Ian Murphy’s Good Songs: 2026 Redux Super Platinum Remastered
In Bulgaria, Staff Writer Ian Murphy listens to music on his earbuds while completing work on his laptop. || Photo by Ian Murphy
I ran a radio show for almost two years at WRSE 88.7 with a weekly roundup of my top songs I had on repeat. That show was called “Good Songs.”
There’s no specific genre week to week, and while sometimes each week would have a theme, it also often wouldn’t. It was purely songs that I thought were, well, good.
So, with the death of WRSE, and an eye to the future digital media has in mind for the space, “Good Songs” returns via The Leader with a weekly roundup of my favorite five songs and an all-encompassing Spotify playlist you can check out right now.
You Get What You Give
Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too (1998)
New Radicals
Despite it never actually showing up in an episode of the series, “Ted Lasso” is how I discovered New Radicals. If you haven’t seen it yet, give the Apple TV free trial a whirl and binge at least the first season of “Ted Lasso,” it really is lightning in a bottle.
Regardless, “You Get What You Give” is a song that has been in my daily rotation for the last month now, giving me the exact peppy energy that really does tell us to go out and get what we deserve; after all, you really do get back what you give out.
Another Day of Sun
La La Land (2017)
La La Land Cast
The second-to-last date night I had before leaving for my exchange this semester in Bulgaria was a visit to the local AMC to watch the rescreening of “La La Land.”
“Another Day of Sun” made me tear up immediately. It’s such a hopeful song and the entire sequence on the I-5 ramp is so full of joy, a jovial anthem begging the viewer to think positively about their future and how, despite their obstacles, despite the letdowns, there will be another day of sun to look forward to.
It’s an antithesis to the takeaway so many have from “La La Land,” that Mia and Sebastian are a failure of romance. Sure, they don’t end up together, but that is the point! Their relationship was failing, they needed to find a new day of sun, a new future that made them both happy!
Happiness Hotel
Seth MacFarlane Sings The Muppets (2026)
Seth MacFarlane
Days after recent rumors of future Muppets productions being placed on hiatus, Seth MacFarlane released a wonderfully jazzy and refreshing take on many Muppet classics.
“Happiness Hotel” in particular unlocked memories of watching “The Great Muppet Caper” during a freshman year binge of every piece of Muppets media I could find.
Great album! I can’t stop humming “Happiness Hotel.”
I Want You
Savage Garden (1997)
Savage Garden
With “Steel Ball Run” returning last Friday, I figured it would only be fitting to include my favorite ending music from the series.
I have fond memories of my brother and me bonding over not just our love of “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure,” but specifically finding this album on CD in our dad’s office with the phrase “DO NOT PLAY” sharpied onto the front of the disk.
We played it anyway. The disk sounded fine.
Stuck in a Rut
Bodyrockers (2005)
Bodyrockers
This album stinks. “I Like the Way” was a moderate club and radio success in Europe, but beyond that and “Stuck in a Rut,” the album is practically slop.
“Stuck in a Rut,” all by itself, makes up for the whole thing. I heard this for the first time on a 14-hour drive home from the East Coast. This song came on like the light at the end of the tunnel. An abrupt and unwarranted departure from the style of the rest of the album, but a greatly appreciated one.
If you have a spare hour, while driving or doing laundry or homework, give “Bodyrockers” a listen and let me know if you have the same experience once it’s over.
