What is the Greatest 'Feel-Good' Song of All Time?

Everyone has that one song that makes them feel good when they're down. Maybe a song that brings back their childhood, or that tune that takes them back to their high school or college days. Maybe its just a song that makes them smile. But can you scientifically predict or analyze the "feel-good" level of a song? Well, British scientists think they can, and now say they may have found the most feel-good song ever written.

According to a survey commissioned by British electronics manufacturer Alba, which 2,000 adults were asked to share their favorite feel-good songs, and an infectious anthem from the 1970s emerged as the feel good song that makes you feel better than all others.

According to the study, Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" may be the single most feel-good song ever written. If you believe this new research, it's a perfect example of the "feel-good formula" for music: fast tempo, major key and happy lyrics.

Cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Jacob Jolij, who completed the data analysis for Alba, examined the elements of the 1978 single, identifying the trifecta mentioned above as the equation that gives a song its feel-good quality. Jolij, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Groningen, states that "virtually all 'feel good' songs were in major key, and all of them were at least 10 BPM (beats per minute) faster than the average pop song." Still, more than anything else, our own positive associations with a song are what determine whether it will make us feel good, according to Jolij.

Other feel-good songs cited by survey respondents included ABBA's "Dancing Queen," and "Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boys.

What is your 'feel-good' song? Vote for one of our songs, or vote for your own favorite feel-good tune.