Lovely Day

Lovely Day" is a song by American soul and R&B singer Bill Withers. Written by Withers and Skip Scarborough, it was released on December 21, 1977, and appears on Withers's 1977 album Menagerie. Withers holds a sustained note towards the end which, at 18 seconds long, is one of the longest ever recorded on an American pop song. The song was listed at No. 402 on Rolling Stone's "Top 500 Best Songs of All Time" in 2021.[1] History Released as a single in late 1977, "Lovely Day" peaked at number 6 on the Billboard R&B chart and at number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US in early 1978.[2] It also made the Top 10 in the United Kingdom, where the song reached number 7 on the British single chart.[3] "Lovely Day" has been re-released as a single in the United Kingdom at least twice since the song's first chart run; in 1987 the original version charted again at number 92, while a remix done by Ben Liebrand, named the "Sunshine Mix", made the British Top 10 in 1988, rising to number 4.[3] This remix resulted in renewed enthusiasm for the Withers original, which incurred a surge in airplay into the early 1990s and came to firmly overshadow the radio presence of Liebrand's version. Public interest was again piqued in 1995, when "Lovely Day" was used in adverts for Tetley tea, again in 1999 for a Gap commercial directed by Hype Williams, and yet again in 2020 in ads for Good Morning Football on NFL Network, Allstate insurance TV commercial, as well as an ad for Pandora Jewelers. On January 20, 2021, the song was performed by Demi Lovato, with backing vocals from Lin-Manuel Miranda and several frontline healthcare workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as a part of the entertainment broadcast entitled Celebrating America following the inauguration of President Joe Biden.[4][5] Producer Clarence McDonald also arranged the original 1977 version of the song and played keyboards. Guitars were played by Ray Parker Jr., Jerry Knight played bass, and Russ Kunkel played drums. Toward the end of the song Withers holds a note for 18 seconds, the longest of any Top 40 hit in the United States.

[Verse 1] When I wake up in the morning, love And the sunlight hurts my eyes And something without warning, love Bears heavy on my mind [Chorus] Then I look at you And the world's alright with me Just one look at you And I know it's gonna be A lovely day (Lovely day, lovely day, lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day, lovely day, lovely day) A lovely day (Lovely day, lovely day, lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day, lovely day, lovely day) [Verse 2] When the day that lies ahead of me Seems impossible to face When someone else instead of me Always seems to know the way [Chorus] Then I look at you And the world's alright with me Just one look at you And I know it's gonna be A lovely day (Lovely day, lovely day, lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day, lovely day, lovely day) A lovely day (Lovely day, lovely day, lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day, lovely day, lovely day) [Verse 2] When the day that lies ahead of me Seems impossible to face When someone else instead of me Always seems to know the way [Chorus] Then I look at you And the world's alright with me Just one look at you And I know it's gonna be A lovely day (Lovely day, lovely day, lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day, lovely day, lovely day) A lovely day (Lovely day, lovely day, lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day, lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day, lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day, lovely day, lovely day) A lovely day (Lovely day, lovely day, lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day, lovely day, lovely day) A lovely day (Lovely day, lovely day, lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day, lovely day, lovely day) A lovely day (Lovely day, lovely day, lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day, lovely day, lovely day) A lovely day (Lovely day, lovely day, lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day, lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day, lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day)