And now for the happy tunes mix starter kit. As with the previous, these aren’t necessarily songs that are personal favorites, or are even innately happy — but for some reason they make me happy. So here goes, more than you probably want to know about me, but oh well:

• “Intergalactic” by the Beastie Boys. What’s not to love? Even if you don’t have my mile-wide soft spot for the BBs, this is a fun one. Loud enough to holler along to, bouncy enough to keep you company in traffic. Sample lyrics: If you try to knock me you’ll get mocked / I’ll stir fry you in my wok / Your knees’ll start shaking and your fingers pop / Like a pinch on the neck of Mr. Spock! Does that make a lick of sense? No! Of course not. Damn straight.

• “Rock the Casbah” by the Clash. Because when I was a kid I was convinced they were saying, “Cherie don’t like it … rock the casbah, rock the casbah…” And it makes me want to hop around. A most excellent house-cleaning tune. Sample lyrics: But the bedouin they brought out / the electric camel drum / the local guitar picker got his guitar picking thumb / as soon as the shareef had cleared the square / they began to wail …

• “Severence,” the Bauhaus cover. This one is either utterly sinister or relentlessly optimistic, however you want to read it. Change is in the air, and something new is on the horizon — but God knows what it’ll be. Sample lyrics: Severance / the birds of leaving call to us / yet here we stand / endowed with the fear of flight.

• “Dirt” by Depeche Mode. If there’s a more moodily gleeful declaration of self-loathing evaporating into (undoubtedly) drug-assisted apathy and bliss out there … then I just don’t know what it is. This one’s from the Resident Evil soundtrack, and it’s heavy and sarcastic, and it makes me smile. Sample lyrics: Ooh, I’ve been dirt / and I don’t care / ooh, I’ve been dirt / and I don’t care / ’cause I’m burning inside / ’cause I’m burning inside / I’m the fire of life / yeah alright…

• “Pure” by The Lightning Seeds. If ever a tune was made to spin around the room to, then this is surely it. Unabashedly sweet and thrilled silly with itself, it’s hard to hear this one without wanting an ice cream cone and maybe a puppy. Sample lyrics: Look at me with starry eyes / push me up to starry skies / there’s stardust in my head / pure and simple everytime / fresh and deep as oceans new / shiver at the sight of you …

• “God’s Gonna Cut You Down,” by Johnny Cash. Sure, it’s all about righteous vengeance and the inevitability of divine retribution, but hearing this song makes me want to wring my hands and go, “MWOO HAHA HAHA HAH” real loud as I think of the people who’ve wronged me. Sample lyrics: Well you may throw your rock and hide your hand / workin’ in the dark against your fellow man / but as sure as God made black and white / what’s done in the dark will be brought to the light …

• “Albert Goes West” by Nick Cave. A weird, bouncy, and satisfying song about someone who watches everybody go off looking for happiness, and generally fail to find it when they could’ve just stayed put and had a lovely time. Favorite lyrics: Me, I ain’t going anywhere / just sit and watch the sun come up, I like it here / I watch the people go ticking past, go hey hey hey / you know I gotta say I like it here…

• “Dragula” by Rob Zombie. YES MR. ZOMBIE I WOULD IN FACT VERY MUCH LOVE TO DIG THROUGH THE DITCHES, ETCETERA. I dunno why. He just makes it sound like so much fun. Sample lyrics: Dead I am the dog / hound of hell you cry / devil on your back / I can never die … (See also, Zombie’s cover of “Boogieman.”)

• “Vision Thing” by Sisters of Mercy. Because you know what? It IS a small world, and it DOES smell bad. Or I don’t know. Maybe the unbridled cynicism and aggression are just what the doctor ordered, once in awhile. Makes me want to thrash around and hit bad things while smiling, real big. Sample lyrics: Its a small world and it smells funny / I’d buy another if it wasnt for the money / take back what I paid / for another motherfucker in a motorcade …

• “Optimissed” by Skinny Puppy. Kicky modern goth (shuddup, I know) sound, growly and fast, insistent and none too sweet. The lyrics are virtually impossible to understand, and even if you’re reading them, they are hopelessly pointless. Don’t care! Sample lyrics: Get out, get out, get out, get out, get out ….

• “Never Been to Spain” by Three Dog Night. I have never been to Spain either. I’m sure it’s lovely. But this is a weird little un-travelogue of a piece that crests merrily and throws a big ol’ party in its wake. Now I love it all the more since I did, in fact, head out for Las Vegas this year (though I made it well past Needles). Sample lyrics: Well I never been to Heaven / but I been to Oklahoma / well they tell me I was born there / but I really don’t remember…

• “American Music” by the Violent Femmes. If you can listen to this song and not feel joy, then surely you have no soul. This is a driving song, written to compel your hand to reach out for the knob, crank it up, and sing along regardless of who’s in the vehicle with you. Sample lyrics: I need a date to the prom / would you like to come along? / but nobody would go to the prom with me baby / they didnt like American music / they never heard American music / they didn’t know the music was in my soul baby ….

• “Science Fiction, Double Feature” by Richard O’Brien. Well, since I closed the last list with the Rocky Horror Picture Show, I’ll do likewise here. I love the opener, not just for the lips. It makes me want to load up on cheap wine and black-and-white movies, and sit around munching popcorn while cross-dressing. Sing it with me, virgins … “Michael Rennie was ill The Day the Earth Stood Still / But he told us where we stand / and Flash Gordon was there in silver underwear / Claude Rains was The Invisible Man …”
  

As per last time, feel free to comment with your own faves or argue with me, or whatever makes you happy. There’s no right or wrong answer here, after all. It’s just what you like, man. That’s all.