I Can See Clearly Now

Johnny Nash's "I Can See Clearly Now" is a song that earns its optimism — written in the early 1970s and somehow still sounding necessary every time it's performed. At the Gay Men's Chorus of Tampa Bay's Out On the Dance Floor on March 21, 2026, John Shirley's arrangement, performed at Jaeb Theater of Straz Center in Tampa, Florida, made an unmistakable case for that ongoing relevance.

Shirley's arrangement keeps the original's reggae-tinged lilt at the foundation while opening up the harmonic vocabulary across the sections. The featured ensemble — Brian Compton as the lead soloist, Jim Beaty, Brooke Byrington, Scott Lockard, Vic Omila, and Shirley himself — traded leads through the harmonies, each singer giving the lyric a slightly different emotional inflection. Beaty's grounded warmth, Byrington's bright tone, Compton's clean lyricism, Lockard's relaxed phrasing, Omila's understated baritone, and Shirley's effortless lift created a kind of patchwork affirmation that gathered momentum with each new voice.

The ensemble underneath Bryan’s solo handled Shirley's harmonic richness with confidence. The signature lyric — "It's gonna be a bright, bright sunshiny day" — bloomed into full ensemble harmony at exactly the right moments, with each repetition adding new color rather than just volume. The rhythmic foundation stayed buoyant throughout, with offbeat accents giving the song its distinctive forward lean.

The Jaeb Theater's acoustics suited the arrangement well, letting the layered vocal textures stay clean and bright. The audience picked up the energy almost immediately, with smiles widening through the room and audible humming on the chorus.

Within the broader arc of Out On the Dance Floor, this performance functioned as a bridge between the program's reflective center and its more exuberant later numbers — a song that earns its joy by acknowledging the rain it sees clearing.