“You are my Sunshine” (Piper Stevens)

Title: You are my Sunshine

General Information about the Item:

Informant Data:

A.S. is an 18 year old female freshman on the Dartmouth Women’s Soccer team. She was born in Riverside, California, but lived in Las Vegas, Nevada for the majority of her life. A.S. was raised, along with her sister, by her mother Danielle and father Stephon, who are both business owners in Nevada. A.S. and her family practice Christianity, and her ethnicity is Hispanic and African American. In her free time, A.S. likes to play soccer and read, and in the future, she wants to be a trauma soldier in the military.

Contextual Data:

Social Context:

When A.S. was five years old, she went on vacation with her mom and aunt at the Grand Canyon. It was a windy day, and A.S. was wearing her favorite purple jacket, but she decided that she wanted to take it off. However, she was not paying attention to her surroundings, so as she was taking it off, her jacket flew over the edge of the canyon. A.S. immediately began to sob because she knew she was never going to be able to wear her favorite jacket again, and could not be calmed by her mom or her aunt. An old man saw this happen to A.S., so he came over to her and sang her the lullaby “You are my Sunshine.” She was surprisingly calmed down by his song, so her mom then sang it to her every time she became upset or before bed.

Cultural Context:

This lullaby helps a crying or upset child feel better by reminding them that they are special, loved, and needed by those around them. In American culture, the sun and sunshine are associated with positivity and happiness, so children want to be reminded that they are just like those things. It is normally sung to a child by an adult, and is used to put them in a good mood. It reminds the child that they are important in the adult’s life and is sung with a soft tone of voice, as another way to soothe the child. The adult wants the child to know how much they love them in hopes of calming them down, and the lullaby helps aid them when the child is inconsolable and does not want to listen.

Lullaby Text:

“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,

So please don’t take, my sunshine away”

Audio:

Informant’s Comments:

“This is a very common lullaby where I’m from, as many of my friends from home also sang the same lullaby when they were younger.”

Collector’s Comments:

I have heard this song when my aunt was singing to my baby cousins while they were upset.

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Collector: Piper Stevens

Tags:

Dartmouth Folklore Archive