Pro and Anti-Sun Songs
But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the East, and Juliet is the sun.
Of all Shakespeare’s many iconic lines, this section of Romeo and Juliet stands tall among the most iconic. Much of its strength is in its simplicity. A child can understand the line without context (I knew “wherefore art thou Romeo” and “To be or not to be” well before I understood that “wherefore art thou” meant “why are you” and that Hamlet’s famous monologue was him contemplating suicide). Perhaps that’s why the sun is such a common metaphor. Life has very few constants, and because taxes make for a dull subject matter and death a dreary one, why not write about something else everyone experiences? In an exploration of metaphor in music let’s examine some songs that view that great big star in the sky positively or negatively- pro or anti-sun.
Pro-Sun
You Are the Sunshine Of My Life - Stevie Wonder
One of my favorite moments at a concert was when Stevie Wonder asked the audience to play “name that tune”. After just a few notes, he had that entire auditorium singing “You Are My Sunshine” before he dove into his beautiful love song “You Are The Sunshine Of My Life.” While lyrically the song doesn’t expand much on the sunshine Stevie’s lover is, combining it with a broader understanding of his music enriches the metaphor greatly.
To Stevie Wonder, the universe is a grand positive force. While he famously disdains superstition on a song of the same name, his music is quite spiritual. This is continuous with the tradition of Gospel music, but also with a much broader view of love as a universal force. To Stevie Wonder, love binds the universe in the same manner as gravity, love brings beauty into the world through children (Isn’t She Lovely), and love is the answer to the hatred that taints the world. So when Stevie Wonder asks “how could so much love be inside of you?” It’s not just referring to his sunshine’s emotional love or the warmth it makes him feel, but to a grand power that’s true and beautiful. Moreover, that titular phrase is powerfully original. Lyrics like “you must’ve known that I was lonely because you came to my rescue” and “you are the apple of my eye” are somewhat common refrains for this sort of song, and while comparing a lover to the sun isn’t wholly original, it’s still uniquely beautiful. It is a statement that Stevie’s lover brings him that warm, powerful, cosmic love into his life in the same manner the sun brings its light to the earth. If someone attempted to woo me like that, it’d work.
Walking on Sunshine - Katrina and the Waves
Katrina and the Waves certainly don’t view the sunshine with the same spiritual significance as Stevie Wonder, but they use the metaphor in a similar way. The love singer Katrina Leskanich feels is so strong it fills her with the sun’s warmth. Where it differs is in the images it creates.
Stevie Wonder’s sunshine inspires him to appreciate his lover, but Katrina’s love makes her want to MOVE! Those horns and Leskanich’s bubbly performance make you want to get up and dance! The 80s had many songs evoking Motown, but one thing many of them miss is the fun, danceable side of the style. Here the sunshine metaphor isn’t just about warmth, but something that gives you energy. You can even see this in the music video, where the incredibly upbeat song is contrasted by dreary England, the band’s grey outfits, and is only brought to harmony by Leskanich’s joyous affect and the shots of the band performing. In this, they combine the thrill of performing, new love, and moving in one core idea- the sun’s energy.
Sunshine On My Shoulders - John Denver
The sunshine John Denver sings about is not a metaphor. “Sunshine On My Shoulders” is a strikingly literal song, with no meaning you would not find beyond a plain reading of the text (outside the sunshine “making him feel high” which can either be considered a drug reference or making him feel “high” as in good). That’s what brings the song its strength.
John Denver was an earnest, country-folk singing hippie. In most of his hits you’ll find him singing about nature- the Rocky Mountain highs, the old trees, a walk in the forest, etc., but all of those are powerful symbols, elements of something greater. In “Sunshine On My Shoulders” there’s nothing else to it. No home he’s returning to, no grand summit to reach, no love he yearns for, just the beautiful sensation the sun brings him. Few singers could bring power to such a simple idea, but Denver holding onto those words with his fragile tenor brings his song to life beautifully.
Here Comes the Sun - The Beatles
Perhaps the most famous song to mention the sun, “Here Comes the Sun” gains most of its power from its orchestration. The incredible use of synthesizer, the subtle strings that drift in and out of focus, the wonderful bass-line, the hand-claps that appear for only a small section, and the song’s defining acoustic guitar all create a soundscape only The Beatles could. In metaphor, the song contains elements of both Stevie Wonder and John Denver’s outlooks- the sun as an element of nature and as a broader cosmic force.
George Harrison’s spirituality is his defining trait within the Beatles, and though “Here Comes the Sun” isn’t explicitly spiritual, that element absolutely fits in a lyrical reading. The sun is coming to melt away the winter, bringing smiles to people’s faces much like the sunshine in John Denver’s eyes brought him to tears, but also broader change was happening all across the world. The late 60s were a chaotic mess, and Harrison responded with a song reassuring everyone that the sun was coming. While not directly connected to the moment, it is fits in with the sense of hope and optimism that came from the era’s political movements. To the kids attending Woodstock who wanted the world to give peace a chance, I bet it did feel like the sun was rising after a long winter, and that maybe everything would be all right.
People of the Sun - Rage Against the Machine
In stark contrast to all this hippie dippie stuff, we have Rage Against the Machine. This song is dedicated to the people of the sun, the indigenous Mexicans who held a strong connection to the sun and have been under attack since 1516. The music video does a fantastic job of framing the narrative, informing the viewer of the Zapatistas (a largely indigenous revolutionary group), the one-party dictatorship in Mexico, the lengthy history of colonialism in Mexico, and how that goal continues into the modern day with the Clinton administration exporting hundreds of millions of dollars in arms to the undemocratic Mexican regime. The collage of bodies, x-rays, text, old films depicting native exploitation, and the band themselves achieves the band’s goal perfectly.
Lyrically, the song continues on these themes and gives the listener a revolutionaries’ hope- the vulture came to try and steal our name but now we’ve got guns. We’re on the one, joined in the revolutionary spirit of funk music (which was all about the beat’s one), and together we can change the world. Even outside of the native groups Zach De La Rocha dedicates the song to, there’s a universality to his message. Rocha’s second verse speaks on oppressive tobacco plantations- a feature all across the Americas- the economic oppression linked to professions like taxi drivers, and the Zoot Suit riots which saw American servicemen attacking Mexican youths in Los Angeles. In that manner, you can understand the “people of the sun” as a universal indicator, a statement to all people under the sun that the time is coming around again for revolution. But that’s not nearly as powerful as the message being specifically towards Mexico’s native peoples. While the fifth sun, the era the Aztec people believed themselves to be in, has set with the colonization of Mexico, the spirit of Cuahtemoc is alive and untamed. Much like the sun is certain to rise in the morning, Mexico’s native people will rise again.
Anti-Sun
Who Loves the Sun - The Velvet Underground
Ah, the Velvet Underground, the counterculture within the counterculture. As the late 60s saw musicians embrace psychedelic drugs, positivity, and nature, The Velvet Underground got dark. Their subject matter was edgy; they covered addiction, queerness, poverty, and more. Those heavy topics were reflected in the band’s scratchy, experimental sound. With 1970’s Loaded, the ever-hidden band sought commercial success, attempting to make an album loaded with hits. Still, on “Who Loves the Sun” the band retains its edge- in an era of naturalist flower power they disdain the sun, asking, “who needs that old thing anyways?”
Mostly the song is meant to showcase some lovely Beach Boys-y harmonies and atmosphere (especially with the tape splice that evokes “Good Vibrations”), but the lyrics are fine too. While John Denver’s love made him greatly appreciate the natural world around him, Doug Yule (who shared singing and songwriting duties with Lou Reed on this album) can’t care a bit about anything the world has to offer. In that way, the song teases that tendency to treat the sun as a romantic object. To the song’s heartbroken singer, the sun is just a big ball of gas that makes plants grow, he doesn’t want any of your damn poetry!
(another song which does similar things with the sun as a symbol which I quite love is “I Don’t Believe in the Sun” by The Magnetic Fields, give it a listen!)
Ain’t No Sunshine- Bill Withers
Most of the pro-sun songs equated the sun and it’s warmth to love, but what happens when a love leaves you cold? In “Ain’t No Sunshine” Bill Wither’s love is not the sun as Juliet was to Romeo, but its absence still makes him feel as black as night. This bluesy soul standard isn’t very wordy, and it doesn’t need to be. Just that phrase, “ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone” is enough for us the understand that heartbreak. Everything else is set dressing.
Still, the framing reveals a lot. It’s clear that the relationship he sings about is toxic as can be, something that only brings darkness. There’s no lyric about how desperately he loves her, only him wondering if she’s gone to stay and how his house doesn’t feel like a home without her. Perhaps I’m misunderstanding the lyrics and his dependency is more a reflection of the narrator’s desperation rather than something that gives him withdrawals like a drug, but I don’t think I am. After all, the song’s most iconic moment, the twenty-six “I know”s, is followed by a phrase that fits that addict mentality like little else, “hell, I oughta live the young thing alone/ but ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone”. While the sun is warm, life can often be cold, and “Ain’t No Sunshine” uses the sun’s warmth as another way for the blues to hit you- a high you’ll never reach again.
Steal My Sunshine- Len
Technically this song views the sunshine it’s so concerned with you not stealing positively, but I think the song’s message is rather down so I’m including it here anyways. “Steal My Sunshine” is a classic feel-good Summer song about feeling bad. The core of it is the song’s two singers attempting to find a way forward in life while both building themselves up and having a strong social life.
To say the song is sad or frustrated would be wrong- rather, it’s conflicted. The narrator knows that it’s their job to not get caught up with life’s busywork and to actually live it, but there’s always that threat, that “if” someone steals their sunshine. It wants the joy within the music they play, but can’t seem to hold onto it. As someone living with mental illness, boy is that relatable. So often it feels like the world is a great cloudy sky and I must cherish the little rays of sunshine that peak through. In this little dark patch I’ve found myself in, it’s reassuring to hear someone sing about how looking on the bright side can be a mixed bag. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Worry about someone stealing your sunshine and you’ll miss a million miles of fun.
Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying - Gerry & The Pacemakers
On the title alone this song does so much with the sun as a literary device. The sun is personified through the act of catching you, and with this comes a metaphor where the sun is the judging world. Yet there is a tension in this song- the reason you shouldn’t let the sun catch you crying isn’t because you’ll be caught shamefully crying, but because with the sunrise comes a brand new day where you can leave yesterday’s woes behind.While this does make this song sound supportive of the sun, I think the music tells a fuller story.
Though Gerry Marsden sings that “the morning will bring joy to every girl and boy” he doesn’t sing it with a triumphant jollity that might befit its Christmas-y lyric, but instead with a somber quality. The song was produced by George Martin, the legendary producer and arranger best known for his work with The Beatles, and on “Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying” he does fantastic work. Though the song’s string section should be cheesy, they instead balance out wonderfully with the band. The best part of the song are the strings which flutter their wings over so much of the song, giving the song a shakiness as though it were weeping. This gives the impression that Gerry’s words are not broad advice, but specific consolations to a loved one. Whether they work as comfort or not is up to you (I still find the song’s titular refrain to sound like a threat), the song works either way.
Black Hole Sun - Soundgarden
Chris Cornell has described “Black Hole Sun” as the closest he’s gotten to playing with words for playing’s sake. Perhaps that’s how he felt about it, but I could not disagree more. It’s far from a direct literal narrative, but just because the picture it paints an abstract picture doesn’t mean there is no subject. There are many threads in the lyrics, namely heat, lies, and snakes, but none more powerful than the song’s powerful refrain, “Black hole sun, won’t you come/ And wash away the rain?”
That’s all you need. It’s a mantra of “out with the old, in with the new” with a dark twist- the sun that washes everything away is not our noble, life-bringing sun, but a black hole. This is not a song welcoming change- it’s a song welcoming the end. You can see this in the song’s phenomenal video, where we see a Tim Burton-esque town with twisted people doing strange things. It evokes Twin Peaks with its perversion of small town Americana, which is destroyed by the song’s titular black hole sun. When I described this article to friends, they considered this song to be pro-sun, after all, the singer wants the sun to come and destroy all the nonsense this world has, bringing something true in its place. As a counterargument, I point to the song’s final chorus before its lengthy ending, “Hang my head, drown my fear/’Til you all just disappear.” When that black hole sun washes away the rain there will be nothing to replace it. This song is a prayer for destruction, and in performing this prayer Cornell subverts the sun’s common usage as a nurturer or protector, twisting it into a destroyer.
With that, we have the sun. It brings a powerful energy, warmth, beauty, and surety, but that energy can be limited, that surety can be a curse, that beauty can hurt you, and that warmth can leave you freezing when the sun is absent. It can make you happy, it can leave you blue. It can be an image of revolution or an image of despair. Personally I find the positive sun metaphors to be stronger in spite of my recent poor moods, but I’m also quite a bubbly person. If the dark side of life resonates more strongly with you, then perhaps you find more comfort in those who scorn the sun. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed this little exploration of some songs about the sun.
Let me know if I introduced you to a new song you like, or if you have a favorite sun song I missed!
