3 Super Positive One-Hit Wonders That Will Most Definitely Brighten Your Day

Did you not get enough sleep last night? Maybe your 1-year-old kept you up all night. Or maybe your bank account is a little lower than you’d like. Maybe your favorite team lost or you can’t believe your romantic partner broke up with you. Whatever it is—it’s been a tough day. Well, thank goodness there is music out there in the world to help cheer you up.

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Here below, we wanted to explore three examples of songs that can really put a smile on your face. Not only that, but we wanted to get even more specific and examine three one-hit wonders that can do just that. Indeed, these are three songs that rocketed up the charts by artists who never quite had the same success. A trio of tracks that will make you smile.

[RELATED: 3 Two-Hit Wonder, Foreign-Born Bands that Ruled the 1970s]

“Don’t Worry, Be Happy” by Bobby McFerrin from Simple Pleasures (1988)

This song was written and recorded for one purpose and one purpose only: to make you remember the good things in life. It’s so easy to worry. So easy to focus on what you don’t have or might never get, to fixate on money or status. But on this tune, which hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, Bobby McFerrin reminds us to let all of that go and instead remember that joy can fill our souls. Don’t worry, he sings famously. Just be happy! Yes, sir!

“Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)” by Us3 from Hand On the Torch (1992)

Borrowing a Herbie Hancock piano sample, the joyous hip-hop group Us3 turned this song into a smash in the early 1990s. The tune, which hit No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, doesn’t necessarily have a message of positivity. But the joy and happiness imbued in the beat and vocal delivery is just a plain ol’ good time. The track gets your body moving and your mind zipping and dancing rather than stuck in the proverbial mud.

“MMMBop” by Hanson from Middle of Nowhere (1997)

There’s no way you can hear this song and not smile. Maybe it’s the youth just jumping off the screen and speakers. Maybe it’s the family bond the three Hanson brothers share. Maybe it’s the lyrics, which are better than people may remember and are delivered with a soulful flare. Or maybe you find the song awful and you want to hate-listen. Well, whatever floats your boat. But either way, this once-ubiquitous 1997 single, which hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, is grin-inducing.

Photo by Jonathan Weiner