Top 10 Beautiful Happy Sad Songs

It's Monday and some of you may have the weekend blues. But if you do, at least try to sound happy about it until you really do feel happy! There's scientific evidence about how even pretending to smile causes happy feelings.

Below are my top 10 happy sad songs whose lyrics may quite reflect how you feel on a Monday. You may feel upbeat but if you carefully read between the lines, the topics are quite sad ranging from a broken heart, despondency, apathy and loneliness. Nonetheless, these songs are beautiful and full of imagery which makes some of them a bit poetic. Really lovely, you will love the tune of each one.

1) BE OKAY  (Ingrid Michaelson)

I just want to be okay, be okay, be okay
I just want to be okay today
I just want to be okay, be okay, be okay
I just want to be okay today

I just want to feel today, feel today, feel today
I just want to feel something today
I just want to feel today, feel today, feel today
I just want to feel something today

[Chorus]
Open me up and you will see
I'm a gallery of broken hearts
I'm beyond repair, let me be
And give me back my broken parts

I just want to know today, know today, know today
I just want to know something today
I just want to know today, know today, know today
Know that maybe I will be okay

[Chorus]

Just give me back my pieces
Just give them back to me please
Just give me back my pieces
And let me hold my broken parts

I just want to be okay, be okay, be okay
I just want to be okay today
I just want to be okay, be okay, be okay
I just want to be okay today

I just want to feel today, feel today, feel today
I just want to feel something today
I just want to know today, know today, know today
Know that maybe I will be okay
Know that maybe I will be okay
Know that maybe I will be okay

Songwriters: INGRID MICHAELSON

2)  MAMA MIA (Abba)

I been cheated by you since you know when
So I made up my mind, it must come to an end
Look at me now, will I ever learn?
I don't know how but I suddenly lose control
There's a fire within my soul
Just one look and I can hear a bell ring
One more look and I forget everything 

[Chorus]
Mamma mia, here I go again
My my, how can I resist you?
Mamma mia, does it show again
My my, just how much I've missed you?

Yes, I've been brokenhearted
Blue since the day we parted
Why, why did I ever let you go?
Mamma mia, now I really know
My my, I could never let you go 
I've been angry and sad about things that you do
I can't count all the times that I've told you "we're through"
And when you go, when you slam the door
I think you know that you won't be away too long
You know that I'm not that strong
Just one look and I can hear a bell ring
One more look and I forget everything 

[Chorus]

Yes, I've been brokenhearted
Blue since the day we parted
Why, why did I ever let you go?
Mamma mia, even if I say
"Bye bye, leave me now or never"
Mamma mia, it's a game we play
"Bye bye" doesn't mean forever 

[Chorus]

Yes, I've been brokenhearted
Blue since the day we parted
Why, why did I ever let you go?
Mamma mia, now I really know
My my, I could never let you go

Songwriters: ANDERSON, STIG / ANDERSSON, BENNY GORAN BROR / ULVAEUS, BJOERN K. / PODIVKNSKS, JAKUB

3) BUILD ME UP BUTTERCUP (The Foundations)

Why do you build me up (build me up) Buttercup, baby
Just to let me down (let me down) and mess me around
And then worst of all (worst of all) you never call, baby
When you say you will (say you will) but I love you still
I need you (I need you) more than anyone, darlin'
You know that I have from the start
So build me up (build me up) Buttercup, don't break my heart

"I'll be over at ten", you told me time and again
But you're late, I wait around and then (bah-dah-dah)
I went to the door, I can't take any more
It's not you, you let me down again

(Hey, hey, hey!) Baby, baby, try to find
(Hey, hey, hey!) A little time and I'll make you mine
(Hey, hey, hey!) I'll be home
I'll be beside the phone waiting for you
Ooo-oo-ooo, ooo-oo-ooo

Why do you build me up (build me up) Buttercup, baby
Just to let me down (let me down) and mess me around
And then worst of all (worst of all) you never call, baby
When you say you will (say you will) but I love you still
I need you (I need you) more than anyone, darlin'
You know that I have from the start
So build me up (build me up) Buttercup, don't break my heart

You were my toy but I could be the boy you adore
If you'd just let me know (bah-dah-dah)
Although you're untrue, I'm attracted to you all the more
Why do I need you so

(Hey, hey, hey!) Baby, baby, try to find
(Hey, hey, hey!) A little time and I'll make you mine
(Hey, hey, hey!) I'll be home
I'll be beside the phone waiting for you
Ooo-oo-ooo, ooo-oo-ooo

Why do you build me up (build me up) Buttercup, baby
Just to let me down (let me down) and mess me around
And then worst of all (worst of all) you never call, baby
When you say you will (say you will) but I love you still
I need you (I need you) more than anyone, darlin'
You know that I have from the start
So build me up (build me up) Buttercup, don't break my heart

I-I-I need you-oo-oo more than anyone, baby
You know that I have from the start
So build me up (build me up) Buttercup, don't break my heart

Songwriters: D'ABO, MIKE / MACAULAY, TONY

Build Me Up Buttercup lyrics © EMI Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

4) GET ME AWAY FROM HERE I'M DYING (Belle and Sebastian)

Ooh! Get me away from here I'm dying 
Play me a song to set me free 
Nobody writes them like they used to 
So it may as well be me 

Here on my own now after hours 
Here on my own now on a bus 
Think of it this way 
You could either be successful or be us 

With our winning smiles, and us 
With our catchy tunes and words 
Now we're photogenic 
You know, we don't stand a chance 

Oh, I'll settle down with some old story 
About a boy who's just like me 
Thought there was love in everything and everyone 
You're so naive! 

They always reach a sorry ending 
They always get it in the end 
Still it was worth it as 
I turned the pages solemnly, and then 

With a winning smile, the poor boy 
With naivety succeeds 
At the final moment, I cried 
I always cry at endings 
I always cry at endings 

Oh, that wasn't what I meant to say at all 
From where I'm sitting, rain 
Falling against the lonely tenement 
Has set my mind to wander 

Into the windows of my lovers 
They never know unless I write 
This is no declaration 
I just thought I'd let you know goodbye 

Said the hero in the story 
"It is mightier than swords 
I could kill you sure 
But I could only make you cry with these words" 
Cry with these words, cry with these words, cry with these words 

Oh get me away, I'm dying 
Get me away, I'm dying 
Get me away, I'm dying 
Get me away, I'm dying 
Oh I'm dying 
Oh I'm dying 
Oh I'm dying 

5) I'LL NEVER FALL IN LOVE AGAIN (Dionne Warwick)

What do you get when you fall in love?
A guy with a pin to burst your bubble
That's what you get for all your trouble
I'll never fall in love again
I'll never fall in love again

What do you get when you kiss a girl
You get enough germs to catch pneumonia
After you do, she'll never phone you
I'll never fall in love again
I'll never fall in love again

Don't tell me what it's all about
'Cause I've been there and I'm glad I'm out
Out of those chains those chains that bind you
That is why I'm here to remind you

What do you get when you give your heart
You get it all broken up and battered
That's what you get, a heart that's shattered
I'll never fall in love again
I'll never fall in love again

Out of those chains those chains that bind you
That is why I'm here to remind you

What do you get when you fall in love?
You only get lies and pain and sorrow
So for at least until tomorrow
I'll never fall in love again
I'll never fall in love again

I'll never fall in love again
I'll never fall in love again

Songwriters: BACHARACH, BURT / DAVID, HAL

I'll Never Fall In Love Again lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., CASA DAVID LP

6) YELLOW LEMON TREE (Dionne Warwick)

Fool's Garden - Lemon Tree 

I'm sitting here in the boring room 
It's just another rainy Sunday afternoon 
I'm wasting my time 
I got nothing to do 
I'm hanging around 
I'm waiting for you 
But nothing ever happens and I wonder 

I'm driving around in my car 
I'm driving too fast 
I'm driving too far 
I'd like to change my point of view 
I feel so lonely 
I'm waiting for you 
But nothing ever happens and I wonder 

I wonder how 
I wonder why 
Yesterday you told me 'bout the blue blue sky 
And all that I can see is just a yellow lemon-tree 
I'm turning my head up and down 
I'm turning turning turning turning turning around 
And all that I can see is just another lemon-tree 

Sing 
Da 
Da da da da di dat da 
Da da da dit da da 
Da di di di da 

I'm sitting here 
I miss the power 
I'd like to go out taking a shower 
But there's a heavy cloud inside my head 
I feel so tired 
Put myself into bed 
While nothing ever happens and I wonder 

Isolation is not good for me 
Isolation I don't want to sit on the lemon-tree 

I'm steppin' around in the desert of joy 
Baby anyhow I'll get another toy 
And everything will happen and you wonder 

I wonder how 
I wonder why 
Yesterday you told me 'bout the blue blue sky 
And all that I can see is just another lemon-tree 
I'm turning my head up and down 
I'm turning turning turning turning turning around 
And all that I can see is just a yellow lemon-tree 
And I wonder, wonder 

I wonder how 
I wonder why 
Yesterday you told me 'bout the blue blue sky 
And all that I can see, and all that I can see, and all that I can see 
Is just a yellow lemon-tree

7) THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY (Katy Perry)

Summer after high school, when we first met
We make-out in your Mustang to Radiohead
And on my eighteenth birthday, we got matching tattoos

Used to steal your parents liquor and climb to the roof
Talk about our future like we had a clue
Never planned that one day I'd be losing you

[Chorus]
In another life, I would be your girl
We keep all our promises, be us against the world
In another life, I would make you stay
So I don't have to say you were the one that got away
The one that got away

I was June and you were my Johnny Cash
Never one without the other, we made a pact
Sometimes when I miss you, I put those records on, whoa

Someone said you had your tattoo removed
Saw you downtown, singing the blues
It's time to face the music, I'm no longer your muse

[Chorus]

The one, the one, the one
The one that got away

All this money can't buy me a time machine, no
Can't replace you with a million rings, no
I should'a told you what you meant to me, whoa
Cause now I pay the price

[Chorus]

The one (the one)
The one (the one)
The one (the one)

In another life, I would make you stay
So I don't have to say you were the one that got away
The one that got away

Songwriters: Martin, Max / Gottwald, Lukasz / Perry, Katy

The One That Got Away lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

8) SYMPATHIQUE (Pink Martini)

Ma chambre a la forme d'une cage
Le soleil passe son bras par la fenêtre
Les chasseurs à ma porte
Comme les p'tits soldats
Qui veulent me prendre

Je ne veux pas travailler
Je ne veux pas déjeuner
Je veux seulement l'oublier
Et puis je fume

Déjà j'ai connu le parfum de l'amour
Un million de roses n'embaumerait pas autant
Maintenant une seule fleur dans mes entourages 
Me rend malade

Je ne veux pas travailler
Je ne veux pas déjeuner
Je veux seulement l'oublier
Et puis je fume

Je ne suis pas fière de ça
Vie qui veut me tuer
C'est magnifique être sympathique
Mais je ne le connais jamais

Je ne veux pas travailler
Non
Je ne veux pas déjeuner
Je veux seulement l'oublier
Et puis je fume

Je ne suis pas fière de ça
Vie qui veut me tuer
C'est magnifique être sympathique
Mais je ne le connais jamais

Je ne veux pas travailler
Non
Je ne veux pas déjeuner
Je veux seulement l'oublier
Et puis je fume

9) IF YOU WANT TO BE HAPPY (Jimmy Soul)

If you want to be happy for the rest of your life
Never make a pretty woman you wife.
So for my personal point of view
Get another girl to marry you.
Prrretty woman with the pretty face
Tracks attention in every place
When she walks she makes the men all moon
Pretty soon
Pretty soon you're alone.
If you want to be happy . . .
Course a big fat woman keeps you warm at home
Lots of meat shaking on the bone.
When she throws the big leg on you
AII night long makes a dream come true.
If you want to be happy . . .
Reggae italian . . . big piano solo . . . not bad he . . .
Next time try two fingers . . . accordion quick . . .
Ah
That's my kind of music . . . clap the hands . . . it's alright . . .
Ok . . . clap the hands everybody . . . little bit of italian applause . . .
If you want to be happy for the rest of your life
Don't make a fancy woman your wife
If you want to be happy . . .
Course a fancy woman got a fancy taste -
She spends all the day fixing up her face.
Why she got to use so much of powder and paste
When she kisses you it's a funny taste.
If you want to be happy . . .
If you want to be happy . . .
If you want to be happy for the rest of your life
Never make a pretty woman your wife.
So for Giuseppe's personal point of view
Get another girl to marry you.

10) TIRE SWING (Kimya Dawson)

I took the Polaroid down in my room
I'm pretty sure you have a new girlfriend
It's not as if I don't like you
It just makes me sad whenever I see it

'Cause I like to be gone most of the time
And you like to be home most of the time
If I stay in one place I lose my mind
I'm a pretty impossible lady to be with

Joey never met a bike that he didn't wanna ride
And I never met a Toby that I didn't like
Scotty liked all of the books that I recommended
Even if he didn't, I wouldn't be offended

I had a dream that I had to drive to Madison
To deliver a painting for some silly reason
I took a wrong turn and ended up in Michigan
A pallbearer aboard took me to the giant tire swing

Gave me a push and he started singing
I sang along while I was swinging
The sound of our voices made us forget everything
That had ever hurt our feelings

Joey never met a bike that he didn't wanna ride
And I never met a Toby that I didn't like
Scotty liked all of the books that I recommended
Even if he didn't, I wouldn't be offended

Now I'm home for less than twenty four hours
That's hardly time to take a shower
Hug my family and take your picture off the wall
Check my email, write a song and make a few phone calls

Before it's time to leave again
I got one hand on the steering wheel, one waving out the window
If I'm a spinster for the rest of my life
My arms will keep me warm on cold and lonely nights

Joey never met a bike that he didn't wanna ride
And I never met a Toby that I didn't like
Scotty liked all of the books that I recommended
Even if he didn't, I wouldn't be offended

Maleficient

 "I had wings once, and they were strong. They could carry me above the clouds and into the headwinds, and they never faltered. Not even once." - Maleficient

I love that line! I cried a little. I saw myself in her saying those lines to my daughter. In the corporate world I used to have strong wings that my peers and teams both loved and feared me.

Angelina with daughter Vivienne, who plays the little Princess Aurora who is not afraid of Maleficient.

Sometimes as humans we do things out of hurt which we don't really mean. This movie mirrors my belief that people are not inherently bad. And if only we get to know others more, we wouldn't really want for harm to come to them. It's a lovely movie and I'm glad Disney did a take on her character -- and so it seems our fairy tale books would be one villain less and I hope that it'd be the same in real life for everybody.Thank you Bryan for taking me to watch this movie today. :-)

Summer Rain, Withered Lavenders, Zinnias and Sunflower Dreams

It's heart breaking to see, but this is how it is with lavender growing in the Philippines. From close to 100 seedlings, and now down to four today. The picture below was taken a week ago and two more died since then:

The ones that survived are the French lavenders. But it is still very hard to cultivate due to the high level of humidity and rains that we get.

My small experiment comes to an end and I therefore conclude that True Lavender (Lavandula angustifloia) will not thrive in the Philippines. However, French Lavender (Lavandula dentata) can thrive provided that you don't over water it. They also grow pretty easily through cuttings.

I have yet to plant more French lavenders and let's see how things will turn out. For now, while I'm nursing my lavender hearth ache, I'm moving on to new things. My next project is this:

And this!!!

So follow me on my next gardening adventure and let's see how far it will go this time. And if it fails, well then it's all part of one great adventure because...

And always remember: "Life is either one great adventure, or nothing."- Helen Keller

:-)

This post also appears in http://manilaurbangardener.blogspot.com