#happysoundslike

Imagine a world without music? What would soundtrack your seminal life moments and warm spring days? If this idea evokes feelings of panic remember that this is not like the town where Footloose was based. Music is so important it unites us all which is why we were so excited to spread the joy for the International Day of Happiness. On 20th March we supported the International Day of Happiness by gathering together some of the world’s happiest songs, hand-picked by musicians from all over the globe, and brought them to you. Cody Simpson wants the world to be happy, so he led the charge for our #HappySoundsLike playlist by picking Three Little Birds by Bob Marley.

What does happy sound like to you? To Britney it’s Kiss by Prince; “can’t help but get up and dance to this song. And dancing makes me happy!” For the unofficial king of happy, Pharrell Williams, it’s This Must Be the Place by Talking Heads. For UN Ambassador and Oscar winning actress Charlize Theron, Coldplay’s Every Teardrop is a Waterfall; “Reminds us to turn the music up, live in the moment and dream hopefully”.

The campaign had great support from fantastic artists such as David Busta, Anggun, Ed Sheeran, A R Rahman and Charlie XCX, who went for the Spice Girls, Say You’ll Be There. Over 1 million of you joined in to share the songs that make your day awesome so we’d like to thank you for spreading the joy and showing how the power of music can help bring hope for a brighter future.

It’s officially the happiest mix around so share that feeling and cut loose.

To celebrate the International Day of Happiness the United Nations asked the public “to nominate a song that brings a smile to your face” using #HappySoundsLike.

“On this day we are using the universal language of music to show solidarity with the millions of people around the world suffering from poverty, human rights abuses, humanitarian crises and the effects of environmental degradation and climate change.” - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

To celebrate the day the UK Mission to the UN created our own playlist of Happy songs. 

1. ‘I'm A Believer’ by The Monkees

2. ‘I’m Every Woman’ by Chaka Khan 

3. ‘Best Day Of My Life’ by American Authors

4. ‘RESPECT’ by Aretha Franklin

5. ‘Same Love’ by Macklemore feat Mary Lambert

6. ‘Bare Necessities’ from The Jungle Book  

7. ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ by Journey

The pursuit of happiness is a fundamental human goal

Speaking at the High Level Meeting on "Happiness and Well-Being: Defining a New Economic Paradigm" convened during the sixty-sixth session of the General Assembly, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon stated that the world “needs a new economic paradigm that recognizes the parity between the three pillars of sustainable development. Social, economic and environmental well-being are indivisible. Together they define gross global happiness.”  The meeting was convened at an initiative of Bhutan, a country which recognized the supremacy of national happiness over national income since the early 1970s and famously adopted the goal of Gross National Happiness over Gross National Product.

The General Assembly of the United Nations in its resolution 66/281 of 12 July 2012 proclaimed 20 March the International Day of Happiness recognizing the relevance of happiness and well-being as universal goals and aspirations in the lives of human beings around the world and the importance of their recognition in public policy objectives.

The United Nations invites Member States, international and regional organizations, as well as civil society, including non-governmental organizations and individuals, to observe the International Day of Happiness in an appropriate manner, including through education and public awareness-raising activities.

Visit the official site of the United Nations clicking here.

For the International Day of Happiness 2015, the United Nations invites all of us to take part in the #HappySoundsLike campaign using the power of music to inspire hope for a better tomorrow. Learn more about this clicking here.

There are a lot of songs that make me happy, so it was hard to choose, but I shared one of my favorite La Oreja De Van Gogh songs as my #happysong. Make sure you participate and share yours too!

"I wish everyone around the world a very happy International Day of Happiness! The pursuit of happiness is serious business. Happiness for the entire human family is one of the main goals of the United Nations. "