You Are My Sunshine

You Are My Sunshine

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.

The other night, dear,

As I lay sleeping,

I dreamed I held you in my arms.

When I awoke, dear,

I was mistaken,

And I hung my head and cried.

(chorus)

I’ll always love you

And make you happy,

If you will only say the same,

But if you leave me

To love another,

You’ll regret it all some day.

(chorus)

You told me once, dear,

You really loved me,

And no one else could come between,

But now you’ve left me

And love another,

You have shattered all my dreams.

(chorus)

Louisiana, my Louisiana,

the place where I was born.

White fields of cotton,

Green fields clover,

the best fishing

and long tall corn.

(chorus)

Crawfish gumbo and jambalaya,

the biggest shrimp and sugar cane,

the finest oysters,

and sweet strawberries

from Toledo Bend to New Orleans.

(chorus)

Origin

“You Are My Sunshine” is widely attributed to singer and former Louisiana governor, Jimmie Davis, who first recorded the song in 1940. Davis had purchased it from Paul Rice of The Rice Brothers Gang, who had recorded the song themselves in September, 1939. However, the song can be traced back even earlier to a recording by The Pine Ridge Boys in August, 1939, and ultimately to Oliver Hood of LaGrange, Georgia, who apparently performed the song in LaGrange in 1933. Today, the song is widely recognized and has been recorded by performers Bing Crosby, Gene Autry, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan and Aretha Franklin, among others. It is also one of the official songs of the state of Louisiana.