too much. — Holly Gordon

'Ultestakon,' Jeremy Dutcher

It takes chamber-pop mastermind Jeremy Dutcher three blissful piano notes to accomplish the kind of weightlessness that some might not reach within a five-minute song. On "Ultestakon," off his 2018 Juno and Polaris Prize-winning album, Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa, Dutcher seamlessly swirls together vocal harmonies, clapping, piano and strings to form a prism of dazzling light. Composed of lost stories from his Wolastoqiyik ancestors, "Ultestakon" is a palpable, sun-streaked lesson in resilience and transcendence. — Jess Huddleston

'Odessa,' Caribou

Nothing gets me out of my head more than submerging myself in electronic music and just allowing a tidal wave of beats and rhythms to wash over me. An album I often return to is Caribou's Swim, its songs so hard-coded into my mind and body that hitting replay every time unlocks a nostalgia that feels comforting and nourishing. The repeated refrains on opener "Odessa" are delivered by Dan Snaith like a meditative mantra, and they never fail to pull me out of whatever rut I'm stuck in. — Melody Lau

'Crabbuckit,' k-os

If I can trust my memories of carpooling to school at the start of Grade 4, "Crabbuckit" played on the radio every morning during fall 2004. As we'd zoom down the street, mentally preparing for another day of learning and schoolyard antics, the refrain "No time to get down 'cause I'm moving up" latched itself to my brain. Tapping into nostalgia has always been the best way for me to reset my mood, and almost 20 years later this song still fills me with optimism. From the onset, the rhythmic clapping and snappy percussion make you want to move your feet. When I hear "Crabbuckit" now, no matter where I am, I'm immediately whisked to the back of my dad's car, singing and clapping along. What I've gleaned from the song over the years is the ethos that life should be lived on our own terms, and that we can always find joy in authenticity — a reminder we all need from time to time. — Kelsey Adams