This song appears on the surface to be a loving lullaby, but there’s a story of unrequited love beneath the surface.
“You Are My Sunshine” is just one of the numerous songs that came about before modern recording technology, the music industry and copyright laws. This makes it hard to discern the lyrical origins of this type of song. With its various versions from a plethora of artists, the meaning of the song has transformed over time. Its meaning also tends to shift depending on the age demographic of the target audience.
Easy to miss the deeper meaning of “You Are My Sunshine,” particularly if it’s your first exposure to the tune was as a children’s song, which is a highly common experience. If you’ve only heard the chorus, the song takes a much lighter tone. It sounds far more loving and sentimental, making it easy to imagine a parent using it to sing their child to sleep. But the verses of “You Are My Sunshine” tell a different story that is more complicated and somewhat darker.
The writing credit of the song is highly disputed and still unknown. It was named Louisiana’s official state song in 1977.
A Deceptively Happy Chorus
Taken on its own, the chorus doesn’t seem to introduce any conflict to the story yet. However, once you know about the bigger picture from the rest of the verses, the narrator’s fear of losing their “sunshine” may suggest that there’s trouble already:
“You are my sunshine / My only sunshine / You make me happy / When skies are grey / You’ll never know, dear / How much I love you / Please don’t take my sunshine away”
As the verses play out, it clearly becomes a tale of a love that goes unrequited:
“The other night, dear / As I lay sleeping / I dreamed I held you / In my arms / When I awoke, dear / I was mistaken / So I hung my head and I cried”
The narrator expresses grief that the relationship wasn’t what they thought it was, and they’re sad that it seems to be over.
“I’ve always loved you / And made you happy / And nothing else could come between / But now you’ve left me / To love another / You have shattered all of my dreams”
These lyrics explicitly play out the lost affection and paint a picture of a love triangle. The song’s narrator expresses their heartbreak over the unrequited love.
Several Verses To Choose From
In certain versions of “You Are My Sunshine,” those first two lines are substituted for:
“You told me once dear / You really loved me / That no one else could come between”
Some artists have added their own twist and utilized different verses of the myriad that have come and gone with the countless versions. Johnny Cash and Ray Charles play out the full story more or less, while the more standard and child-friendly versions like the one by Christina Perri stick to the happy chorus. The song has been featured in a wide variety of films, notably the Coen Brothers’ “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”
Lyrics
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 other night, dear
As I lay sleeping
I dreamed I held you
In my arms
When I awoke, dear
I was mistaken
So I hung my head and I cried
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
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Jimmie Davis
you are my sunshine lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
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