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Peggy recalled the origin of one of her most enduring songs in her autobiography: “While I’d been pregnant with Nicki I had begun to write ideas for songs. For instance, one day several things happened that delighted me. Someone brought us a pheasant, another person brought over a bottle of fine wine, the telephone was full of nice messages – some of those offers I mentioned – and finally I said to no one in particular, ‘Well, it’s a good day!’ Which struck me as a good title. As I busied myself with housework, I began to sing a little ‘dummy’ melody, and the words kept popping in, so I lay down the vacuum or whatever and wrote them down. When it was finished, I practically ran down to my sister’s apartment house, called up to her window and sang the song. She always took great pride in having been the first person to hear ‘It’s a Good Day!’”

Recorded for Capitol Records on July 12, 1946, the song peaked at #16 on Billboard’s charts in January 1947 and over the decades it has come to represent American promise in the years immediately following World War II. Peggy sang it regularly on radio, including in duet with Bing Crosby, and it became the theme song for her own radio show in 1952. She filmed it in 1950 for Snader Telescriptions (see “Listen” link above). This is one of six Lee lyrics selected by Robert Gottlieb and Robert Kimball for inclusion in their anthology Reading Lyrics (Pantheon Books, 2000).

“It’s a Good Day” has been recorded by many other singers through the decades, including Nat King Cole, Perry Como, Bing Crosby, Vic Damone, Billy Daniels, Connie Evingson, Jane Froman, Judy Garland, Carolyn Grey (with Gene Krupa and His Orchestra), Phil Harris, Dick Haymes, Jack Jones, Dean Martin, the McKinney Sisters (with Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys), Johnny Mercer, Anne Murray, Patti Page, Mavis Rivers, Tommy Sands, Frank Sinatra, Kay Starr, Stacy Sullivan and Clare Teal.