Why can't life be like a musical?

I'm not the first person to ask this important question: Google produces eight results from this phrase of which this is pretty close to being what I'm about to say...

I subscribe to the PM newsletter and one day in the Summer all it contained were the words to the title song of the musical 'Oklahoma': it was a bad news day and Eddie Mair decided we needed cheering up. It worked!

A while later someone at work sang 'Oh what a beautiful morning' and I wondered where the song came from: on discovering that it too was from Oklahoma, I felt I simply had to listen to some more of this Rodgers and Hammerstein stuff.

It's great! It's so uplifting and positive - that's what I mean by my title. I kid you not - listening to the soundtrack (ripped from a library CD to my iPod for the moment) changes my mood from bleugh to Yeeow! A-yip-i-o-ee ay!

You should try it, maybe with another musical if America in the early 1900s doesn't appeal. The Wizard of Oz has the same effect on me, as does almost anything with Fred and Ginger (which bring the added bonus of fabulous dancing). Gene Kelly vehicles like 'On the town' (with the added attraction of Frank Sinatra), 'Singin' in the rain' and the underrated 'American in Paris' hit the spot too.

I must admit that it's the dance numbers that produce the best results - in Oklahoma that means 'Kansas City' and the title song above others.

So when I say 'Yeeow! A-yip-i-o-ee ay' I'm really saying I'm doing fine!