Songs

Look On The Bright Side

70 Comments

Celebrated Python Eric Idle turns 70 today.

I liked the group’s TV shows and sketches, though I have an extra helping of fondness for Eric Idle’s work as a funny lyricist. His “Galaxy Song” is a long-time favorite. And as someone who enjoys the puzzle of trying to piece together a set of comical lyrics, I think I at least have an appreciation for the challenges he faces even if I can’t approach Eric Idle’s skill and accomplishments.

And really … how could anyone dream that a life of inspired clowning around would lead directly to an opportunity to play this role on a global stage?

(You’ll have to click through the link to watch it on You Tube. Thanks, Olympic Committee!)

This must not be the version we were allowed to view on U.S. television, since he casually drops what we in the American broadcast industry call an S-Bomb – an official part of the written lyrics to this song, which is why I couldn’t play it on the radio.

But the song is catchy, and our end-of-March weather is certainly changing my outlook. With the extra hours of increasingly powerful sunlight, you can’t deny we’ve turned an important corner, weather-wise.

What song do you sing when you want to cheer up a bit?

70 thoughts on “Look On The Bright Side”

    1. I wanted to put up a link to this song that would play it without a commercial. I didn’t manage to do that. Sorry about that.

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  4. Oh Dale,you surely cannot be asking what song we SING. I am far too considerate to sing, for if I sing outdoors birds in flight drop dead from the skies and all the zucchini plants curl up their little toes and die. A great song for cheering up is one I play on my computer or sound system. And I’ll go to the most obvious one for this time of year:

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    1. this one has gone through the transitions that a creative mind will do to an old song but i still like it in its original form. when dylan changes up a number i get it but when greg brown messes with this one i wish hed quit messing with my tune

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  6. Rise and Shine Baboons!

    My singing voice is not much. I usually hum for the sake of all around me. There is no one song–just an olio of ad jingles, Beatles songs, and silly songs my dad used to sing to us:

    “OOOOOOH, the cow kicked Nelly in the Belly in the Barn…”

    “On top of spaghetti, all covered with cheese….”

    “The Old Grey Mare, she ain’t what she used to be.”

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  8. I’m not shy about singing along with this or any other song that cheers me up, great singing voice or no. Guess I’m not as considerate as some baboons.

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  11. I’ve already played the Beatles, which probably sounds like old music to most baboons, but the Beatles would never have chirped had they not been inspired by the Crickets and the wonderful Buddy Holly. Try to stay unhappy while listening to this one:

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  16. my first wife was kind of a feely sort of person and as you all know , so am i so when she stated fairly far into our relationship that we needed a song, i decreed that the fates would intervene and the next song played would be our song…
    the fact that this is the only video available sounds like an appropriate response to this songs place in the universe and my first marriage.
    but it does make me smile every time

    back to work

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  17. I’ve always found, for myself , that for a musical pick me up it’s hard to beat a song that includes yodeling. For that, Jimmy Rodgers is my go-to guy. For one thing, he’s not really that great a yodeler, so it’s less intimidating to try to emulate him. As I’ve gotten older I’ve found that my voice is less flexible and my yodeling is dicier. The thing about yodeling is that it doesn’t work if you hold back- you just have to let go.

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    1. There are some yodelers that are fun to listen to, but you could hurt yourself trying to copy them. The yodeling comes well into the middle of this Wilf Carter song, but it’s worth the wait.

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    2. We used to play that song when I was in a band. Our bass player, Riff, was also a yodeler and has practiced cowboy music for years.

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    2. I was curious about how/why Marley died at the young age of 36 so I googled it. He died of the same cancer that killed Eva Cassidy: malignant melanoma. His religion (Rastafarian) dictated that amputation was not allowed, so the big toe in which the primary tumor was diagnosed was left and the cancer metastisized from there. Perhaps I’m the only one here who didn’t already know this?

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    2. r left corner at 930 10 oclock on the clock face you can hit the listen now button by the hour. you have to listen to other stuff to get to peter but im ok with that.
      you are my sunshine is the song i sang those first two kids to bed with.

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      1. Yes – do you remember how if you cut on the dotted line as it showed, you were supposed to be able to pour the milk right into the wax paper lining and eat it in the box??

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        2. LOL That was often the highlight of my Saturday mornings watching cartoons and eating Sugar Pops or Rice Krispies out of the box! We used to take them on family camping trips too, so we weren’t lugging around half-empty boxes of Cheerios or whatever for the whole trip.

          Chris in O-town

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  22. I continue to wonder how you all are able to post videos? About the only song sure to instantly lift my spirits is Simon & Garfunkel’s “Feeling Groovy”. More often than not, I stay away from listening to music because it generate sadness and nostalgia. Especially lately.

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  25. The whole “Graceland” album; so upbeat you can’t help but sing and dance. Another favorite is Helen Schneyer’s rendition of Beulah Land, just bursting with joy.

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  26. Years in musical theatre and choral music singing of one sort or another has left me with enough repetoire to find a song for any occasion.

    We are also not averse to taking a song we already know and making up new words to fit the occasion as needed. We also sing to think.

    On the penultimate day of Dale’s show on Radio Heartland, we heard something wonderful that the rest of you seemed very familiar with, but we had never heard before. Given our love of the Mahabharata, it struck us in just the right way :

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