May 9, 2013 (Thursday)
“Please don’t take my sunshine away” — Jimmie Davis
On this day in 1944, Jimmie Davis became Governor of Louisiana. He served two terms, 1944-1948 and 1960-1964. He wrote the song, “You Are My Sunshine,” and was well-known for recording songs, both religious and secular.
He was born September 11, 1899 and died November 5, 2000 at the age of 101. No governor has lived longer. His popularity was nationwide and he made recordings until he was in his nineties. He is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.
He was raised in poverty, the son of sharecroppers, and had no bed until he was nine years old. He earned a degree from a Baptist college–Louisiana College in Pineville, and also a Master’s Degree from LSU. He was a college professor in the late 1920’s.
He made 40 albums of music, many of them Southern gospel, and was president of the Gospel Music Association for a year. He was known as, “The Singing Governor.” His, “You Are My Sunshine,” was made the state song of Louisiana in 1977.
I remember singing, “You Are My Sunshine” for a family gathering when I was six years old, in 1937, seven years before Jimmie Davis became governor. It was a very popular song for a very long time, and is instantly recognized today wherever it is sung.
Devotional Thought: Quick: name a governmental leader in the Bible who was also a wonderful poet and musician. You guessed it; it was King David. Although known in his own time primarily as King of Israel, perhaps we know him better through the Book of Psalms in our Bibles. God called David “a man after my own heart,” meaning that David saw things as God saw them. David sinned and suffered for it, but his faith in God never wavered. Many who followed him on the thrones of Israel and Judah turned to idols, but David’s faith was always in the one true God that we serve today. Here is David’s version of “You Are My Sunshine:” “The LORD is my light and my salvation– whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life– of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1). Dear Lord, you are my sunshine…and so much more!