Sunshine of your smile, The

Dear face that holds so sweet a smile for me,
Were you not mine, how dark the world would be!
I know no light above that could replace
Love's radiant sunshine in your dear, dear face.

Give me your smile, the love-light in your eyes,
Life could not hold a fairer Paradise!
Give me the right to love you all the while,
My world for ever, the sunshine of your smile!

Shadows may fall upon the land and sea,
Sunshine from all the world may hidden be;
But I shall see no cloud across the sun;
Your smile shall light my life, till life is done!

An early 2oth century popular ballad that was sung and recorded by number of artists in the period before World War I. It subsequently has become a bit of a standard, with versions by Django Reinhardt, Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra. In the pre war British Halls it was sung by, amongst others, the family trio Olga, Elga and Eli Hudson.

It was collected from one late 20th-century traditional singer, but is not perhaps widely sung in folk circles..

Here’s a version by Sinatra when he was with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra:

Sources:

• Entries in the Roud Indexes at the Vaughn Williams Memorial Library: https://archives.vwml.org/search/all:single[folksong-broadside-books]/0_50/all/score_desc/extended-roudNo_tr%3A23856
• Kilgarrif Sing Us
• Lyrics and sheet Music: Francis and Day’s 34th Annual, p4

Last Updated on March 29, 2023 by John Baxter | Published: March 29, 2023