Queen Anne Hill - Seattle, Washington
Late July, 2010

THE OLDEST SONG IN THE WORLD

“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.”

There’s some confusion over exactly who wrote that song and when.
But there’s little doubt that everybody I know can sing at least that much.
To check my theory, I asked Elsa if she knew it.
(Elsa is the four-year-old blond dynamo who lives next door to me.)
“Yes! The sunshine song!” And she plunged right in.
(Elsa knows everything. That’s what she told me. “I go to school now!")
But I digress . . .

In June I officiated at a friend’s wedding in Moab, Utah.
The event was held in a red-rock alcove alongside the Colorado River.
We were surrounded by the geology of infinite time, with a great river flowing by, and friends and family gathered around to celebrate Love.
Elegant setting - strong vibes. Solid couple - been together ten years.

But we needed some wedding music.
I’ve learned that most people carry enough music inside them to provide for many occasions, and if asked, they will rally and perform in surprising ways.
So I explained what we needed and why. Of course! Can do! We rehearsed it twice. And then we processed up the trail to the wedding site singing the tune of the traditional march song of the bride - you know it, too:
“Here comes the bride: La la lala, La la lala” and so on . . .
Everybody there knew the tune and la-la-ed with enthusiasm.

On the other hand, I’ve found that most people don’t know the whole tune to the recessional song - the there-goes-the-bride song. “La la lala la la and . .?”
But they do know the tune and words to “You Are My Sunshine,” so after the ceremony we marched away back down the trail using it as a recessional.

Perfect. People belted it out like a fight song at a sporting event.
Sic ‘em Love!

Granted, the other verses to “You Are My Sunshine” are a bit morose - recounting lost and failed love, and though that is, unfortunately, the rest of the story of marriage about half the time, it seemed better at the wedding to just sing the one verse over and over and la-la in between. Stay hopeful.
So we did that.

It wasn’t a frivolous thing to do, either.
In a way “You Are My Sunshine” is a religious song - a folk hymn about heat and light and jubilation - comparing one’s Beloved to the creative and sustaining energy of the sun.

Sometime way, way, way back in human history some alpha person invented humming by running tones together. And later, when language developed, words were turned into song.
And it may just be possible that the first songs were about the sun and love.
Think about it.
Somebody wandered out of the darkness of the cave into a sunny day, thought about how good it felt, thought about how much that feeling was like the feeling for somebody else inside the cave, started humming and went back inside and sang their feelings to their beloved - something like “You are my sunshine.”

It’s a fundamental notion. We cannot survive well or long without the light of the sun outside or the inner light of feeling loved and beloved.

Why am I rambling around on the page with this notion?
It’s because of what happened to me today.
We’d had cold, clammy, cloudy mornings for more than a week.
This morning was clear, the sun was shining, and the moment I walked out into the yard I started singing “You Are My Sunshine” - in response to the day, to the moments of joy that spring up within me unexpectedly sometime, and to the thought of my companion making coffee in the kitchen.
I went back into the house to sing the song to her.