Everybody Loves the Sunshine
“Feel what I feel, when I feel what I feel, what I’m feeling...”
Whether we realize it or not, the change of seasons can have a great impact on our everyday lives more than we know. It’s something I think about the older I get when summer comes to an end, fall begins, and then it’s abruptly winter. I am less of myself and I tend to take on wanting to be like a turtle and retreat inside. And then comes the sun. Its warm rays pull me out of my metaphorical shell and my outlook is different. It’s actually harder to feel down this time of year - the spring cusp of summer. How can I when the sun is out and the temperatures are warmer and the days are longer? It feels like nature’s gift and a very comforting hug. So when earlier this month I was reminded of the 50th anniversary of Everybody Loves the Sunshine, the classic jazz album by Roy Ayers Ubiquity, I smiled and started to think about the feeling of being in the sunshine. If you’re not familiar with Roy Ayers, you should be. He’s what you can call a musician’s favorite musician, as his work has been sampled over 100 times. His instrument of choice, the vibraphone – where every note is like a joyful lullaby, wrapping you in a warm hug. The album itself is just a touch under 40 minutes and the most popular song, the title track, includes the instruments from the vibraphone, piano, the electric piano, synthesizer, some percussion, and vocals by Mr. Ayers and Debbie Darby, who he affectionately called, Chicas. In this 2017 Guardian article, he shared, “I was recording at Electric Lady in New York, which had been Jimi Hendrix’s studio. It was a beautiful, hot, sunny day and I just got this phrase in my head: “Everybody loves the sunshine.” I started singing: “Feel what I feel, when I feel what I feel, what I’m feeling.” Then I started thinking about summer imagery: “Folks get down in the sunshine, folks get brown in the sunshine, just bees and things and flowers.” The song is three minutes and fifty-nine seconds of trippy good vibes. It’s one of those songs you actually want to play on a loop because it’s terribly hard to not “feel what he’s feeling” when you’re listening to Everybody Loves the Sunshine. And it’s the inspiration for what pushed me out of my self-imposed hiding and brought me back here.
Right after The Met’s chaos, I snuck off to Venice for the 61st Biennale and got to see Lorna Simpson’s exhibit, Third Person, at Palazzo Grassi. While standing in front of this group of her work in the exhibit, I was moved to tears looking at these mysterious women. Who are or were they? What did they do? Did they see their own beauty the way I see it? And then I was comforted by Lorna’s use of yellow for this image. Like true to the color of yellow, its meaning symbolizes joy, happiness, optimism and the warmth of the sun.
Also this month, I visited West Palm Beach for my cousin’s high school graduation and while I was there, I got to check out the Norton Museum to see Danielle McKinney’s exhibition, Shelter, which was absolutely incredible. Partly indescribable because her work is so special, you get lost in the emotion each piece conveys, along with her beautiful, yet complex and mysterious ladies she paints. Towards the end of what happens to be her largest exhibition to date, I got to see with my own eyes, Yesterday, 2025; which also reminded me of being wrapped in sunshine. (If you’re in NYC, there’s another exhibition on view for Danielle Mckinney, Forest for the Trees, here.)
Mr. Ayers passed away last year at the age of 84, but under the Roy Ayers Ubiquity umbrella he leaves behind a plethora of albums that channel nothing but good vibrations. Ironically, the album, Vibrations, also released in 1976, is another favorite.
Here’s an edit of some lovely things I’ve seen that invoke the joyfulness of the sun.
Cheers to longer days, hot weather, and the beautiful rays of sunshine. Don’t forget your sunscreen! For more Roy Ayers, watch his Tiny Desk!
xxo Kia
P.S. - To those of you who haven’t given up on me and this project, I thank you endlessly.
Love this song and this happy edit :)