Thursday, April 11, 2024

Keep on the Sunny Side - The Carter Family

Keep on the Sunny Side - The Carter Family 
2:53
single, 1928
Written by Ada Blenkhorn and J. Howard Entwisle, 1899

I know this song from the version by the Whites on the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack.  The Carters' version is probably definitive, with brash down-home vocals, harmonies, and minimal guitar accompaniment.  Ada Blenkhorn, the lyricist, was inspired by a phrase used by her nephew, who was disabled and always wanted his wheelchair pushed down "the sunny side" of the street.  The lyrics are written in the poetic syntax of hymns ("Tho' the storm in its fury break today / Crushing hopes that we cherished so dear").  In the Carters' countrified accents, "clear" comes out as "clurr."

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