| "Sitting on Top of the World" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Single by Mississippi Sheiks | |
| B-side | "Lonely One in This Town" |
| Released | 1930 |
| Recorded | February 17, 1930 |
| Genre | Country blues |
| Length | 3:10 |
| Label | Okeh |
| Songwriter(s) | Walter Vinson, Lonnie Chatmon |
"Sitting on Top of the World" (also "Sittin' on Top of the World") is a country blues song written by Walter Vinson and Lonnie Chatmon. They were core members of the Mississippi Sheiks, who first recorded it in 1930. Vinson claimed to have composed the song one morning after playing at a white dance in Greenwood, Mississippi.[1] It became a popular crossover hit, and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008.[2]
"Sitting on Top of the World" has become a standard of traditional American music.[3] The song has been widely recorded in a variety of different styles – folk, blues, country, bluegrass, rock – often with considerable variations and/or additions to the original verses. The lyrics of the original song convey a stoic optimism in the face of emotional setbacks, and the song has been described as a "simple, elegant distillation of the Blues". In 2018, it was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[4]
- ^ Ginell, Cary; Brown, Roy Lee (1994). Milton Brown and the Founding of Western Swing. Champaign, Illinois: University of Illinois Press. p. 284. ISBN 0-252-02041-3.
- ^ "Grammy Hall of Fame: "Sittin' on Top of the World" – The Mississippi Sheiks, Okeh (1930)". The Recording Academy. 2008. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
- ^ Herzhaft, Gerard (1992). "Sitting on Top of the World". Encyclopedia of the Blues. Fayetteville, Arkansas: University of Arkansas Press. p. 470. ISBN 1-55728-252-8.
- ^ "National Recording Registry Reaches 500". Library of Congress. Retrieved March 21, 2018.