Welcome to the Rewrite!!

So we were singing the other day, my girls and I...that's how this all began. Thanks to the beautiful comprehensiveness of the internet, it is easy to find three, four or more verses of some of our beloved classics. Who knew? Additionally, some of those verses are woefully outdated! Here's an example:

You Are My Sunshine (a lovely song to sing and play, until you get to verse 3)

"I'll always love you
And make you happy
If you will only say the same
But if you leave me
To love another
You'll regret it all some day"

Wow. Talk about payback. "My love, my heart grows with joy in your presence, but if you attempt to act in your own best emotional interest, you're in for a whooping." Word.

This particular relationship paradigm is not one that I promote for my daughters ("girls, nothing says true love like a tire slashing"), so I've decided to rewrite verse three to better reflect the social values of our time. Or really, just my own values, time having nothing to do with it. I give all due deference to verse one and two; at this juncture, I find them relatively non-offensive.

You Are My Sunshine (amended)

Verse 3.1

"And though, my dear, you

are meeting my needs,

I will respect you if you should leave,
Because your choice

to pursue your happiness

May or may not include me."

Nice, but not particularly illustrative....

Verse 3.2

"It is so sad that

my own self-image

is based in how you

may perceive me,

And so to lessen my co-dependence

I will attend group therapy."

Better, but perhaps there needs to be a little responsibility sharing; it takes two to tango, after all.

Verse 3.3

"My sick devotion

decries a pathos

deep and systemic, so I've surmised

If you're as great as

I seem to think, then

Your judgement's clearly compromised."

Enjoy the sing-along!!

Davis, J. and C. Mitchell. "You Are My Sunshine." Peer International Corporation, 1940.