12 ultimate feel-good tunes

Rolling Stone placed their entire archive online yesterday, which got us to thinking about some of our most favorite head-bopping, toe-tapping tunes. "Music, like play and laughter," writes Kay Redmond Jamison in her book Exuberance, "increases emotional arousal and disinhibits; it rewards the participant for passionate engagement in the here and now." In other words, turning up your favorite jams and dancing around the living room enhances your sense of pleasure and can even boost your mood. "Music is used to induce positive emotions in research subjects," continues Jamison. In an effort to boost your mood, we put together a list of some of the best smile-inducing, warm fuzzy, and fist-pumping anthems. Some of these songs are just plain happy-sounding hits, some have great driving beats (perfect for a workout mix) and some have the kind of lyrics that make you want to go out and "climb ev'ry mountain."

What did we miss? What's your instantly-in-a-good-mood theme song?