The happiest songs that the 1960s had to offer, according to science
Art is subjective and changeable. It relies on context, and it holds onto memories. For a song, especially, it always begins to sound like the most vivid time you heard it, whether that be during an emotional meltdown or a party. But at the end of the day, there’s some science to it, and in the 1960s, they were making breakthroughs.
Say, for example, you heard a certain song playing on the radio in the background of a major heartbreak. In front of you, the person you love is brutally smashing your relationship up, picking apart every issue, making it vividly clear that, for however long it takes, you’re going to be in pain as your heart heals slowly and tenderly.
That song would probably sound like that, bringing back little aftershocks of the moment, but, for some reason, they’re not so bad. In fact, for some reason, you were tapping your toe through the whole conversation. For some reason, even now, you can’t get it out of your head and can’t help but notice the way that your chest somehow feels lighter when you’re humming it to yourself.
That’s science because, despite it all, despite how subjective our relationship to music is and despite how much it hinges on personal experiences and memories, there is a bottom line.
There are certain tricks of the trade that artists and producers can do to trigger happy feelings in your head and body. Songs can spark the production of dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins, all the happy chemicals, if they’re done right. And in the 1960s, when serotonin was the high everyone seemed to be chasing during the peace and love era, musicians seemed to know better than ever how to craft a song to get those good feelings flowing.
‘Good Vibrations’ by The Beach Boys is a perfect example. When scientists tested out a bunch of songs on some test subjects, measuring which brought out the most happiness in a chemical sense, this 1967 song ranked third overall and first as the most scientifically feel good song of the 1960s.
That was the whole point of Brian Wilson making it as the band’s spiralling jaunt feels custom-made to take you on a journey through bright colours and fun times. Inspired by his earliest experiences with LSD, Wilson was essentially trying to put a trip on tape and, as a result, made something that scientifically hits you with joy.
The second-happiest song of the decade comes from The Monkees. On ‘I’m A Believer’, they’re dealing with pure, undiluted, overwhelming and excitable love as the song sings of falling headfirst into a new and dizzying fairytale love. That alone should be enough to make you smile, but scientists found that the actual build of the song, including it’s production, instrumentation and the way the choruses and verses work together, makes it an ultimate candidate for a feel good song that becomes impossible for a listener to resist and even more impossible for serotonin producers to not react to.
