Seasons and Moods

“On the Sunny Side of the Street” – Weather Wednesdays

randydafoe14 Comments

Every Wednesday I will pick some original weather-related titles and list a few covers. I will try and follow the most covered songs of all time list and pluck out the applicable titles, next on the list is the 96th most covered song of all time.

Ted Lewis and His Band had the first recording in 1930.

Grab your coat and get your hat, leave your worry at the doorstep
Just direct your feet to the sunny side of the street
Can’t you hear that pitter pat and that happy tune is your step
Life can be so sweet on the sunny side of the street

I used to walk in the shade with those blues on parade
But I’m not afraid ’cause this rover, crossed over

If I never had a cent I’ll be as rich as Rockefeller
Gold dust at my feet on the sunny side of the street

With those blues on parade
Because this rover, it crossed over

If I never had a cent I’ll be as loaded as old Rockefeller
With that gold dust ’round my feet
On the sunny side of the street
On the side, at that side of the street that is sunny

“On the Sunny Side of the Street” is From the Broadway musical Lew Leslie’s International Revue from 1930. Music written by Jimmy McHugh and Lyrics written by Dorothy Fields. The pair wrote the even more successful “I Can’t Give You Anything but Love (Baby)” that has 836 versions.

Dorothy Fields is the most recorded woman songwriter with the most artists and the most versions, by a fair margin over the #2, Carole King. It has become both an American Standard vocal song and a Jazz Instrumental Standard, with 760 versions.

On the sunny side of the street, On the side, at that side of the street that is sunny. It means now what it meant back then, to be on the “sunny side’ of anything, is a good thing. You can leave your troubles behind if you just walk on the sunny side, would if life were so simple.

Tommy Dorsey with The Clarke Sisters in 1945.

Not a big chart-topping song once again, as is not uncommon for Standards. Tommy Dorsey and The Sentimentalists (Clarke Sisters), reached #16 and The Pied Pipers #17, both in 1945.

The first version to come up on my YouTube search was Frank Sinatra from 1961.

14 thoughts on ““On the Sunny Side of the Street” – Weather Wednesdays”

  1. To add to the ‘technology’ comments, or to go off on a slight tangent, listen to them words as well as the music the lyrics have a very old timey feel to them. To me they conjure up college boys in bow ties and girls in cloche hats riding tipsily in the rumble seat of the ol’ jalopy after dropping in to some gin joint/speakeasy. Very Depression era.

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  3. Dorothy Fields the most recorded female songwriter ever, that really surprised me, I assumed it would be Carole King, probably followed by Joni Mitchell. A ton of sun songs around – ‘Sunshine’ by Jonathan Edwards, ‘Sunny Days’ by Lighthouse, ‘Here comes the Sun’ by the Beatles (as well as ‘Sun King’), ‘Sunshine on my shoulder’ by john Denver, and on and on. Pretty good theme for a song I guess

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    • Dorothy wrote a number of standards like “The Way You Look Tonight” so she wins for number of covers and Carole is second overall and #1 for song titles. So you were not far off.

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