SITTING ON TOP OF THE WORLD

“Sitting on Top of the World” (also rendered as “Sittin’ on Top of the World”) is a folk-

blues song written by Walter Vinson (also known as Walter Jacobs) and Lonnie Chatmon,

core members of the Mississippi Sheiks, a popular country blues band of the 1930s.

Walter Vinson claimed to have composed “Sitting on Top of the World” one morning

after playing a white dance in Greenwood, Mississippi. However, the melody was almost

certainly taken from Tommy Johnson. Victor Records, the copyright holders of Johnson’s

‘Big Road Blues’, sued OKeh Records and settled out of court. The song was first

recorded by the Mississippi Sheiks in 1930 and became a popular cross-over hit for the

band, and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008.

Sitting on Top of the World” has become a standard of traditional American music. 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 convey a stoic optimism in the face of emotional set-backs and the

song has been described as a “simple, elegant distillation of the Blues”.

Mississippi river, so big and wide

Blonde-headed woman on the other side

Now she’s gone, gone, gone and I don’t worry

‘Cause I’m sittin’ on top of the world

I worked all summer, spring and fall

Blonde-headed woman, she’s the cause of it all

Now she’s gone, gone, gone and I don’t worry

‘Cause I’m sittin’ on top of the world

Saw her in Dallas, in El Paso

So come back baby, I need you so

Now she’s gone, gone, gone and I don’t worry

‘Cause I’m sittin’ on top of the world

Mississippi river, so big and wide

Blonde-headed woman on the other side

Now she’s gone, gone, gone and I don’t worry

‘Cause I’m sittin’ on top of the world

Banjo Mountain