Memories
I really want to see about understanding what makes a “smile” in music. My term, but there are just a few certain songs I know of that produce a kind of happiness-essence that I really enjoy discovering.
The chorus of Dave Matthews Band’s “The Stone” from Before These Crowded Streets is definitely one of them.
On the Contemporary Christian side of things, Chris Tomlin’s “Holy is the Lord” (Arriving) gets it when they hit the chorus the first time.
I would also submit “The Moon is Down” from Explosions in the Sky (Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell The Truth Shall Live Forever) as perhaps the supreme example. Right at 2:30 (it’s quite a long song, thankfully).
Black Lab gets a sad-happy smile in the “Gates of the Country” chorus (Your Body Above Me). That’s very Black Lab of them.
All four of these feature some kind of swell, which has to be a lot of it. They tend to have some kind of sound-wall thing going. These factors lead to it normally showing up in a chorus. It’s definitely a knack.