Sunshine on his shoulders made him happy? I don't get it. Really, I don't.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

My theory is that he wrote the song about another body part...and decided it was inappropriate, maybe wouldn't get airplay, so he fired up a bowl of hash and worked his way down the list of 2-syllable body parts. "Shoulders" seemed harmless, even if it didn't make a friggin' lick of sense, but when you're high, you don't really care about who else "gets it."

It was easy to change the word because it came in the middle of the line, and as a result, didn't have to rhyme with SQUAT. That's my theory, I stand by it.

:tinfoilhat:

And he DID smoke hash. There may not be any audible evidence of it in the songs, but he bragged to "People" magazine that he liked to smoke hash and mow his lawn in the nude. I wouldn't make that crap up, people.

But that "Shoulders" song...THAT one came after a bowl of SOMETHING. I'm pretty ambivalent about ANYTHING on my shoulders, unless it's a huge friggin' CONDOR or something that could carry me off to its nest. THEN I'm takin' NOTICE.

:evilgrin:

[LeighAnn]

1. Come on now

I'm a female, so I can't attest to what it must be like to be ouside without a shirt on a sunny day.

But many's the time I've worn the sleeveless in the sunshine and thrown my head back and soaked in the sun while playing in my mind the words of that song...

Good for John Denver for being a partier and being proud of it. Sorry it ended for him like it did.

But if you haven't had one of those "Sunshine on My Shoulders" moments, I'd suggest you go have one, before it's too late to do it in 2004 in your part of the world.

[LeighAnn]

2. On second thought...

Maybe "Sunshine" was his girlfriend...

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

8. Naughty! This is a CLEAN thread! Now you've done it...

:spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank:

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

6. It's just the "shoulders" part.

Actually, I laughed when I first read the lawn-mowing hash anecdote...it made Denver seem more human and down-to-earth to me.

I had two ex-girlfriends...one listened to John Denver approximately 95% of the time.

The other listened to Barry Manilow approximately 95% of the time.

Smart men, foolish choices. I guess I still hold a grudge after the hundreds of hours of "Sunshine On My Shoulders" and "Copacabana."

:evilgrin:

Time to go work on that Manilow thread..."with you, I could bring out, all the love that I had, with you, there's a heaven, so earth ain't so bad..."

Yeah...I'm READY for the Manilow thread.

:evilgrin:

[The_Casual_Observer]

3. Cliff De Young did a nice version of this in the TV movie

"Sunshine" in the early 70's before Denver's version was a hit.
It was supposed to be a sad song.

[Tabasco_Dave]

12. The movie Sunshine

Was a true story about a mother with terminal cancer. She had a baby daughter and she wrote journals and made tape recordings so her daughter would remember her. I had to read the book in high school and i also had to listen to real recordings of her in class. The tapes where very sad and sometimes i wanted to cry but i was Mr macho heavy metal dude so I couldn't. They showed the movie in class and Sunshie On My Shoulders was the title song of the movie.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

4. I think sunshine AND shoulders was changed from what he

wrote when he was stoned, so there.

I have substituted many words in place of them over the years, as I am sure others have as well.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

9. Yeah, a great "how quick can we get this thread locked" thread...

Fill in the blanks:

" " on my " " makes me " "

:evilgrin:

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

10. This is why I shied away from specifics, as you can see

O thee of dirty mind.

[camby]

5. It's not the "sunshine on my shoulders" bit that bites

it's the "makes me happy". ick. Line may have been hash inspired, maybe not. There was a time when the guy could've written the stupidest lyric in history and folks would've lapped it up. Could've just been laziness.

[tridim]

7. All around the campfire

and everybody's hiiiiiii-ighhhhhhhhhh! Rocky mountain high.

No drug reference there.. :hippie: :shrug:

[BlueJazz]

11. I thought he was talking about LSD as in..

..."Orange Sunshine" and the Shoulders as in a Heavy weight upon them.

Soooo...it would mean "Orange Sunshine (is) on my Shoulders (I'm hooked on it and it's a heavy load) but by God..It makes me Happy.

Excuse me...My hand seems to be turning the most Bee-U-tiful shade of Purple..