"Sunshine" is a song by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

band

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whi ...

, written by

Steven Tyler Steven Victor Tallarico (born March 26, 1948), known professionally as Steven Tyler, is an American singer, best known as the lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the harmonica, piano, and percussion. ...

, Joe Perry, and

Marti Frederiksen Martin Harold "Marti" Frederiksen (born July 1, 1962) is an American songwriter, record producer, and musician. He writes and produces music primarily in rock, country, and pop. He is best known for his work with many artists and bands incl ...

. It was released in mid-

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

as a

promotional single A promotional recording, or promo, or plug copy, is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as ...

from the band's album ''

Just Push Play ''Just Push Play'' is the thirteenth studio album by American rock band Aerosmith, co-produced by song collaborators Marti Frederiksen and Mark Hudson and was released in March 6, 2001. The album's first single, " Jaded", became a Top 10 hit in ...

''. Aerosmith had to cancel a gig in

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on ...

in order to complete the filming of the music video for this song. The song's lyrics have an ''

Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatur ...

'' feel with such lyrics as "I followed Alice into wonderland", "Took to the hatter like a walk in the park", "I ate the mushroom and I dance with the queen", "I chased that rabbit up her Bodhi Tree" and "That caterpillar's tryin' to cop a plea". Also included are the lyrics "She's finer than a painted rose", which possibly refer to Disney's cartoon

adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the po ...

when the Queen's men try to paint the white roses red. The cover art was drawn by cartoonist

Larry Welz Lawrence Welz (born November 21, 1948) better known as Larry Welz, is an American cartoonist, who created Cherry Poptart (now known simply as Cherry (comics), Cherry). He was an early contributor to the underground comix movement in the San Franc ...

. "Sunshine" is also a street name for

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...

. However, the lyrics "Sunshine, the kind that everybody knows" may suggest that the song does not refer to LSD. It was the last Aerosmith original single released in a band's studio record until 2012's single " Legendary Child", although the 2002's "

Girls of Summer "Girls of Summer" is a single by American hard rock band Aerosmith. Released in 2002 as the only single from the band's 2002 greatest hits album, ''O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits'', the song was written by lead singer Steven Tyler, guitarist ...

" and 2006's " Devil's Got a New Disguise" singles respectively, would be released on compilation albums.

Music video

The music video directed by

Samuel Bayer Samuel David Bayer (born February 17, 1962) is an American visual artist, cinematographer, and commercial, music video and film director. Bayer was born in Syracuse, New York. He graduated from New York City's School of Visual Arts in 1987 with ...

, features several characters from the book, and Tyler portrays the

Mad Hatter The Hatter is a fictional character in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book '' Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and its 1871 sequel ''Through the Looking-Glass''. He is very often referred to as the Mad Hatter, though this term was never used by Ca ...

Track listing

*Promo CD: # "Sunshine (Radio Remix)" - 3:26

References

{{Authority control Aerosmith songs 2001 singles Songs written by Marti Frederiksen Songs written by Steven Tyler Songs written by Joe Perry (musician) Music based on Alice in Wonderland Music videos directed by Samuel Bayer Columbia Records singles 2001 songs