John Denver - Sunshine On My Shoulders
John Denver - Sunshine On My Shoulders


John Denver - Sunshine On My Shoulders Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Poems, Prayers & Promises
Released: 1971

Sunshine On My Shoulders Lyrics


Sunshine On My Shoulders makes me happy
Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry
Sunshine on the water looks so lovely
Sunshine almost always makes me high

If I had a day that I could give you
I'd give to you the day just like today
If I had a song that I could sing for you
I'd sing a song to make you feel this way

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy
Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry
Sunshine on the water looks so lovely
Sunshine almost always makes me high

If I had a tale that I could tell you
I'd tell a tale sure to make you smile
If I had a wish that I could wish for you
I'd make a wish for sunshine for all the while

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy
Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry
Sunshine on the water looks so lovely
Sunshine almost all the time makes me high
Sunshine almost always

Writer/s: TAYLOR, MICHAEL C. / KNISS, DICK / DENVER, JOHN / KNISS, DICK / TAYLOR, MICHAEL C.
Publisher: Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC, Reservoir One Music, RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Sunshine On My Shoulders
  • 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 February 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, which was 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.
  • 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.