Sunshine On My Shoulders

John Denver wrote this song on an early spring day in Minnesota when the rain was gently falling. He found himself looking forward to spending more time outdoors and enjoying the sunshine. He said of the song, “On one level it was about the virtues of love. On another, more deeply felt level, it reached for something the whole world could embrace.” This song first appeared on John Denver’s 1971 album Poems, Prayers & Promises. Denver was a struggling singer/songwriter at the time who was enjoying his first solo hit “Take Me Home Country Roads,” which was released a few months before the album and was climbing the charts. Over the next few years, Denver found an audience with his heartwarming, spiritual songs that dealt with finding pleasure in the simple things. “Sunshine” was revived in 1973 when it was used as the B-side of Denver’s single “I’d Rather Be a Cowboy,” which reached #62 in the US. Later that year, “Sunshine On My Shoulders” was issued as an A-side single, and for a week in late March/early April 1974, it was the #1 song in America. Seems the United States was in a kinder, happier mood at the time, as the next #1 was “Hooked On A Feeling” by Blue Swede. This song got a big boost when it was used in a November 1973 made-for-TV movie called Sunshine, a weeper about a woman dying of cancer who recorded messages for her family in her final days. The concept was used in a spin-off series the next year, also called Sunshine. Denver said of the original TV movie: “It was the true story of Lyn Helton, an incredibly courageous lady who chose to live her short life to the fullest even though she knew she would die of a rare bone cancer in a matter of months. It seems that in the last year of her life she found some happiness in my music. I was most honored to have my songs used as part of that television show.” This was used in the 1994 episode of The Simpsons called “Bart of Darkness.” It also appeared in a 2005 episode of the show Cold Case. Denver wrote this song with his lead guitarist Mike Taylor and bass player Richard Kniss. Taylor also co-wrote “Rocky Mountain High” with Denver.