Science Says: Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” is the Happiest Song Ever

What is it about a song that just puts you in a good mood? It could be the rhythm that gets you dancing or maybe it links you back to memory of your childhood. Actually, it's science.

A study back in 2013 by the University of Missouri had people listening to upbeat music for two weeks. They found out that listening to any music makes people happier and they proved which is the happiest song. That song is Queen's 1978 hit "Don't Stop Me Now."

Neuroscientist Jacob Jolij recently did a study about the songs that make people feel the happiest. He looked at 126 songs from a 50-year period and came up with a formula.

As Jolij states in his blog, "we generally like songs with a tempo that deviates from the average pop song tempo, that are in a major key, and are a bit more complex than three chord songs, unless the song is a major key."

The average tempo of a happy song is around 150 BPM, which is higher than an average pop song. The song that fits that best is "Don't Stop Me Now" at 156 BPM, as decided by two thirds of the 2,000 people he surveyed.

Read more at Belief, Perception and Cognition.