If I had a day that I could give you/
I’d give to you the day just like today.

John Denver is a great singer-songwriter that crossed genres. His sound is a mixture between folk, country and soft-rock. One of his favorite themes is the outdoors: he was an environmentalist before it was a thing. “Sunshine on my Shoulders” is a song about his love of the outdoors, but also his enjoyment of sharing special days with the ones he loves. This song celebrates the simple life and the joys of love and the environment.

The melody of “Sunshine on My Shoulders” is endearing, and Denver’s voice is smooth, happy and hopeful. Like most of his songs, it features him on the acoustic guitar, but “Sunshine” also has a nice bass accompanying it that plays a key part. I feel that this song lets us know a lot about Denver as a person. That is, the song seems personal to him and he is okay with telling us he is an emotional and sensitive person.

Sunshine on my Shoulders Lyrics

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy,
Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry.
Sunshine on the water looks so lovely,
Sunshine almost always makes me high.

If I had a day that I could give you,
I’d give to you the day just like today.
If I had a song that I could sing for you,
I’d sing a song to make you feel this way.

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy,
Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry.
Sunshine on the water looks so lovely,
Sunshine almost always makes me high.

If I had a tale that I could tell you,
I’d tell a tale sure to make you smile.
If I had a wish that I could wish for you,
I’d make a wish for sunshine for all the while.

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy,
Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry.
Sunshine on the water looks so lovely,
Sunshine almost all the time makes me high.
Sunshine almost always…

Songwriters: John Denver / Michael C Taylor / Richard L Dick Kniss