We'll Sing in the Sunshine

"We'll Sing in the Sunshine" is a 1964 hit song written and recorded by Gale Garnett which reached No. 2 in Canada,[1] and No. 4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week ending 17 October 1964.[2] It also enjoyed success on easy listening and country music radio stations, spending seven weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart[3] and No. 42 on the country chart. The Cash Box Top 100 ranked "We'll Sing in the Sunshine" at No. 1 for the week of 31 October 1964, and it also reached No. 1 in Garnett's native New Zealand that November.[4] In Australia, "We'll Sing in the Sunshine" afforded Garnett a Top Ten hit with a No. 10 peak in October 1964. Garnett's sole Top 40 hit, "We'll Sing in the Sunshine" won the Grammy Award for Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording in 1965.

"We'll Sing in the Sunshine"
Single by Gale Garnett
from the album My Kind of Folk Songs
B-side"Prism Song"
ReleasedJuly 1964
Recorded1964
GenreFolk
Length2:54
LabelRCA Victor
Songwriter(s)Gale Garnett
Producer(s)Andy Wiswell

The song was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2015.[5]

Lyrics

In the song, a woman tells her would-be lover that she does not believe in long-term relationships. She says she will give him a year, then leave him, and assures him he will look back fondly on their year together.[6]

Chart history

Cover versions

In the UK, "We'll Sing in the Sunshine" was covered by The Lancastrians in a version produced by Shel Talmy and featuring guitar work from both Jimmy Page and Big Jim Sullivan.[17] It charted at No. 44 in the UK in December 1964.[18][19] Mark Wynter had a non-charting UK single release of "We'll Sing in the Sunshine" in 1966. Sonny & Cher recorded the song for their 1967 album, In Case You're in Love, and Wanda Jackson covered it on her 1969 album The Happy Side of Wanda.

"We'll Sing in the Sunshine" was a minor C&W hit in 1970 for LaWanda Lindsey, reaching No. 63, serving as the title cut for Lindsey's album.

Helen Reddy remade the song, with Kim Fowley producing, for her May 1978 album release We'll Sing in the Sunshine with the track being released as advance single on 28 March, with a special 1 March advance release in Hawaii, in hopes a new single release from Reddy would foment interest in the singer's high-profile Easter Sunday (26 March) Sheraton Waikiki shows, and also that a "sunshine" song might be afforded an early breakout in a tropical region.[20][21] The single failed to arouse any evident Top 40 radio interest, becoming the first lead single from a Helen Reddy album to fall short of the Hot 100 in Billboard: "We'll Sing in the Sunshine" afforded Reddy her last Top 20 ranking on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart.[22] Reddy's live recording of "We'll Sing in the Sunshine" was featured on her concert album Live in London recorded at the Palladium in May 1978.[23] In 1984, Dolly Parton sang the song on her album of covers, The Great Pretender, released by RCA Records.[24] It was one of her last records with RCA.

See also

References
  1. "1964's Biggest Canadian Hits". Musicanada.wordpress.com. March 13, 2011.
  2. Whitburn, Joel (1985). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits. Billboard. p. 135.
  3. Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–2001. Record Research. p. 99.
  4. Flavour of New Zealand, 5 November 1964
  5. "1964 pop-folk ballad "We'll Sing in the Sunshine" inducted into the CSHF | CSHF". Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. 2015-12-14. Retrieved 2019-05-18.
  6. "We'll Sing in the Sunshine Lyrics". Lyrics on Demand. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  7. "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1965-01-11. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
  8. "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1964-10-19. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
  9. Flavour of New Zealand, 5 November 1964
  10. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990, ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  11. Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–2001. Record Research. p. 99.
  12. Cash Box Top 100 Singles, October 31, 1964
  13. "Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. 1964-12-30. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
  14. "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1964-06-24. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
  15. Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–2001. Record Research. p. 197.
  16. Musicoutfitters.com
  17. Unterberger, Richie. Jimmy's Back Pages: The Early Years at AllMusic
  18. We'll Sing in the Sunshine – The Lancastrians at AllMusic
  19. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 312. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  20. The Honolulu Advertiser, 1 March 1978, "Hawaii Report" by George Deacon, p. A3
  21. The Honolulu Advertiser, 28 March 1978, "Helen Reddy: thrilling & stable" by David Harada, p. C-2
  22. "Helen Reddy Songs ••• Top Songs / Chart Singles Discography". Musicvf.com. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  23. Record World Vol 36 #163 (27 May 1978) "England" by Philip Palmer p. 79
  24. "Original versions of We'll Sing in the Sunshine by Dolly Parton". Secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
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