10 Songs About Passion for Life and Love
Sometimes when you’re in a bad mood, all you need is a good, uplifting song to bring your spirits up! Lucky for us, there are a lot of positive, upbeat songs out there for you to enjoy, whether they boost your confidence or make you remember the “little things” in life.
Everyone needs a little positivity now and then, and so in this article, I’m going to provide you with my absolute favorite songs about passion for life and love!
Songs About Passion You’ll Absolutely Love
Okay, let’s begin with a unique choice by MIKA and Ariana Grande.
“Popular Song” by MIKA ft. Ariana Grande (2012)
This song is based on the famous song “Popular” from the musical Wicked, but it takes its own spin on the meaning of popularity.
For comparison, here are the lyrics:
Wicked version: “Popular, you’re gonna be popular / I’ll teach you the proper poise when you talk to boys”
MIKA’s version: “Popular, I know about popular / And all that you have to do is be true to you”
The difference comes from the fact that “Popular Song” is actually an anti-bullying anthem that encourages the listeners to be themselves. The lyrics talk about how bullied kids, now all grown up, have become successful and are now very happy with their lives.
It’s definitely upbeat and catchy, and boosts your confidence for sure. It’s a great song about passion for life and staying true to yourself – and Ariana Grande’s voice goes so well with MIKA’s!
“Get Cool” by Stray Kids (2018; re-recorded in 2020)
“Get Cool” starts off with a cute little tune from the very beginning, which sets the vibe for the rest of the song. The lyrics basically tell you to just appreciate the little things in life and to stop worrying so much (“Ay, small things that matter / Ay, little things that matter”).
In the pre-chorus, we have “What’s the matter? / Have I really used up all the luck I had? / Let’s not worry so much / Just for today”, referring to that fear a lot of us have when we have a good day.
Sometimes even when we’re happy, we worry that we used up all our luck or that something bad will happen, but here, they’re telling us not to worry about it and just enjoy the moment.
This sets the stage for the chorus, which is super catchy: “Get cool.” You’ll probably find yourself singing along and getting infected with the positivity from the song. I think it’s definitely a song about enjoying life and just enjoying the small things. I really like the line: “It doesn’t matter if the world is a cold place ‘cause I’m getting cooler” because it acknowledges that there are sad moments, but tells you not to let those get you down!
“Born This Way” by Lady Gaga (2011)
This is an iconic Lady Gaga song that I’m sure pretty much everyone knows by now. It’s about expressing yourself and loving yourself, in spite of your flaws or what society says about you.
From the very beginning, it’s really loud and in-your-face with the beat and bass, almost like an anthem of sorts. But Gaga also has a stripped down, “Country Road” version of this same song, which in my opinion is just as good (and perhaps even better).
With the lyrics, “Don’t hide yourself in regret/Just love yourself, and you’re set,” we’re encouraged to just love ourselves despite what others say about us.
Really great, upbeat, and positive!
“Walking on Sunshine” by Katrina and the Waves (1985)
This isn’t really my style, but I have to admit that “Walking on Sunshine” is catchy! It gets stuck in your head so easily – and it’s definitely one of the most happy, optimistic songs that I’ve ever heard. Even just listening to the track, you can get the vibe immediately. It’s almost aggressively happy!
Some great lyrics are the iconic hook “I’m walking on sunshine, whoa / And don’t it feel good” and the bridge “I feel alive, I feel the love, I feel the love that’s really real”. It’s a song about loving the life that you’re living and being in love!
Who doesn’t have a passion for that?
Be sure to check out how Katrina and the Waves made “Walking on Sunshine.”
“Cool” by Jonas Brothers (2019)
“Cool” starts off with some simple guitar at the beginning, before adding a kind of clapping beat in the chorus. It sort of sounds like the kind of song that you’d hear at a campfire.
Very chill, but also really positive about life.
We get lyrics like “Is it me or am I just havin’ a good year?” and “When I grow up, I wanna be just like me,” it’s honestly refreshing to hear a song where the singers are so confident in themselves—without coming across as arrogant.
The positivity is sort of infectious. And of course, the chorus’ “Lately, I’ve been feeling so cool” is really catchy.
I really enjoy the ending of the song, with just a simple, nonchalant voice saying “cool.” Really great.
“ME!” by Taylor Swift ft. Brendon Urie (2019)
This is a really underrated Taylor Swift song, which is unfortunate because it has such a positive message. It’s also just a surprisingly good duet with Brendon Urie – an odd combination that you wouldn’t really think would go together, but their voices complement each other so well.
It’s a song about embracing yourself and recognizing all the good things about yourself. The song is loud and happy with a great buildup to the chorus:
“But one of these things is not like the others / Like a rainbow with all of the colors / Baby doll when it comes to a lover / I promise that you’ll never find another like me.”
Overall, an enjoyable song about self-love and enjoying life!
“Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen (1978)
This one is something everyone knows – but for good reason! It’s really iconic, and it makes you happy just listening to it.
It starts off with some slow piano in the intro (“Tonight I’m gonna have myself a real good time / I feel alive”) and then it suddenly has a lot of energy.
“Don’t Stop Me Now” is about not letting anyone bring you down or, you guessed it, stop you. It keeps up the positive energy throughout the song and especially in the chorus with, “Don’t stop me now / I’m having such a good time.”
The ending is great too, because it kind of ends how it starts—and then simply fades out.
“The Feels” by Twice (2021)
This is Twice’s first actual English song. While they do have English versions of some of their Korean songs, this is their first song that is originally entirely in English. It became popular really fast, especially in the Western market and on social media apps like TikTok.
And it’s completely understandable, with its love-at-first-sight kind of vibe!
“The Feels” is upbeat and bubbly – it sort of makes you want to fall in love. It’s sweet and cute with, “You have stolen my heart, oh, yeah / Never let it go” and “Boy, I, boy, I, boy I know / I know I get the feels.”
It’s a song about being passionate for love!
“Just Like Fire” by P!nk (2016)
Another positive song about loving yourself and just doing your own thing, despite what other people say. This song really shows off P!nk’s unique, powerful voice.
Some great lyrics are, “No one can be just like me anyway / Just like fire” and “And people like to laugh at you ‘cause they are all the same / See I would rather we just go a different way than play the game.”
Definitely encourages you to just live your life the way you want to.
“Somewhere Over the Rainbow” (Cover) by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole (1990)
While this is technically a cover, it’s so beautifully done that you would none be the wiser if the song it was covering wasn’t so massively well known.
The instrumentals stay pretty much the same throughout the whole song, with just a simple ukulele, but it’s the simplicity that makes it so perfect. It’s something that’s hard to find these days.
The lyrics are hopeful and uplifting, speaking of all the wonderful things in life: “Oh, somewhere over the rainbow way up high / And the dream that you dare to, why, oh why can’t I, I?”
A lot of people know this song, or at least have heard it in some way or another; it’s really just iconic and positive.
It should be noted that this song is actually a medley mashup of both Somewhere Over the Rainbow and What a Wonderful World. And it’s truly excellent.
For more on Israel Kamakawiwo’ole, better known as IZ, check out this NPR piece.
Conclusion
Hopefully, you’ve really enjoyed this list of some of my favorite songs about passion.
Music gets a bad rap for sounding “the same” in every genre, or not being creative enough. But I think it’s easy to forget about all the great, original, and uplighting music we’ve been exposed to for years!
