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“My Girl” by The Temptations: The Sweet Meaning Behind the Lyrics
The hit song was written specifically for The Temptations and David Ruffin's voice.
Sixty years ago, The Temptations released “My Girl,” a timeless and classic love song that’s been played countless times. When you hear the lyrics “I've got sunshine on a cloudy day,” you know exactly what comes next.
Written as the follow-up to “My Guy” by legendary Motown singer Mary Wells, “My Girl” became The Temptations’ first number-one hit on Billboard's Hot 100 in 1965 and currently has over 1 billion streams on Spotify. The song is so enduring, The Temptations performed “My Girl” at the 2024 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
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The “My Girl” lyrics have been ingrained in our memories for years, but what is the song about? Below, we look back at the song’s history and how to watch The Temptations perform their Motown classics in 2024.
What is The Temptations’ song “My Girl” about?
“My Girl” by The Temptations is a sweet love song about how a guy feels about his gal and how her presence can just make everything better. As lead vocalist David Ruffin sings in the first verse, “I've got sunshine on a cloudy day / When it's cold outside, I've got the month of May / I guess you'd say / What can make me feel this way?” The rest of the band joins in to answer in the chorus, singing: “My girl, my girl, my girl / Talkin' 'bout my girl, my girl.”
Other lyrics in the song highlight just that like “I've got so much honey, the bees envy me” and “I don't need no money, fortune, or fame I've got all the riches, baby, one man can claim.”
Who wrote “My Girl” by The Temptations?
“My Girl” was written by Ronnie White and Smokey Robinson, who began working with The Temptations in the early ‘60s as a producer and songwriter.
In a video on Robinson’s YouTube channel, the R&B icon and frontman of the Motown group The Miracles explained that he wrote “My Girl” specifically for The Temptations. “Many times people have asked me, well, did you not keep ‘My Girl’ for yourself, or for you and The Miracles,” he said. “Because of the fact that were it not for The Temptations and David Ruffin being in that group, I probably would not have written ‘My Girl.’"
Robinson said he was “inspired” to write "something sweet for David Ruffin to sing.”
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“I used to tell him he demanded the girls to love him because he had that ‘Oh, come on baby!’ kind of voice,” he continued. “But I wanted him to sing something sweet, something that the girls could just swoon over.”
Robinson dedicated "My Girl" to his wife, Claudette, a member of The Miracles, who said in a video on her YouTube channel that she was an "influential part" about the "love [the song] describes."
Six decades after its release, Robinson said he believes the love song has “stood the test of time” and has become his “international anthem as a songwriter.”
“My Girl” has been featured in several movies and TV shows
“My Girl” by The Temptations has been featured in over a dozen movies and TV shows over the years, including the 1991 romantic comedy of the same name starring Anna Chlumsky, Macaulay Culkin, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Dan Aykroyd.
You can also find “My Girl” on the movie soundtracks for Cooley High (1975), The Big Chill (1983), Born on the Fourth of July (1989), Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007), and Daddy’s Home (2015). The Temptations song has also featured in episodes of TV sitcoms including New Girl, American Dad, The Big Bang Theory, and Full House.
Watch The Temptations perform in NBC’s A Motown Christmas special
The current members of The Temptations are among many musicians performing at NBC’s A Motown Christmas special on Wednesday, December 11. You can expect to see Ron Tyson, Terry Weeks, Tony Grant, Jawan M. Jackson, and Otis Williams, a founding member of The Temptations who’s been part of the band since 1960.
During the two-hour event, hosted by Robinson and Halle Bailey, The Temptations will perform their greatest Motown hits. Robinson, Gladys Knight, and Martha Reeves and the Vandellas are also slated to perform their classics.
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In addition to Motown legends, the holiday special will include festive performances from Bailey, Ashanti, Andra Day, Jamie Foxx, mgk, Jordin Sparks, and more stars
You can watch A Motown Christmas on Wednesday, December 11 at 9/8c on NBC and stream it the next day on Peacock.
