10 Songs Filled with Considerable Joy | Playlist 🎧

1. Pentatonix, “Joyful, Joyful”

Ft. Jazmine Sullivan

💿 The Best of Pentatonix Christmas • 🏷 RCA • 📅 2019

🎙 Pentatonix – what a beastly vocal group! One thing that the group does extreme well (besides those 🔥 vocals) are perform Christmas songs.  On their 2019 compilation, 💿 The Best of Pentatonix Christmas, they enlist another incredibly talented vocalist, 🎙 Jazmine Sullivan for the utterly joyful bop, “Joyful, Joyful.”

Calling “Ode to Joy” a bop might seem sketchy but not this particular interpretation!  Basically, this version with layered vocal harmonies is more 📽 Sister Act 2 than 🎙 Beethoven (as in Ludwig van). Jazmine Sullivan takes the lead on the slow, soulful, and spiritually tinged intro – channeling 🎙 Lauryn Hill, of course!  She milks the vocal for all its worth, with PTX providing her a rich palette to sing over.  Then, the tempo kicks up, and “Joyful Joyful” transforms into a gospel joint.  We don’t hear from Sullivan for a while, but she returns, filled with joy on the bluesy, gospel ad-libs.  Let the church say “YES,” or better yet “JOY!”

Also appears on 🔽:

🔗 🎧 Joy: 3BOPS Nr. 1

2. Carrie Underwood, “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee”

💿 My Gift • 🏷 Capitol Nashville • 📅 2020

“Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee / God of glory, Lord of love / Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee / Opening to the sun above.” 🎵 “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee” has been covered numerous times in a number of different ways.  The 📽 Sister Act 2 edition is probably the funkiest and most unique, but a hip, gospel rendition isn’t the sole way to deliver this beloved 🎙 Ludwig van Beethoven tune (he’s known for its melody from his 🎵 Ninth Symphony).  🎙 Carrie Underwood opts for balladry as opposed to spirited gospel on her interpretation, which appears on her 2020 holiday album, 💿 My Gift.

Here, Underwood wows us with her beautiful voice, period.  She simply sings the song, preserving the melody, incredibly expressively.  No, this take isn’t characterized by its groove or its spiritually rousing vibes, but it does give you chills hearing that superb, country tone.  Furthermore, the production by 🎙 Greg Wells is simple but definitely fitting.

3. Chris Stapleton, “Joy of My Life”

💿 Starting Over • 🏷 Mercury • 📅 2020

“Some may have their riches / Some may have their worldly things / As long as I have you / I’ll treasure each and every day.” On his fourth studio album, 💿 Starting Over (2020), 🏆 Grammy-winner 🎙 Chris Stapleton doesn’t merely serve up originals.  He also gives us several delightful covers.  Among them is the joyful and incredibly thoughtful ✅ 🎵 “Joy of My Life,” a 🎙 John Fogerty gem. Hey, can you go wrong with Fogerty or CCR for that matter?

Stapleton delivers quite an expressive vocal performance, but there’s also balance.  He still manages to cut through the production, but he’s also passionate and quite tender, as he asserts:

“She takes me by the hand
I am the luckiest man alive
Did I tell you baby
You’re the joy of my life.” 

Also appears on 🔽:

🔗 🎧 Joy: 3BOPS Nr. 1

4. Bastille, “Joy”

💿 Doom Days • 🏷 Virgin • 📅 2019

“Yeah, I feel my pulse quickening / When your name lights up the screen.” 🎙 Bastille are indeed ‘joyful’ on 🎵 “Joy”, the closing cut and third single from 💿 Doom Days.  Prior to the aforementioned chorus that seems to exhibit a dash of object sexuality, there’s drunkenness on the first verse (“Thought I’d never be waking on the kitchen floor / But here I lie, not the first time”).  On the second, front man 🎙 Dan Smith shares his mental anguish with the person who ultimately gives him ‘joy’ (“I’m your walking disaster, keep on dragging me / From self-pity, poor me.”

Confirming the joy is the bridge where Smith sings, “As night dissolves into this final frame / You’re a sweet relief, you save me from my brain.” Of course, nothing better exemplifies it than the chorus, the centerpiece of this gem:

“Oh joy, when you call me
I was giving up, oh, I was giving in
Joy, set my mind free
I was giving up, oh, I was giving in.”

Also appears on 🔽:

🔗 🎧 Joy: 3BOPS Nr. 1

5. Tori Kelly, “Joy to the World / Joyful, Joyful”

💿 A Tori Kelly Christmas • 🏷 Capitol / Schoolboy • 📅

One of the more gifted singers to emerge in the 2010s was none other than 🏆 Grammy-winner 🎙 Tori Kelly.  Despite her critical success, I’d argue Kelly deserves much more buzz than she receives. Have I mentioned how gifted she is in the vocal department? I must make that point crystal clear.  If you need proof – need the receipts – then look no further than 🎵 “Joy to the World / Joyful, Joyful” that appears as the fourth track on 💿 A Tori Kelly Christmas.

Naturally, the two core songs Kelly fuses here – 🎵 “Joy to the World and 🎵 Joyful, Joyful” – lend themselves to numerous interpretations.  Where “Joy to the World” is concerned, Kelly gives us a slower, soulful rendition with soaring, cutting vocals and impressive runs, before the pace picks up.  She gets additional support from a backing choir, as well as adds a cool modulation which ups the ante in the spirit department. From here, Kelly makes a fine transition into “Joyful, Joyful,” patterned once again in the style of 📽 Sister Act 2 with some modifications.  Basically, if you need any further evidence that TK provides a TKO in the vocal department, your ears must be totally stopped up!

6. for KING & COUNTRY, “joy.”

💿 Burn the Ships • 🏷 Curb • 📅 2018 

“I choose joy / Let it move you, let it move, let it move you!” AMEN! Don’t let anyone ever tell you that Christian pop can’t be fun – it’s already inspiring after all! 🎙 for KING & COUNTRY (🎙 Joel Smallbone and 🎙 Luke Smallbone) definitely had a big-time hit on their hands with “joy.” As the aforementioned excerpted lyrics suggests, it’s definitely a joyful, positive joint from their 2018 album, 💿 Burn the Ships.

So, what makes “joy.” so good? Well, the vocals by the bros are pretty awesome, particularly once they reach the totally exuberant, high-flying chorus.

“Oh, hear my prayer tonight, I’m singing to the sky
Give me strength to raise my voice, let me testify
Oh, hear my prayer tonight, ‘cause this is do or die
The time has come to make a choice
And I choose joy
Let it move you, let it move, let it move you.”

The lyrics are pretty sweet overall, and again, inspiring and definitely uplifting.  However, perhaps what makes “joy.” so accomplished is the sound and overall production.  The record literally sounds like a pop song, with plenty of electronic cues, perhaps the farthest thing from what we usually associated with Contemporary Christian music.  It’s spiritual mind you, but also fits right into any everyday playlist. The upside? It’s incredibly wholesome!

7. Whitney Houston, “Joy”

💿 The Preacher’s Wife (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) • 🏷 Arista • 📅 1996 

“Joy, joy, down in my soul / Sweet, beautiful, soul saving joy / Oh joy, joy in my soul.” 🎵 “Joy” was originally recorded by 🎙 The Georgia Mass Choir on their 1992 album, 💿 I Sing Because I’m Happy.  Notably, the song was written by a gospel giant in his own right, 🎙 Kirk Franklin. Notably, another musical icon, 🎙 Whitney Houston, would cover the gospel gem on 💿 The Preacher’s Wife (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) from 1996.  Unsurprisingly, she was assisted by The Georgia Mass Choir, with truly breathtaking results.

It’s rare that a soundtrack packs the punch that The Preacher’s Wife did in 1996, particularly with so many gospel records. That said, with one of the greatest voices of all time at the helm, it’s not shocking the album was so big.  On “Joy,” Whitney Houston does ‘Whitney Houston’ things.  Essentially, she makes singing sound so effortless, while infusing every ounce of herself into every note.  She’s incredibly compelling as the lead, with The Georgia Mass Choir further fueling her with their high-flying supporting vocals.  At a respectable three-minutes and 15 seconds, you almost wish that Houston and The Georgia Mass Choir could’ve extended the song longer – given us more of that greatness!

8. Rick Ross, “Tears of Joy

Ft. CeeLo Green

💿 Teflon Don • 🏷 The Island Def Jam Group • 📅 2010

🎵 “Tears of Joy” is a rap song all about “coming up.” No, not ‘growing up,’ but rather improving one’s financial status and achieving ‘the dream.’ “Last night I cried tears of joy / what did we do to deserve this,” Rick Ross raps on the third verse of 🎵 “Tears of Joy,” continuing “Not to dwell on the past but to keep it real / I gotta represent for Emmett Till, all the dead souls in the field…”

Even if coming up is the central theme on this joyful joint, there are other things to note. For example, featured guest 🎙 CeeLo Green touches upon people viewing “successful” folks differently and assuming that money solves everything:

“Thought having everything would easy my mind
if you could read my mind
My God, I’m scarred, I have tattoo tears of joy.”

Tears, hence, have a dually good and bad connotation.

9. Mariah Carey, “Joy to the World”

💿 Merry Christmas • 🏷 Sony Music Entertainment • 📅 1994

🎙 Mariah Carey and Christmas go together perfectly, PERIOD.  How so? Well, Carey has long reigned supreme when it comes to festive music, with her 1994 album, 💿 Merry Christmas, being “kind of a big deal.” We all know that 🎵 “All I Want for Christmas is You” is the biggest attraction.  That said, there’s plenty of ‘joy’ to be had from a listening perspective, including a spirited rendition of 🎵 “Joy to the World.”

With “Joy to the World,” Carey gives listeners a little bit of everything.  The record begins as a ballad, with Mariah showing off her prodigious pipes.  Soon enough, “Joy the World” picks up the tempo and adds an electrifying, danceable groove – hallelujah!  Carey further steps up her game vocally and is bolstered by a truly lit gospel choir.  One of the unique wrinkles appearing in this rendition are quotes from the joyful, jubilant 🎙 Three Dog Night classic – wait for it – 🎵 “Joy to the World!” Mariah definitely gives one of the best, most joyful versions of this beloved carol you’ll ever hear.

10. Stevie Wonder, “Joy Inside My Tears”

💿 Songs in The Key of Life • 🏷 Motown • 📅 1976

One rarely finds albums as accomplished as 💿 Songs in The Key of Life.  Songs in the Key of Life, of course, is the 1976 masterpiece by multi- 🏆 Grammy-winning R&B icon, 🎙 Stevie Wonder.  There are hits upon hits upon hits – it’s a truly terrific project.  Among my favorite songs is 🎵 “Joy Inside My Tears,” which appears as the second track on the second disc (12^th track overall).

There is nothing the least bit sad about this six-and-a-half-minute ballad. As he often does, Wonder brings a heaping dose of positivity.  If Wonder was depressed at some point, crying, he isn’t anymore – this person has totally brought him joy. “And baby that’s you, you, you / Made life’s history / Because you’ve brought some joy inside my tears,” he sings on the epic chorus, continuing, “And you have done what no one thought could be / you’ve brought some joy inside my tears.”  Now that’s some J-O-Y right there!