The Happiest Soft Rock Songs Of All Time, Ranked

Over the last several decades, the genre of rock 'n' roll has split off into all types of variants. You've got alt-rock, math rock, yacht rock, rap-rock, hard rock — we could go on and on. But let us turn our attention to soft rock. Depending on where you live and how you listen, you might call this lite rock, adult contemporary, or even the beloved CVS banger. But whatever your term is — and no matter how uncool you tell yourself it is — there is probably a spot for soft rock in your life, a moment where you need a little pick me up; a carefree, breezy moment in the middle of a hectic or unremarkable day. And if there's one thing the subgenre of soft rock has given us, it is some feel-good jams. But which soft rock songs might be the happiest of all, the perfect tunes to fire up when in need of a pick-me-up? Let's get into it.

As tough as soft rock is to categorize, it's even wilder to rank. We've landed on five of the most uplifting and jubilant soft rock songs one can dream up, but it's not easy to quantify that happiness. So, we've put these in order from that happiest metric of all: streams, or the amount of times fans have listened on Spotify and YouTube. The royalties are guaranteed to put a smile on someone's face, but the songs will light you up when you play them again and again.

After a formidable run of funky hits and moving ballads with the Commodores, Lionel Richie charted a course for solo stardom in the '80s. His first two releases on his own — the Diana Ross duet "Endless Love" and "Truly," the first single from his self-titled solo debut — each reached No. 1 in America, and while "You Are" only peaked at No. 5, it set a standard for Richie as a soft rock king. He'd put out another 10 Top 10 hits in a row through 1987, but "You Are" remains a high watermark of Richie's soft rock side. 

Buoyed by what Billboard described at the time as "an inventive vocal arrangement, with deft harmonies and resonant bass rumbles," the song is an upbeat valentine sure to remind anyone of the love so strong you have to sing about it. (At least one soft rock hitmaker learned lessons from the track: a young Richard Marx can be heard singing background vocals on the song.) Between YouTube and Spotify, over 55 million people have streamed "You Are" to date, and — true to Richie's lyrics — we imagine they'd do it all again and again.

Carly Simon scored a hit about going on a date with Cat Stevens, put her own spin on classic nursery rhymes, and rocked the airwaves with a song about ... whoever exactly "You're So Vain" is about. And then, of course, there is her joyous soft rock tune about a secret agent who's left movie audiences shaken (if not stirred) for more than 60 years. In 1977, Simon's "Nobody Does It Better," from the James Bond film "The Spy Who Loved Me," became one of her most enduring songs, reaching No. 2 on the U.S. pop charts and earning both Grammy and Oscar nominations.

Written by film composer Marvin Hamlisch and lyricist Carole Bayer Sager, "Nobody" can easily be interpreted as a tribute to secret agent 007. Roger Moore, who played Bond in "The Spy Who Loved Me" and six other films, said as much to The Times of London. "It is a terrific song, as it embodies everything about Bond's character and why he is better and more popular than other movie spies," the actor told The Telegraph in 2008. But taking the lyrics literally, as an ode to a confident lover who outshines the competition in every way possible, is something anyone can do — and listeners have done it, with more than 75 million total plays on Spotify and YouTube combined.

When he wasn't writing multiple state songs, John Denver was cultivating his legacy as one of the gentlest voices in soft rock. And in the '70s, it didn't get more soft than "Sunshine on My Shoulders." The feel-good acoustic ballad, reportedly written during a bitter winter in Minnesota, parted the clouds for listeners in 1974, when it topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 — his first song to do so. More than 50 years later, it's got a long life as a crowd-pleaser, racking up over 108 million plays in the streaming era.

What makes the status of "Sunshine" as a mood-lifter so interesting is that Denver wasn't planning for that at all when he wrote it. Speaking with the Minnesota Star-Tribune (via Minnesota Monthly), Denver described the day he penned the song as "one of those cold, dreary days where everything is gray, yet spring is in fact happening. That's why the song is slow and melancholy." Elsewhere, he admitted to Seventeen (via History.com), "I was so down I wanted to write a feeling-blue song to write a feeling-blue song...[but] this is what came out." And anyone who needs a smile from a song is grateful that it did.

Orleans' 1976 hit "Still the One" proved that a happy song about a relationship can resonate with audiences as much as a tearjerker of a heartbreak ballad. The song would go on to be one of the soft rock band's biggest singles. The lyrics were written by Johanna Hall, then the wife of the band's guitarist John Hall, who'd been asked by a friend why rock groups couldn't write more songs about staying together instead of breaking up. After Johanna gave John the lyrics, bassist Lance Hoppen (whose brother Larry Hoppen sang the tune) said he finished the song in minutes — and it became a Top 5 hit, eventually whipping up more than 109 million streams on Spotify and YouTube.

With its rich guitar work and catchy harmonies from the whole band, "Still the One" has taken on a life of its own. '90s kids might remember it from a series of Burger King commercials. Others might remember it used in campaign events for former president George W. Bush and presidential hopeful John McCain — but at least one member of Orleans wishes you didn't. John Hall, who briefly traded his time in the band for a stint as a congressman in the late '00s, took both to task after hearing his lovestruck hit playing from their speakers. "I'm a Democratic congressman who has publicly endorsed Barack Obama," Hall grumbled to MSNBC in 2008. "The only one John McCain is 'Still the One' for is George Bush."

Can you really write about soft rock without including Barry Manilow? When he wasn't writing advertising jingles that can still get stuck in your head today, Manilow became the king of the piano-driven love ballad, from a '70s chart-topper that had to change its name because of another rock hit to a mess of pop and disco classics in 1978. "Can't Smile Without You" is as close as a song gets to wrapping its arm around your shoulder and swaying back and forth in pure joy: a Top 5 hit for Manilow, with more than 150 million streams on Spotify and YouTube combined.

"Can't Smile Without You" was recorded by British singer-songwriter David Martin (who co-wrote the song) and fellow soft rock duo the Carpenters, but Manilow outdid them all, thanks to his version's bombastic production. "I decided that I would treat it with a big smile; like a vaudeville piece, with lots of key changes, a whistle in the intro and a real take-home ending," he wrote in the liner notes to the box set "The Complete Collection and Then Some" (via Songfacts). "I had even made plans to include a tap dance solo!" He didn't do that, but he did turn it into a live showstopper, inviting fans to duet with him and projecting its lyrics with a bouncing happy face. We're grinning just thinking about it.