![]() Outside North America, the song became a moderate hit, peaking at number 29 in the United Kingdom, number 44 in Australia and number 90 in Germany. "Sunny Came Home" also became a major hit in Canada, reaching number three on the RPM Top Singles chart for two weeks and peaking atop the RPM Adult Contemporary chart for three weeks. Colvin's record label did not plan to release the track as a retail single until it became an airplay favorite on contemporary hit radio as well as adult contemporary and adult alternative radio stations. "Sunny Came Home" is Colvin's only hit, peaking at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States and topped the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart for four weeks. Colvin's vocals span from F ♯ 3 to B 4 in the song. "Sunny Came Home" is written in the key of B minor (with its chorus in D major) in common time with a tempo of 84 beats per minute. The title of the album, A Few Small Repairs, also appears in the third line of the second verse of the song, "'It's time for a few small repairs,' she said." Count the years you always knew it / Strike a match go on and do it". The song's bright, calm and warming music, fronted by a distinctive mandolin strum, contrasts very sharply with the destructive lyrics, particularly the haunting bridge: "Get the kids and bring a sweater dry is good, and wind is better. Colvin has referred to the song as a "murder ballad," indicating that at least one arson attack had a fatal outcome. The title of the song comes from the opening lyrics. The only thing we're sure of is she escaped, but not without destroying the thing that almost destroyed her.The song tells the story of a woman named Sunny, returning to her hometown from (presumably) imprisonment or institutionalization, who burns down the homes of her enemies ("Sunny came home with a list of names") to avenge past offenses, real or imagined ("Sunny came home with a vengeance.") It is one of several "story songs" on A Few Small Repairs, a method of songwriting Shawn Colvin began experimenting with while writing for the album. It may also be molestation, bad memories of a hometown, or huge guilt over something. Granted, I also acknowledge that the problem may not have been an abusive husband (though it's the most likely, given that the song indicates she has kids). The last line is positive: ("She's out there on her own and she's alright") It's about finally asserting yourself and leaving all the things that hurt you. One thing the song only hints about though, is if whether she killed anyone in the process or not. ("Get the kids and bring a sweater, Dry is good and wind is better") She sets the house on fire, grabs her kids and runs away. Then one day after coming home from her latest stay at the hospital (for getting beaten up of course), she decides she's finally had enough. ("She says days go by I'm hypnotized, I'm walking on a wire, I close my eyes and fly out of my mind, Into the fire") ![]() On the outside everyone else just sees her as a meek non-person, but inside she's slowly going crazy. ![]() Religious perceptions that a woman is nothing without her man, parents worried more about looking bad to other people than their daughter's well-being, general red-neck chauvinism, etc. The problem might be compounded by small-town mentality as well. She's scared of him, yet she's more scared of how she (and her kids) will get by without him. ![]() Yet she hasn't left because it's the only world she knows. Here's how I see it: a mother in a small town getting beaten and probably raped regularly by her husband for years. The whole tone of the song is also filled with tension, unnerving, yet strangely cathartic. General CommentThe song is undoubtedly about escaping from domestic abuse, it's not metaphorical.
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