Window. Bringing the early morning sunlight into the bedroom in mid-winter.
Day: 03/20/2016
SPRING HAS SPRUNG
Let The Sunshine In, Rich Paschall
Now that Spring has officially arrived, we are thinking more of enjoying the sun. You may have told someone that “You Are The Sunshine Of My Life” or that you wanted to share the “Sunshine Of Your Love,” but you may be looking at this differently than we are. Of course, “There Ain’t No Sunshine When You’re Gone,” but “Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying.”
If it remains cloudy were you are, don’t believe “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore.” Just keep telling yourself, “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me” and you will soon have your “Seasons In The Sun.” Just be sure to stay away from the “House Of The Rising Sun” and you will be fine.
So let me be your “Sunshine Superman” and offer my top 10 Sunshine Songs to brighten up the beginning of Spring:
10. You Are My Sunshine, The Pine Ridge Boys. This 1939 “standard” has been covered by so many artists it is hard to say where I heard it first. Originally performed as a country song, it has received a lot of musical treatments.
9. California Sun, The Rivieras. The 1961 song by Joe Jones became a big hit when The Rivieras covered it in 1964. The 1977 Ramones version also became a hit and showed up on various albums.
8. Walking On Sunshine, Katrina and the Waves. The 1985 hit was a consistent seller for the record company and pure gold for the artists who retained the publishing rights and songwriter royalties.
7. Soak Up The Sun, Sheryl Crow. It’s her only number one hit and you can probably sing along with the chorus. The 2002 release was written by Crow and Jeff Trott.
6. I’ll Follow The Sun, The Beatles. The Paul McCartney, John Lennon composition was written as early as 1960 but the Beatles hit was released in 1964 with lead vocals by McCartney.
5. We’ll Sing In The Sunshine, Gale Garnett. This happy pop tune was released in 1964 and won the Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Recording in 1965. Yes, it was the era for Folk Rock.
4. Good Day Sunshine, The Beatles There was no plan to add multiple Beatles songs. I made up a list and then gave them a ranking. This 1966 Lennon, McCartney composition also has McCartney on lead vocals. Paul played piano on the track and later overdubbed his bass part. I could not find a Beatles performance, but Sir Paul can still bring it.
3. Let The Sun Shine In, The 5th Dimension. The recording by the 60’s pop group is actually a medley of two songs from the musical, Hair. It was at the top of the charts for 6 weeks in 1969. Opening with “Aquarius,” the sound was sometimes called “Psychedelic Pop.”
2. Sunshine On My Shoulders, John Denver. Co-written and recorded by Denver for his 1971 album Poems, Prayers & Promises, it was released as a single in 1973. By early 1974 it reached number 1. When the album came out, I recall singing this song over and over with a friend. I think our performance may have been fueled by adult beverages. It will always hold great memories from a youth well spent.
1. Here Comes The Sun, The Beatles This time it is a George Harrison composition that brings The Beatles back to the list. Recorded in 1969 for the Abbey Road album, it was never released as a single. Nevertheless, the track received critical acclaim and has been played and downloaded often.
Click on any title to go to the You Tune video, or let all of these songs shine down on you from playlist here.
1969 – MY FAVORITE YEAR
This seemed like a good time to rerun this. My reblog function is still broken, so it’s copy and paste until I get it fixed!
1969 was the year I learned to fly. The world spun faster on its axis. Everything changed.
Neil Armstrong walked on the moon in July 1969. I watched it unfold. I was a new mommy with a 2 months old baby boy. Home with the baby and not working or in school, I had time to see it happen.
I saw Neil Armstrong walk on the moon. Imagine, a real live man on the moon!
We viewed it on CBS. It was obvious Walter Cronkite wanted to be up there too. Up there, with Neil and the rest of Apollo 11. He could barely control his excitement, almost in tears, his voice breaking with emotion.
The great Arthur C. Clarke was his guest for that historic broadcast. Neil Armstrong died last year. He had a good life. Unlike so many others who fell from grace, he remained an honorable man: a real American hero.
The view from the Apollo 11 (NASA)
How I envied him his trip to the moon. I always tell my husband that no man will ever take me away from him, but if the Mother Ship comes and offers me a trip to the stars, sorry bub, I’m outta here. I’m getting a bit long in the tooth, but if they could do it on Cocoon, maybe there’s time for me, too. Maybe Garry can come with me.
Woodstock was just a month away and there were rumors flying about this amazing rock concert that was going to happen upstate. I had friends who had tickets and were going. I was busy with the baby and wished them well.
There were hippies giving out flowers in the Haight-Ashbury area of San Francisco. But I didn’t envy them because I was happy that year, probably happier than I’d ever been and in some ways, happier than at anytime since.
I was young, still healthy. I believed we would change the world, end war, make the world a better place. I still thought the world could be changed. All we had to do was love one another and join together to make it happen. Vietnam was in high gear, but we believed it was going to end any day … and though we soon found out how terribly wrong we were, for a little bit of time, we saw the future brightly and full of hope.
I had a baby boy and I sang “Everything’s Fine Right Now” which I first hear sung by the Holy Modal Rounders at a local folk music club. They had been the stonedest group of people I’d ever met, but the song was a great lullaby and made my baby boy laugh.
It was the year of the Miracle Mets. I watched as they took New York all the way to the top. A World Series win. 1969. What a year. I rocked my son to sleep and discovered Oktoberfest beer. New York went crazy for the Mets. It should have been the Dodgers, but they’d abandoned us for the west coast.
I wore patchwork bell-bottom jeans and rose-tinted spectacles. I had long fringes on my sleeves and a baby on my hip.
Music was wonderful. How young we were! How sure we could do anything, everything.
We were going to end war … end THE war … right every wrong. As we found the peak, we would almost immediately drop back into a darker valley. But for a year, a happy year, the stars aligned and everything was good.
Decades passed; youth was a long time ago. The drugs we take control our blood pressure, not our state of consciousness. They aren’t any fun at all.
I worry about Social Security and Medicare and I know I’m not going to fix what’s wrong with the world. I’ve lived a lifetime. My granddaughter is barely younger than I was then.
I’ve remarried, lived in another country, owned houses, moved from the city to the country, and partied with a President … but 1969 remains my year.
