"Life's Little Ups and Downs" is a song originally recorded by Charlie Rich. Written by his wife, Margaret Ann Rich, the song appears on his second Epic album, 1969's The Fabulous Charlie Rich. His rendition spent eleven weeks on the country music charts in 1969, peaking at #41.
Rolling Stone magazine praised the song in its own review upon its release, calling it "as good as anything he's ever done" and predicting that the song "could make it on all the charts at once: R&B, Pop, Easy Listening and Country".
In 1990, Ricky Van Shelton covered the song on his third studio album, RVS III. Shelton's version of the song was released in October 1990 as the final single from that album. It spent twenty weeks on the country music charts and peaked at #4.