It is sung in the style of a sermon, and explains accentuating the positive is key to happiness. In describing his inspiration for the lyric, Mercer told thePop Chronicles radio documentary: "...[my] publicity agent ... went to hearFather Divine and he had a sermon and his subject was 'you got to accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative'. And I said 'Wow, that's a colorful phrase!'"[1][2]
Mercer recorded the song, withThe Pied Pipers andPaul Weston's orchestra, on October 4, 1944, and it was released byCapitol Records as catalog number 180. The record first reached theBillboard magazine charts on January 4, 1945, and lasted 13 weeks on the chart, peaking at number 2.[3] On theHarlem Hit Parade chart, it went to number four.[4]The song was number five on Billboard's Annual High School Survey in 1945.[5]
On March 25, 2015, it was announced that Mercer's version would be inducted into theLibrary of Congress's National Recording Registry for the song's "cultural, artistic and/or historical significance to American society and the nation’s audio legacy".[6]
Within a matter of weeks, several other recordings of the song were released by other well-known artists:
Bing Crosby andThe Andrews Sisters made a recording on December 8, 1944, withVic Schoen and his Orchestra, which was released byDecca Records as catalog number 23379. The record first reached theBillboard charts on January 25, 1945, and lasted nine weeks on the chart, peaking at number 2.[3]
A recording byArtie Shaw was released byRCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-1612. The record first reached the Billboard magazine charts on January 25, 1945, and lasted five weeks on the chart, peaking at number 5.[3]Other popular versions were recorded by such artists as Jools Holland and Louis Armstrong.
