When songs enter the public domain, they don’t just get older, they get new lives. For this year’s virtual Public Domain Day celebration, musician Stephanie Woodford gave three newly public-domain classics a fresh voice by writing new lyrics, reimagined for today.
Partygoers were treated to live performances of Georgia on My Mind and Dream a Little Dream of Me, while a third reinterpretation, On the Sunny Side of the Street, lives on as a special recording. Together, these performances show what the public domain makes possible: creativity that’s playful, personal, and very much alive.
Dream a Little Dream of Me
Music composed by Fabian Andre and Wilbur Schwandt, with lyrics by Gus Kahn. (1930)
Georgia on My Mind
Music composed by Hoagy Carmichael, with lyrics by Stuart Gorrell. (1930)
On the Sunny Side of the Street
Music composed by Jimmy McHugh, with lyrics by Dorothy Fields. (1930)
Stephanie Woodford is a pop, soul, and RnB singer/songwriter and performer. She is a graduate of both the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Preparatory Division and also St. Ignatius College Preparatory High School. She has a degree in music from City College of San Francisco.