Light of a Clear Blue Morning


"Light of a Clear Blue Morning" is a song written and recorded by American entertainer Dolly Parton. It first appeared on her 1977 New Harvest...First Gathering album, and provided a top twenty country music hit for her as a single. As Parton has told a number of interviewers over the years, the song came out of the pain from her break with longtime musical and business partner Porter Wagoner. Parton left Wagoner's band in 1974, in an effort to aim her career in a more mainstream pop direction; Wagoner responded by taking legal action, and the next couple of years were reportedly painful for both performers. According to the unauthorized 1978 biography, Dolly, by Alanna Nash, "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" was written as Parton felt the figurative clouds lifting, as the fruits of her sacrifices of the previous few years were becoming apparent.
Released as a single from New Harvest - First Gathering in March 1977, the song just missed the top ten on the U.S. country charts, peaking at number 11.
Parton would rerecord the song to include in her 1992 film Straight Talk; for this recording, she changed the lyrics of verse two. A third recording of it appeared on an album of spirituals Parton released in 2003 entitled For God and Country.
Glen Campbell covered the song on his 1991 album Unconditional Love. The Wailin' Jennys covered the song on their 2017 album Fifteen.

Critical reception

Mark Deming of Allmusic declared "Light of a Clear Blue Morning, is a sophisticated piece of adult contemporary songcraft".

Chart performance