Strangers, songs, stories, and smiles

Real people share their answers to one question:
What’s a song that reminds you of a happy memory?

What is the Happiness Soundtrack?

This collaborative music project is a creative exploration by flight attendant and writer Janna Barrett.

After abandoning all the music she’d ever heard before, Janna was looking for song recommendations. She started handing people her journal, asking everyone to write their response to a simple question:

What’s a song that reminds you of a happy memory?

Everyone has an answer—and everyone’s answer is different.

This question has lead to countless heartwarming interactions and amazing stories. They started out as scribbles, but now they’re a blog, a podcast, a YouTube channel—and someday, a book.

Through conversations about music and memory, Janna explores nostalgia, joy, and the surprising ways music connects us all.

What’s your song?

  • ‘Let the Sunshine In’ by the Fifth Dimension

    This was my high school football team’s song, so the band it would play whenever they scored. I remember going to the games with family and friends a lot as a teenager.

  • ‘Boogie Wonderland’ from Happy Feet

    I auditioned to a performing arts school with this song, and it was the first dance routine I ever choreographed by myself.

  • ‘Roundabout’ by Yes

    My brother and I would sit on the floor and draw together while we listened to this record. That was my favorite song on it.

  • ‘Lady in Red’ by Chris de Burgh

    It’s the first song I danced to with my husband. And I was wearing a red dress!

  • ‘Price tag’ by Jessie J

    After I got divorced—many years ago—my kids were staying with me. Twin girls. And every night, when I’d put them to bed, they asked me to play this song. But they also insisted that I put on a panda hat and sing and dance to it with them. So that was fun. I still have the hat.