The other night dear, as I lay sleeping
I dreamed I held you in my arms
But when I awoke, dear, I was mistaken
So I hung my head and I cried.
[Chorus]
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You’ll never know dear, how much I love you
Please don’t take my sunshine away
I’ll always love you and make you happy,
If you will only say the same.
But if you leave me and love another,
You’ll regret it all some day:
[Chorus]
You told me once, dear, you really loved me
And no one else could come between.
But now you’ve left me and love another;
You have shattered all of my dreams:
[Chorus]
In all my dreams, dear, you seem to leave me
When I awake my poor heart pains.
So when you come back and make me happy
I’ll forgive you dear, I’ll take all the blame.
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You’ll never know dear, how much I love you
Please don’t take my sunshine away
The song has been covered numerous times — so often, in fact, that it is “one of the most commercially programmed numbers in American popular music.”[2] The song, originally country music, has “virtually lost” its original country music identity, and “represent[s] both the national flowering of country music and its eventual absorption into the mainstream of American popular culture.”[2] In 1941, it was covered by Gene Autry, Bing Crosby,[3]Mississippi John Hurt, Wayne King and Lawrence Welk.[2] The versions by Autry, Crosby, and King reached the US charts of the day.[4]
Virginia Shehee, a long-time Davis family friend and member of the Louisiana State Senate from 1976 to 1980, introduced legislation to make “You Are My Sunshine” the official state song.[6]
In Gavin Lambert’s 1963 novel “Inside Daisy Clover,” Daisy often sings “You Are My Sunshine” to pick up her spirits when she’s feeling down.
Early recordings
Two versions of “You Are My Sunshine” were recorded and released in 1939 prior to Jimmie Davis’ version. The first was recorded for Bluebird Records (RCA-Victor’s budget label) on August 22, 1939, by The Pine Ridge Boys (Marvin Taylor and Doug Spivey), who were from Atlanta.[7] The second was recorded for Decca Records on September 13, 1939, by The Rice Brothers Gang.[8] This group was originally from north Georgia but relocated to Shreveport, where they were performing on the radio station KWKH. The version by Jimmie Davis was recorded for Decca Records on February 5, 1940.[9]
The Pine Ridge Boys
Rice Brothers Gang
Jimmie Davis with Charles Mitchell’s Orchestra
Authorship
While Davis and Mitchell are the credited songwriters of “You Are My Sunshine”, Davis was never known to actually claim authorship, as he bought the song and rights from Paul Rice and put his own name on it, a practice not uncommon in the pre-World War II music business.[10] Some early versions of the song credit the Rice Brothers. Descendants and associates of Oliver Hood, a LaGrange, Georgia musician who collaborated with Rice, claim Hood wrote the song in the early 1930s, first performing it in 1933 at a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention at LaGrange, Georgia in 1933.[10] According to some accounts,[which?] clarinetist Pud Brown was also involved with the Rice Brothers for the song’s origin or first arrangement. Davis said that for some time he had been enthusiastic about the song and had unsuccessfully tried to convince record companies to record it before finally making his own 1940 record of the song. Davis’ version was popular and was followed by numerous other covers, including those of Bing Crosby and Gene Autry, whose versions made the number a big hit. Davis emphasized his association with the song when running for governor of Louisiana in 1944, singing it at all his campaign rallies, while riding on a horse named “Sunshine”.[2]
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