“Ain’t No Sunshine” and other “ain’t” songs
Many songs use “ain’t,” which is a nonstandard contraction of “are” and “not,” says Chassé, Some of the examples are, “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg,” “Ain’t She Sweet?” and “Ain’t No Sunshine.”
Correctly, those three titles would be “I’m Not Too Proud to Beg,” “Isn’t She Sweet?” and “There’s No Sunshine.”
However, Chassé says this is one of those grammar rules that we can accept either way. “In these cases, I’d argue the ‘ain’t’ is more authentic,” she says. “It adds a certain punch that the proper constructions just don’t have.”
