Lovely Day

Album

Menagerie

Label

Columbia Records

Genre

Funk

Composer(s)

Bill Wither;s;Skip Scarborough

Entered Chart

Dec 10, 1977

Peak Date

Feb 4, 1978

Released

December 21, 1977

Recorded

Unknown

Catalog #

Columbia 10627

B-Side

It Ain't Because Of Me Baby

Skip Scarborough was a songwriter and producer who worked with Earth, Wind & Fire, Patti Labelle, LTD, and many other R&B stars before his death in 2003. He wrote the music for this song, and was also the inspiration for the lyrics Withers came up with. In our interview with Bill Withers, he explained: "Skip was a very nice, gentle man. The way Skip was, every day was just a lovely day. He was an optimist. If I had sat down with the same music and my collaborator had been somebody else with a different personality, it probably would have caused something else to cross my mind lyrically. It was a combination of the music and the person and the ambiance in the room." Withers told Songfacts: "We're all sponges in a sense. You put us around very nice people, and the nice things come out in us. You put us around some jerks, and we practice being jerks. We all adjust. Did you ever notice the difference in the way you speak to your grandmother or your best contemporary friend? If I had sat down with the same music and my collaborator had been somebody else with a different personality, it probably would have caused something else to cross my mind lyrically." In 1999, this was used in a series of very popular commercials for The Gap, where it helped sell a lot of Khakis. Many people discovered the song because of the commercial. Near the end of the song, Withers holds a note for 18 seconds... "Lovely Daaaaaaaaay." This might be the longest held vocal note of any hit song. In 1992, a group called The Soul System remade this into a dance song that was used in the movie The Bodyguard. It wasn't the first time one of Withers' songs was made into a dance hit - in 1987 Club Noveau had a #1 hit with a cover of "Lean On Me." Artists who have covered this include Clarence Carter, Hootie & the Blowfish and Take 6. Luther Vandross also recorded it with Busta Rhymes on Vandross' last album Dance With My Father. LunchMoney Lewis reworked this as "It's Gonna Be A Lovely Day" for the 2019 movie The Secret Life of Pets 2.

When I wake up in the morning, love
And the sunlight hurts my eyes
And something without warning, love
Bears heavy on my mind

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)

When the day that lies ahead of me
Seems impossible to face
When someone else instead of me
Always seems to know the way

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)

When the day that lies ahead of me
Seems impossible to face
And when someone else instead of me
Always seems to know the way

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, lovely day)