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<p><img src="https://www.songfacts.com/img-artalbums-145-9f7b958b49dec4b01b9b4c56e059dc80.png"></p><p><br></p><p><strong>Album:&nbsp;</strong>Jonathan Edwards (<a href="https://www.songfacts.com/browse/years/1971" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">1971</a>)</p><p><br></p><ul><li>Many listeners have found meaning in this song, with some believing that it was a repudiation of Christianity. So what did Edwards have in mind when he wrote it? He told Songfacts in 2013: "I used to get letters back in the day, letters from English classes and different science classes telling me about the deeper interpretations that they had come up with - the meaning of life, you name it. That was always entertaining. But what it has left me with is the wisdom to not answer the question, because everyone's interpretation is way more creative and interesting than my original impetus for the song. So you go with it."</li><li>This is the kind of song that only a struggling folk singer could write. Edwards was living in a kind of songwriter co-op in Boston when he came up with it. In this setup, each occupant had his own room surrounding a kitchen where they would write, perform, and critique each other's work. When he played this song at the table, Edwards didn't have a chorus written, so he made one up on the spot.</li><li><br></li><li>In our&nbsp;<a href="https://www.songfacts.com/blog/playingmysong/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">They're Playing My Song</a>&nbsp;feature,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.songfacts.com/blog/playingmysong/jonathan-edwards-sunshine" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Edwards explained</a>: "I just went, 'How much does it cost? I'll buy it.' I was talking about freedom and talking about authority, my constant questioning of authority. 'How much does it cost? I'll buy it? Time is all we've lost. I'll try it. He can't even run his own life, I'll be damned if he'll run mine.' That just came out as I was playing the song for these people."</li><li><br></li><li>One of the other writers in the room was Joe Dolce, who would reach #53 in 1981 with the novelty song "Shaddap You Face." Dolce told him the chorus made no sense, and that he should go back to his room and try again. Fortunately, Edwards ignored this advice.</li><li>Edwards recorded this out of necessity when one of the tracks he put down near the end of his 1970 sessions for the album, "Please Find Me," was accidentally erased. Instead of redoing that song, he did "Sunshine." Pleased with the results, he and the engineer overdubbed bass and added the drums the next day.</li></ul><p><br></p>