- When Sunny Gets Blue is a jazz standard written by Marvin Fisher (music) and Jack Segal (lyrics). It was first recorded in 1956 by Johnny Mathis with Ray Conniff and His Orchestra and released as the B-side to Mathis's debut single Wonderful! Wonderful!. The song later appeared on the compilation Johnny's Greatest Hits (April 1958) and is generally filed under vocal pop and jazz.
- Story and theme: the ballad describes a mood shift as a character named Sunny gets blue, with imagery of gray eyes and rain, conveying a tender, world-weary love story.
- Original details: the recording was produced by Al Ham and Mitch Miller for Columbia Records, and the track runs about 2 minutes 34 seconds.
- Legacy and covers: it quickly became a jazz standard with notable versions by Nat King Cole (1957), June Christy, Dakota Staton, Nancy Wilson, Sarah Vaughan, and many others, frequently highlighted for its emotional depth.
- Legal note: in 1984 a parody by Rick Dees led to a landmark copyright case, Fisher v. Dees, where the court upheld fair use for parody, influencing the fair use doctrine.
