"Look At The Sun"

Ever notice the recurring sunrise imagery in pop music? You've got the first line of Dylan's "Tangled up in Blue": "Early one morning the sun was shinin'." The Beatles had "Here Comes the Sun" and "Good Day Sunshine." Donovan began his song "Sunshine Superman" with the line "Sunshine came softly through my window today." The Eagles have "Tequila Sunrise;" Smashmouth have a tune called "Then the Morning Comes;" The Call have "Let the Day Begin." There is a recurring theme of renewal and new beginning in most of these songs. "Tangled up in Blue" recounts an almost soap opera-esque love affair featuring a cast of several characters, all remembered while the narrator lies in bed reminiscing. It ends with hope:

Now I'm going back again, I've got to get to her somehow
All the people we used to know, they're an illusion to me now
Some are mathematicians, some are carpenters' wives
Don't know how it all got started, I don't know what they do with their lives
But me I'm still on the road, heading for another joint
We always did feel the same we just saw it from a different point of view
Tangled up in blue.

Both Beatles tunes deal with the narrator's joy at seeing the sun again, either after a cold, dark winter (in the case of "Here Comes the Sun") or even just after a night (as with "Good Day Sunshine"). There is a simple joy in seeing the bright light, in feeling the warmth of the sun on their skin. They feel fresh, clean, and new.

Donovan's song is something of a stream-of-conscience rambling, though the opening line does present more of the renewal imagery. He claims he could "drift off easy" lying there in his room with the sunlight streaming in, but he's "changed [his] ways." With the new day comes new determination to be a better person, a different person.

The Eagles' "Tequla Sunrise" is somewhat darker, relating a man's sorrowful drinking over a woman who has wronged him. The rising sun causes him to look back on the relationship through a haze of alcohol. In this case, the rising sun is not simply a sign of renewal. Instead, it represents a clear sign that life, regardless of what has already happened, continues on, though it still "looks the same" to the narrator. He does not get his renewal, nor does he receive a sense of hope from the rising sun. Instead, it just reminds him that, despite his heartache, the world goes on as it ever did.

The Smashmouth song "Then the Morning Comes" takes the renewal metaphor in a different direction. The narrator addresses a woman who views the world as a stage upon which she is the center of attention, a born party-goer for whom "every single day is just a fling," but "then the morning comes," and she is forced to deal with reality. It is less a renewal and more a rude wake up call--the female character dreads the morning rather than revels in it. Coincidentally, she is portrayed in a negative, almost condescending manner by the narrator, as though she were behaving in a fashion which was clearly against common sense.

The Call's "Let the Day Begin" is a benediction to the sunrise, a glorying in the rising orb of light that heats this world. The singer rattles off a list of the various people who, in own little ways, make life worth living or sacrifice their lives to the betterment of mankind. He praises these individuals, and thanks them for their ability to get up every day and go out there to work. The beginning day is a sign of celebration, and a call to action.

There are many, many more pop-rock songs which use the sunrise imagery. It's a common theme in music--the renewal, the casting off of the past to pursue the future, the pure joy at the warmth and light of the returned sun. Though no two musicians treat the symbol in the same manner, it is still almost as common as a song about unrequited love. The sunrise and the returned sun are a common thematic symbol in pop music, and can be one of the more uplifting metaphors for our lives available.

~chaos cricket

Song of the Moment: The Beatles, "Here Comes the Sun"