4 Feel-Good Songs From 1971 That Every Baby Boomer Can Still Sing by Heart

Music serves many purposes in our lives, but above all else, one of the best parts about it is that it makes us feel good. When we feel good, we look at the world a little differently—more positive, optimistic, hopeful, maybe even confident. These feelings (and the songs that conjure them) can stick with us for years, which is why virtually every baby boomer alive can still sing these feel-good songs from 1971 by heart.

“I Feel The Earth Move” by Carole King

Carole King’s “I Feel The Earth Move” and “It’s Too Late” double A-side took the pop world by storm in the early 1970s, and with good reason. Aside from her appealing voice and dexterous piano playing, King’s two singles (and the album on which they were featured, Tapestry) highlight the fact that King’s real bread and butter is songwriting. She captured that head-over-heels, “hot and cold” feeling most of us have experienced when we fall for someone else.

“Proud Mary” by Ike & Tina Turner

Some work music is as dreary and laborious as the jobs that the songs are talking about. Others, like “Proud Mary”, are so infectiously groovy, they automatically put the listener in a perpetual state of feeling like it’s 5 o’clock on the Friday of a three-day weekend. Ike & Tina Turner’s rendition of the song originally released by Creedence Clearwater Revival is completely their own, standing apart from the CCR original as an individual hit, not just a passable cover.

“I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony)” by The New Seekers

Songs we hear as part of advertising campaigns stick with us long after the commercials stop airing. Advertising agencies literally engineer these songs and jingles for that reason. That’s why most baby boomers will still know the words to one of the most pervasive feel-good songs of 1971, “I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony)”. The song first appeared in a Coca-Cola commercial, and public demand for the track became so immense that The New Seekers eventually cut a record of the song, too. Both The New Seekers and The Hillside Singers (from the ad) scored hits.

“She’s A Lady” by Tom Jones

Finally, we’ll close out this list of feel-good songs from 1971 that every baby boomer can still sing by heart with a Tom Jones classic. Songs like “She’s A Lady” feel good to sing regardless of whether you identify as the lady or as the person singing about the lady. It’s fun, flirty, and the kind of earworm that will be rattling around in your head long after the record stops spinning. 

Photo by Jim McCrary/Redferns