Not sure how this came about, but I decided I wanted to do this list. Talking first with Kaida, and then my mom, we came up with a few possibles. As usual, the Internet came through, providing even more. I listened to each of those songs I could find….finally settling on these
Honorable Mention: Casey and the Sunshine Band – Technically not songs with “sunshine” in the title, but such a fun band that I felt they needed a Sunshine Shoutout.
Honorable Mention #2: I Can See Clearly Now (Johnny Nash) Again, no actual Sunshine in the title, but the closing line “It’s going to be a bright (bright!) bright sunshiny day” is so iconic, that I had to mention it as well.
Top Ten Songs with “Sunshine” in the Title
#10 Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Fifth Dimension) – I’m not a big fan of this kind of music. Actually, I’ve never seen the value of the entire Hippie movement. These people derailed a war? Anyway, the song’s okay in that “Time Life Music” collection sort of way.
#9 Sunshine Lollypops (Lesley Gore) – I need to learn the lyrics, so I can annoy people with this, which, I’m convinced, is the chief reason for the song.
#8 You are the Sunshine of my Life (Stevie Wonder) – I listened to this quite a few times as I was compiling the list, and it's not as great as the reputation. I think it’s the arrangement. Still, Stevie makes any list he qualifies for.
#7 Good Day Sunshine (Beatles) – My mother calls this “lesser Beatles,” but I guess even Liverpool Minor is enough for us.
#6 Bring Me Sunshine (Willie Nelson) – When I first heard this I was bored, and thought no way. However, over the last week I’ve heard it in my head at least 400 times. Any thing that effective has to have something going for it, so Willie makes the list.
#5 Steal my Sunshine (Len) – Just a great summer anthem. Fairly nonsensical, but what great summer song isn’t? I love the back-beat to this. How soon until P. Diddy can crib it?
#4 Sunshine on my Shoulder (John Denver) – I have this theory that if you go back and listen to John Denver as if all his songs were about drugs, they’ll make more sense. Even here it works…sunshine makes you high? This song is a big hit in our house because when I was a kid my dad was entertaining my cousins and me one day and the song came on the radio. Dad lip-synched all the words, adding funny hand motions. Brought the house down, and is a big Request Number ever since. (Best part: when he actually fake-cries when the sunshine gets in his eyes.)
#3 I’m Walking on Sunshine (Katrina and the Waves) – Probably my favorite of the Sunshine songs, and would have been #2 if I wasn’t threatened. I like it partly because of how upbeat it is (how can you be in a bad mood when listening to this song?), and partly because I use it as a crucial scene in a movie I’m writing, so I always feel this affinity. If you were doing a list of most upbeat songs, this has to make the Top 15 at least, right?
#2 Ain’t No Sunshine (Bill Withers) – Both Kaida and my mother threatened to disown me if this wasn’t #2. (Actually, Kaida said she’s break up with me, while my mom said she’d start patrolling Monkey Barn. They also hate it when I compare them, which I sometimes do as a weapon to stop something I find annoying…hopefully they never compare notes.) I do love this song, although I had no idea it was Bill Withers, whom I’d never even heard until this. I always thought it was James Taylor, much to my embarrassment. The other night Kaida and I listened to over 20 versions of this song, doing a top ten of just that. (The resulting fight was more interesting than our list. I’ll have to write that up some time.) Any way you listen to it, a great song.
And the number one song with “Sunshine” in the title is……
#1 You are My Sunshine (Jimmy Davis) – Simple, classic, unadulterated. Sentimental, but too legendary to be cloying. Bonus points to my dad who knew that Jimmy Davis later became the governor of
