Hold On, I'm Comin'

Hold On, I’m Comin’ is what I would call a perfect song. It was perfect in 1966 and it's perfect still.

Vocals by Sam & Dave - Sam Moore & Dave Prater
Instrumentation by Booker T & the MG’s and the Mar-Keys Horns
Written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter

Colors of the Wind

Colors of the Wind from Pocahontas, lyrics below



You think I'm an ignorant savage
And you've been so many places
I guess it must be so
But still I cannot see
If the savage one is me
How can there be so much that you don't know?
You don't know ...

You think you own whatever land you land on
The Earth is just a dead thing you can claim
But I know every rock and tree and creature
Has a life, has a spirit, has a name

You think the only people who are people
Are the people who look and think like you
But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger
You'll learn things you never knew you never knew

Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon
Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned?
Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?

Come run the hidden pine trails of the forest
Come taste the sun-sweet berries of the Earth
Come roll in all the riches all around you
And for once, never wonder what they're worth

The rainstorm and the river are my brothers
The heron and the otter are my friends
And we are all connected to each other
In a circle, in a hoop that never ends

How high will the sycamore grow?
If you cut it down, then you'll never know
And you'll never hear the wolf cry to the blue corn moon

For whether we are white or copper skinned
We need to sing with all the voices of the mountains
We need to paint with all the colors of the wind

You can own the Earth and still
All you'll own is Earth until
You can paint with all the colors of the wind

Oh Happy Day

From 18th century hymn, to a 60’s funk international hit, to the movie Sister Act 2, Oh Happy Day still expresses the timeless joy of redemption. 15 year-old Ryan Toby was the one who sang the piercing whistle register note, an Eb6, in this scene where he and his choirmates, led by the indomitable Whoopie Goldbreg, perform a feel-great rendition of "Oh Happy Day". Prepare to rock.

The Impossible Dream

The Impossible Dream (The Quest) comes from the 1965 musical Man of La Mancha. It's one of my shower songs - to reach the impossible note. ah, well, who cares if I hit it or not. While the song does not give me the happy feet, it does make my heart soar. Performing The Impossible Dream on American Idol are Rubbin Studdard, Fantasia Barino, Kelly Clarkson & Diana Digarmo.

Summer in the City

It was hot in August, 1966. It's still hot. But at night it's a different world. Go out and find a girl.

Rock Your Baby

From 1975, the disco beat of George McCrae - Rock Your Baby

Down Under

Real or imagined, here are some comments I found on the web about the meaning of the song:

A Volkswagen Kombi is a minivan. It's fried-out because of the heat and it's probably overheating. Head full of Zombie refers to him being wasted on a head full of pot. The thunder I imagine is referring to the sound of the storms rolling over the hills, the smell of rain coming and the feeling you get before there's a big Aussie storm.

When he said "lying in a den in Bombay" He's referring to an opium den.

The 'men at work' are on their way to "Tanelorn" which is an annual Australian hippie music festival.

Vegimite is so Australian because it is made from vegetable and yeast residue from Australian Breweries, it tastes vile!

Chunder is also Australian slang, it means 'To vomit'

The Den in Bombay means they are in an Opium den, they have slack jaws because they are so high on opium, the man "trying to tempt him" was trying to sell him something crap and second rate, which he refused because he is Australian and "comes from the land of plenty" which has plenty of top notch stuff coming out of it.

And 'women glow' is also a funny euphemism for women sweating.

Flashdance What a Feeling

The 1983 film Flashdance produced this great song. This video is a remake with the voices of D J Bobo & Irene Cara. The visual is something else all together, but it works. Makes me feel good.

D J Bobo & Irene Cara Flashdance

Unchained Melody

Unchained Melody is one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century, over 500 versions in hundreds of different languages. Why is it called Unchained Melody. Well, it was the theme song from a prison movie in the 1950's. It was the version from 1965 by Bobby Hatfield of The Righteous Brothers that is THE one that does it for me. When he hits that high note that says I NEE-E-EED your love. The song was reintroduced to another generation in 1990 by the movie Ghost.



Nonetheless, I found this very interesting rendition by a guy named Scott. Whadaya think?

Love Can Make You Happy

ahhh, true love... If that can't make you happy, baby, nothing can. In 1969, the group Mercy, shared Billboard's Top 10 with The Beatles, Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra with their million selling Warner Brother's smash hit, "Love Can Make You Happy." The tempo of this song reminds me of a porch swing. Or a slow, long kiss with the world spinning around you.

Got My Mind Set On You

The whole house is rockin' to George Harrison's Got My Mind Set On You. The song has a simple message which bears repeating. I just love seeing George dance in this vid. And the Cockatoo, too!

Daydream Believer

After the whimsical start, a sense of well being comes over me with the first few notes of this song. It makes me feel right with the world. Daydream Believer was a juke box standard when you could play 5 songs for a quarter.

What A Wonderful World

Louis Armstrong’s tender performance before the troops is sleeved between film clips of one of my favorite movies, Good Morning Vietnam. That’s a powerful combination, the Great Sachmo and Robin Williams. Life truly is what me make of it, even in the midst of unmitigated hell.

Louis Armstrong


This next song combines two of the most beloved songs of all time – What a Wonderful World and Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

Israel Kamakawiwo'Ole 'IZ' 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow/Wonderful World'



Both of these performers have disappeared from our view now. But they left us more than song. They left us with the feeling that these words are not sappy impossibilities nor unrealistic goals. They somehow penetrated our defenses and struck the core of our beliefs.

I Wanna Hold Your Hand

This song appeals to the little kid in me. I think the Beatles should be on the cover of a cereal box. In this vid, they do a few intro takes before the song kicks in permanently, so don’t be thinking it’s messed up. Hope you enjoy the high quality audio on this one. And I hope you feel three years old.

Lover's Concerto

Lover’s Concerto was recorded in 1965 by The Toys. It peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at number two. I have this song on the vinyl lp Attack. This song is a fitting choice for the launch of my Feel Great Music blog. The song was based upon the melody of the "Minuet in G major" attributed to Bach which was arranged in 3/4 time while the Toy's version is in 4/4 time. Nice remix.

The Toys Version



This next version is from the 2002 South Korean film by the same name. Performed by Kelly Chen, this slow, sweet version shows that a really good song has many covers.

Kelly Chen's Version