"I Saw the Light" is a song written and performed by American musician

Todd Rundgren Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, multimedia artist, sound engineer and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the band Ut ...

that was released as the opening track from his 1972 album ''

Something/Anything? ''Something/Anything?'' is the third album by American musician Todd Rundgren, released in February 1972. It was his first double album, and was recorded in late 1971 in Los Angeles, New York City and Bearsville Studios, Woodstock. Three quart ...

''. In the album's liner notes, Rundgren states that he intended the song to be the hit of the album, and copied the Motown tradition of putting hit songs at the beginning of albums. Rundgren wrote the track in 20 minutes, a feat he attributes to his reliance on stimulants such as Ritalin. "It caused me to crank out songs at an incredible pace. You can see why, too, the rhymes are just moon/June/spoon kind of stuff."

Appearances

"I Saw The Light" features in the first episode of the ''

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO. An adaptation of Candace Bushnell's newspaper column and 1996 book anthology of the same name, the series premiered in the United Stat ...

'' spinoff '' And Just Like That...'', and the films '' My Girl'', '' Kingpin'', '' American Hustle'', '' A Very Murray Christmas'', and '' Licorice Pizza'', when the main character, Gary sees Alana with his former co-star Lance. The song is also heard in season 3, episode 11 of '' Six Feet Under'' and season 4, episode 11 of ''

Ozark The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant porti ...

''.

Personnel

– all instruments and vocals

Charts

Weekly charts Year-end charts

Cover versions

* 1972 –

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, ''

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'' * 1985 –

Yukihiro Takahashi Yukihiro Takahashi (高橋幸宏 ''Takahashi Yukihiro'', born June 6, 1952) is a Japanese musician, singer, record producer and actor, who is best known internationally as the drummer and lead vocalist of the Yellow Magic Orchestra, and as the fo ...

, ''Once a Fool'' * 1984 –

Herman Brood Hermanus "Herman" Brood (; 5 November 1946 – 11 July 2001) was a Dutch musician, painter, actor and poet. As a musician he achieved artistic and commercial success in the 1970s and 1980s, and was called "the greatest and only Dutch rock 'n' ...

, ''

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'' (as "Eyes") * 1987 – Mood Six, "I Saw the Light" (A video for the song made the rounds on MTV's "120 Minutes") * 1989 – Workshy, ''The Golden Mile''. * 1997 – Terry Hall, ''

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'' (released as a single) * 1997 – Lori Carson, ''Everything I Touch Runs Wild''. * 1998 –

Hal Ketchum Hal Michael Ketchum (April 9, 1953November 23, 2020) was an American country music singer and songwriter. He released eleven studio albums from 1986 to 2014, including nine for divisions of Curb Records. Ketchum's 1991 album ''Past the Point of ...

, ''I Saw the Light''. It reached No. 36 on the US country charts, and No. 50 on the Canadian country charts. * 2012 –

Yo La Tengo Yo La Tengo (YLT; Spanish for "I have her") is an American indie rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan (guitars, piano, vocals), Georgia Hubley (drums, piano, vocals), and James M ...

, ''Super Hits of the Seventies'' (also released on deluxe versions of their '' Fade'') * 2013 – ''Tabea'', ''Memories'' * 2015 – Jason Schwartzman,

Rashida Jones Rashida Leah Jones (; born February 25, 1976) is an American actress. Jones appeared as Louisa Fenn on the Fox drama series '' Boston Public'' (2000–2002), as Karen Filippelli on the NBC comedy series ''The Office'' (2006–2009; 2011), and ...

, Maya Rudolph,

David Johansen David Roger Johansen (sometimes spelled ''David Jo Hansen''; born January 9, 1950) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. He is best known as a member of the seminal proto-punk band the New York Dolls. He is also known for his work under ...

and

Bill Murray William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on '' Saturday Nig ...

, '' A Very Murray Christmas''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:I Saw The Light (Todd Rundgren Song) Todd Rundgren songs 1972 singles 1998 singles Songs written by Todd Rundgren Song recordings produced by Todd Rundgren Bearsville Records singles Curb Records singles Hal Ketchum songs