The song Whoopi Goldberg couldn’t live without
Perhaps one of Hollywood’s most beloved actors, the natural charm and affability of Whoopi Goldberg was always likely to land her success. But few would have confirmed her an EGOT winner, even if she did practice acceptance speeches in her early years. Making her name in The Color Purple and grabbing an Academy Award for her show-stealing turn in Ghost, Goldberg became a name inextricably linked with unique cinema. And that’s without looking at her cult-classic performance in Sister Act.
Since 1942, whenever a star becomes such a personality and commands such widespread interest, they have been invited on to BBC Radio’s flagship show Desert Island Discs. The series, which has run for over seven decades, asks its guests to pick eight songs to take with them to an inescapable desert island. It’s a format which digs into the inner world of some of the most famous people on the planet.
In 2009, it was Goldberg’s turn to join host Kristy Young in selecting her favourite songs. As well as learning about the private performance she gave Steven Spielberg, which included Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones in the audience, we found out about Goldberg’s favourite songs.
Goldberg’s list of favourite songs is as eclectic as she is. Whether the work of Van Morrison, Judy Collins or Stevie Wonder is your preference, or perhaps Amy Winehouse, Celia Cruz, Joan Sutherland, or Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is more your thing, Goldberg has you covered. It’s an impressive list of tracks which show Goldberg’s appreciation of authentic artistic performance. However, Desert Island Discs also pushes for one more number from the interviewee, the one song of the eight that they cherish most of all.
The Color Purple performer saved that spot for a very special song from Bill Withers, the impressively beautiful ‘Lovely Day’. A track so rich in sunshine that it feels like a 1990s orange juice advert.
There are few songs that better encapsulate the healing nature of music than ‘Lovely Day’. The whole song is just one bundle of joy that will surely put a giant smile on your face whenever you let the needle drop. While its sentiment is most cherished, the track is also rich with the iconic talent of Withers, his vocal dexterity showcasing why he became such a beloved performer. At the song’s end, the incredible vocalist holds a note when he sings ‘Lovely Day’ for an incredible 18 seconds.
The music for the track was written by Skip Scarborough, whose positive aura rubbed off on Withers when they worked on the song, telling Songfacts: “The way Skip was, every day was just a lovely day. He was an optimist. If I had sat down with the same music and my collaborator had been somebody else with a different personality, it probably would have caused something else to cross my mind lyrically. It was a combination of the music and the person and the ambience in the room.”
Goldberg was also naturally in awe of the track, telling Kirsty Young: “I love Bill Wither and ‘Lovely Day’. I love ‘Lovely Day’ because it’s just a positive song.” It fits in with Goldberg’s outlook on life, as she continually rises above strife and struggles to find the human achievement in everything. “I remember when my kids were small, that was a song that I would whisper to them when they were babies. Now they’re grown, and I whisper other things to them. But this is a song they loved as well.”
Listen to the full episode of Whoopi Goldberg on Desert Island Discs below.
