This country song was first recorded by The Pine Ridge Boys (Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell) in 1939 but has become so well known since then – having been sung and recorded by over 400 artists – that it has become embedded in popular culture.
This simple song, so loved by children, was easy to recite, but both poignant and uplifting in equal measure, which is why it was chosen by the teachers of a day care centre in Moore, Oklahoma to sing to the children in their care when they knew tragedy was about to strike.
Moore is located in Tornado Alley and on that fateful day in May 2013, a huge tornado had formed, earlier in the day than people believed was usual (at the time people wrongly believed storms like this only hit in the evening), and began bearing down upon the town while the day care centre was still full with children. There was no storm shelter in the building, and no time to evacuate. In this episode of Soul Music, writer Holly Bailey, who grew up in Moore, describes the tornado which began life as a “flimsy little cloud… and then suddenly it turned into this massive tornado that became almost a mile wide with winds that were over 200 miles an hour”. She adds how terrifying the sound and fury of a massive tornado like this is, and how it can rumble like a huge freight train as it approaches.
The day care centre was in its direct path, so the teachers began to sing You Are My Sunshine with their small community of children to try and allay their fears and stay upbeat, repeating it over and over until the storm hit – like a mantra to ward off evil. Miraculously, everyone in the day care centre survived, despite the building itself being demolished and the town devastated, but tragically the tornado claimed 25 lives across the rest of the community.
