Fortune Cookie Friday: The Art of a Smile
Last week I wrote about kindness and how it can make you feel good. This week’s fortune follows that same premise. Smiles can be a powerful weapon in your arsenal of kindness. I’ve written about smiles before. There never seems to be a shortage of smile fortunes.
If you would like to find out how smiles can break the barrier of language, improve your health, or how various smiles are interpreted, you can read my past posts. Today I want to discuss smiles in art and music.
The work of artists and musicians is based on mood. The colors and brush strokes used in a painting can give you a sense of calm or excitement. The rhythm and instruments played in music can make us dance or go to war.
Beyond the concept of mood, there is the subject. Artists and musicians have an almost infinite number of subjects to cover, but how much do they consider the topic of smiles and smiling? I did a quick search on the Internet—I love having information at my fingertips—and found smiles abound.
Music
My music search led me, almost directly, to a site sponsored by the American Dental Association. When it comes to smiles, they know a thing or two. They have a list of songs that contain the word “smile” in the title. Most of the songs have music videos to play while you sit back and grin.
Feel free to click on any of the links. They will open in a separate tab.
“You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile” by Sia (2014)
“Smile” by Uncle Kracker (2009)
“Smile Like You Mean It” by The Killers (2004)
“When I See You Smile” by Bad English (1989)
“Can’t Smile Without You” by Barry Manilow (1978)
“Your Smiling Face” by James Taylor (1977)
“When You’re Smiling” by Louis Armstrong (1929)
I could easily add some others to this list:
“Smile” by Sheppard (2014)
“I Smile” by Kirk Franklin (2011)
“A Certain Smile” by Johnny Mathis (1958)
“Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)” by Steve Harley (1975)
“Helpless When She Smiles” by Backstreet Boys (2007)
“I See Your Smile” by Gloria Estefan (1992)
“I Like it When You Smile” by Harry Connick Jr. (2015)
“Sarah Smiles” by Panic! at the Disco (2011)
“Smiles” by Lambert Murphy (1918)
Then there is the smile song about a famous painting with a smile:
Art
Now that you’ve got your groove on with a groovy smile let’s consider the smile in art. There are smiles in ancient Greeks statues and most depictions of Buddha. I decided to focus my search on paintings. Of course, we will begin the list of smiling art with Leonardo da Vinci’s The Mona Lisa and her mysterious simper.
This next one is great because it contains a book. I have a thing for books. 🙂
One of my favorites is this one by Rotari. I always wonder what she is smiling about.
Now, this isn’t an extensive list of songs or art that contain a smile. There is just no way I could put them all into one post. I took a collection of some well-known ones just to show you how the smile has infused itself into our culture. If you know of one that should be added to this collection, please add it in the comments. I hope this post brought a smile to your face.
