Cheer Up Little Darling

Album: Wrangled (2017)
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Songfacts®:

  • Guy Clark helped Angaleena Presley write this song. It was Clark's final track that he completed before his death in May of 2016. Presley told Billboard magazine that the pair was particularly close.

    "Guy and I had become really great friends. We had a standing writing appointment every Wednesday for about five years. Sometimes I would go over, and he wouldn't be feeling good, but that day, he was on fire. He was hopping around, and it was like hanging out with the Heartworn Highways guy. I had never gotten to see that side of his personality before because his health wasn't that great.

    But, on this day, he had the idea already. It was kind of a takeaway from the gospel song 'Farther Along.' We wrote that song so quick. I know that the universe and the stars aligned for me to be there that day. I lean on that song so much, and it's such a gift that he gave to me - and to anyone else who is struggling with just how overwhelming it is to just be and to survive, to navigate your career and your home life. Sometimes you just have to take a breath, and tell yourself that you can't fix the world. Just sit down, make a list of what you need to do. It's such great advice. I can't tell you how many times I look at my calendar and think 'There's no way. It's too much for one human to do.' Then, I think about that song, and sometimes, I even have to play that song. I am just so thankful that he shared that insight with me, which I know came from a way bigger place."
  • Guy Clark also contributes a spoken part at the beginning of this track.
  • This features musician Shawn Camp who won a Grammy Award for his production of Guy Clark's 2013 album My Favorite Picture Of You. Camp plays Clark's No. 10 guitar, which was used to write this song as well as the late singer's mandola.

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