Sunshine (Jonathan Edwards song)
song by Jonathan Edwards
"Sunshine" is a folk rock song from 1971 by Jonathan Edwards, released as the first single from his debut album Jonathan Edwards. The single reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on January 15, 1972, and earned a gold record.
"Sunshine" was not originally planned for release, but when an engineer accidentally erased the master of a track called "Please Find Me" near the end of sessions for the album, "Sunshine" was used to fill the hole.
The song was released as a single and first gained popularity on Boston radio, before going nationwide. Regarding its success, Edwards stated, "It was just at the time of the Vietnam War and Nixon. It was looking bad out there. That song meant a lot to a lot of people during that time—especially me."
"Sunshine" bears some melodic resemblance to the traditional country blues song "Green Rocky Road", popularized in the 1960s by folk singers Len Chandler and Dave van Ronk.
Charts
Jonathan Edwards recorded and released a bluegrass version of "Sunshine" (along with an entire album) with the band The Seldom Scene.
Covers
In 1980, Juice Newton scored a top-40 hit, peaking at No.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Sunshine (Jonathan Edwards song)” is song by Jonathan Edwards. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Sunshine, Jonathan and Edwards, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “song by Jonathan Edwards” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7641422. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1971, 1972 and 1980.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
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This entry incorporates text from “Sunshine (Jonathan Edwards song)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.