Shine It on Me

(aka “You Might As Well Smile”)

words/music by Jimmy Webb • arranged/performed by Doug Howell
© Universal – Polygram International Pub Inc.

Favorite version: Art Garfunkel, Watermark, 1978

Notes

These next three songs are so resolute and positive and indefatigable that I’m hoping they’ll inspire you to forgive me for the previous two… This one’s a lot like the Serenity Prayer, I think—only a lot more personal. The plea starts out so deadpan that it lulls you into a false sense of blitheness. “You might as well smile…” No high-sounding motivations or promises, just “no pain gonna change what still remains.” In other words, you might as well, ’cause there’s nothing you can do about it anyway. But then the way it turns so surprisingly positive and personal at the end: “You might as well regain your lost serenity, serenity, then shine it on me.” I just love that. It just makes me glow all over—which, I guess, is the whole point of the song. (Nance, for some reason, I think of you a lot on this one.)

I love Glen Campbell’s version of this song, but I connect with Art’s version a little more. This arrangement is more like Art’s because of that, except that I include all the lyrics, which he doesn’t. (Just like the next song, I couldn’t bear to cut anything out.)

To “Lightning in a Bottle” →

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