“In My Little Corner of the World” (1960) – Anita Bryant * Written by Bob Hilliard and Lee Pockriss * Produced by Lew Douglas * 45: “In My Little Corner of the World” / “Anyone Would Love You” * LP: In My Little Corner of the World (1961) * Label: Carlton * Charts: Billboard (Hot 100, #10)
Anita Bryant’s top ten recording of “In My Little Corner of the World,” produced by Lew Douglas and arranged by 101 Strings stalwart Monte Kelly, transcended its humble lyrical implications. All participants aimed for the cosmos. We forget how big and commanding Bryant’s voice was and how well-matched it sounded alongside the lavish pop orchestrations of the day. (A follow-up album went for a “songs about the world” theme.) But our thoughts inevitably drift toward her late ’70s anti-gay activism, her fearful “human garbage” utterances, and then satires begin writing themselves: “In My Little Corner of My Brain,” “My Little Corner of the World is the Only Corner of Any Value,” etc. The song title also morphs into a self-indicting syndromic label for the Oklahoma native Bryant’s human rights-challenged corner of the U.S. We struggle not to stroke the brush broadly in this way. Many cover versions of this song have sprouted elsewhere, most of them truer in lyrical sentiment, and therefore less spectacular. Marie Osmond (who had also updated Bryant’s “Paper Roses”) recorded a cuddly country version in 1974, while Yo La Tengo sang it from a proper corner in 1997.