4 Feel-Good Songs From 1972 Every Baby Boomer Can Still Sing by Heart

While breakup ballads and angry revenge songs are no strangers to the Billboard Hot 100, much of the mainstream music market has to do with lifting the spirit, entertaining, and getting us to tap our toes and bob our heads. 1972 had no shortage of songs that did just that, including these four feel-good songs that every baby boomer can still sing by heart.

“The Candy Man” by Sammy Davis Jr.

Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, starring Gene Wilder as the kooky, imaginative, and dodgy chocolatier, wasn’t necessarily a blockbuster. But it still made its impact on the cultural zeitgeist, thanks in no small part to “The Candy Man”. This song appears in the film with Aubrey Woods performing. One year later, Sammy Davis Jr. released his own version of “The Candy Man”, climbing the charts with his smooth-as-melted-chocolate voice.

“Who can take a sunrise, sprinkle it with dew? / Cover it with chocolate and a miracle or two / The candy man, oh, the candy man can.”

“Brand New Key” by Melanie Safka

Some melodies sound like they were tailor-made for singalongs, and Melanie Safka’s “Brand New Key” is one of them. Of all the songs to top the charts in 1972, Melanie’s was one of the most playful and infectious. Even decades after its release, every baby boomer can likely still sing along to this bouncing, cascading melody about roller skates.

“Well, I got a brand new pair of roller skates / You got a brand new key / I think that we should get together and try them out to see.”

“Rockin’ Robin” by Michael Jackson

Years before Michael Jackson would take over the pop world with Thriller, he was releasing songs like his 1972 rendition of the early rock tune “Rockin’ Robin”. Jackson was only a young teenager when he put out this successful single, and his young voice makes it sound like a kid song. Nevertheless, his vocal performance is incredible—made even more so by his young age—and the chorus is the kind of earworm that keeps playing long after the needle lifts.

“He rocks in the treetops all the day long / Hoppin’ and a boppin’ and singing’ his song / All the little birds on Jaybird Street / Love to hear the robin go tweet-tweet-tweet.”

“I’d Like To Teach The World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)” by The Hillside Singers

The impossible escape from Coca-Cola advertisements is as true today as it was in 1972, and songs like “I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony)” had folks subconsciously thinking about the popular cola drink long after they last heard the track in a television commercial. This jingle was so popular that it was re-recorded by The New Seekers, and both versions ended up charting.

“I’d like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony / I’d like to hold it in my arms and keep it company.”

Photo by Bettmann/Getty Images

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