So, in the UK there was this TV channel called Sky Travel, which ceased to exist in 2010. In order to promote January holidays, they paid a scientist to come up with the idea of Blue Monday, the most depressing day of the year. The idea stuck, even though the channel didn’t.
Ben Goldacre dissects the nonsense here. But, like I said, it stuck, and when I was nosing through the Indepedent on Sunday earlier today (Sunday papers take me at least a week to get through – there comes a point where the news ceases to be new) and they had “Don’t let Blue Monday Get you down!” and a bunch of feel good lists.
I like a good list, I do, so here’s some of my top five fee goods!
Music
Pull Shapes – The Pipettes
Perky, cheerful, bouncy, (but not too twee) and gauranteed to make you wanna dance. Actually, pretty much all of The Pipettes early stuff is great fun and gauranteed to put you in a good mood Musician Man, Judy, or Dirty Mind are all good too)
Nellie the Elephant – Toy Dolls
I grew up with Nellie the Elephant. It was one of my favourite childhood songs because Nellie was the closest you got to Natalie in a kids’ song. The Toy Dolls cover is great: loud, shouty, stompy, and a good excuse to pretend to be an elephant at a gig.
Ain’t Got No, Ain’t Got Life – Nina Simone V Groovefinder
The original’s pretty perky, but Groovefinder kicks it up a notch. Real feelgood song, reminding you what you have got even when you’ve not got everything you want.
Maybe I’m Wrong – Blues Traveller
Smart and sly, lots of harmonica, lots of guitar, great travelling music.
(I) Can, Can (You) – Vanessa Mae
Even faster than the normal Can Can, it’ll raise your heartrate and fill your minds eye with swirling skirts and cheeky knickers. Pick those knees up!
Books
Pride & Prejudice – Jane Austen
This has been my go-to feelgood book since we studied it in school, over a decade ago. I still have the same copy, covered in notes and highlighting and archaic symbols and coded corner folding. Just one of the best love stories every written.
Maurice – EM Forster
A gay love story with a happy ending, that was kept from publication for precisely that reason until the 1970s. Posh Edwardian boys fall in and out of love, and the ‘bit of rough’ comes through.
The Trouble with Lichen – John Wyndham
I can’t list favourite books without bringing up Wyndham, and this one’s the best for the blues, I think. A tale of a smart woman creating a feminist nation using the tools of the patriachy. Or: how anti-aging cream could change the world.
Sweeney Todd, or The String of Pearls – James Malcolm Rymer
A penny dreadful horror about cannabalism might seem an odd choice for a feelgood book, but it’s fast-paced, witty, with a plucky girl detective, two naval officers in a ‘romantic friendship’ and really makes you want a meat pie. Or maybe that’s just me.
Jurassic Park – Michael Crichton
How better to celebrate a national day of pseudoscience if not with the greatest pseudoscience novel of them all. Dinosaurs! And an elephant small enough to fit in a cat carrier.
Films
Finding Nemo
Probably the best adaptation of 101 Dalmataions I’ve seen. No, seriously. I mean it’s missing 100 puppies and replaced the last one with a fish, but it’s basically the same story.
8 Women
Charming, stylish French film about a dead guy and the eight women who might be responsible for his death. Oh, and it’s a musical. Utterly beautiful.
Star Trek (the new one)
Well written, fast paced, funny, and manages to please both old school fans and complete newcomers. What could more could you ask for from a film full of explosions?
Some Like it Hot
Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon in the perfect romcom. Funny, charming, and one of the best film endings I’ve ever seen.
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
I limited myself to onto two musicals, be proud of me! Dolly Parton plays a whorehouse madam, Burt Reynolds her cop lover. College Football players linedance in their jockstraps. It’s based on a true story.
What about you guys? What are your feelgood go-tos?
