Monday, October 18, 2010

Keep on the Sunny Side of Life

I learned this lovely Carter Family classic from Lorre Wyatt in the 1980s. He recorded it on his Folk Legacy LP "Roots and Branches" I seem to recall. Lorre tells a great tale about the author Ida Blenkhorn, which involves a nurse pushing her patients around in a wheelchair. One young woman's only request was that they stick to the sunny side of the path. It apparently led to a great song!

There's a dark & a troubled side of life
There's a bright, there's a sunny side, too
Though we meet with the darkness and strife
The sunny side we also may view

[cho:] Keep on the sunny side, always on the sunny side,
Keep on the sunny side of life
It will help us everyday, it will brighten all the way
If we'll keep on the sunny side of life

Though a storm in its fury breaks today,
Crushing hopes that we cherish so dear;
Clouds and storms will, in time, pass away
The sun again will shine bright and clear.

Let us greet with the song of hope each day
Tho' the moment be cloudy or fair
As we walk let us clear a sunlit way
And hope other souls will travel there.

(Ida Blenkhorn, lyrics modified by Lorre Wyatt circa 1987)

No comments: