10 Greatest Feel Good Rock Songs

Creedence Clearwater Revival is a band that shouldn't really work on paper. Ever since they started back in the '60s, the band's blending of everything from soul to country to folk music seemed to gel together in the exact right way, from the backwater troubadours of "Born on the Bayou" to the hard rock terror of "Effigy." CCR could really do a lot of things, but "Proud Mary" might be their most straightforward happy song.

Written at the beginning of the band's career, the first few lines of the song were conceived by John Fogerty after getting word that he had been discharged from the army. Absolutely elated, he went into his apartment and started strumming his guitar about the joys of not having to work for the man. Though this song is pretty much the embodiment of country living along the river, the carefree attitude he has is something that nearly anyone can relate to.

Even if the laid back attitude of this version doesn't do it for you, Tina Turner's reworking of this song is also amazing, as she tears through every word like it's the last song she'll ever sing. Most of us probably won't know what it's like to be rolling on a river in our lifetime, but with songs like these, we're in that swampy sunshine with the rest of the band.