On the Sunny Side

It isn't the most innovative. It isn't the most technically spectacular. But  every time I hear Tommy Dorsey's version of "On the Sunny Side of the Street", I feel completely at ease. Its the quintessential feel-good swing song. The melodic riffs and punchy brass of its first half are great in their own right, but once those chorus gals come up on the second half, you just get carried along. It helps that their four-part 40s-style harmonies are some of the tightest I've ever heard.  I know its corny as all hell, but you can't help but feel the kind of hopeful outlook many Americans felt as we were getting out of WWII. Other countires have had bouts of optimism, but few really felt as confident as we did in the immediate post-war years. Of course, it couldn't last. I'm happy now to be living in a time when technology (internet) and certain politicians (Obama) are once again giving us a "yes we can" attitude, but you won't find songs like this coming out anytime soon. Only through their self-contained cultural products, like this song, can we vicariously live through the past. Thank goodness for youtube.