Friday, May 25, 2012

Eight - - Count'em, EIGHT Weeks to go . . .

This week's tune for BIFF's musical countdown is Two Suns in the Sunset by the English rock band, Pink Floyd. Written by Roger Waters (1983), the song is about nuclear holocaust. The lyric "the sun is in the east, even though the day is done" refers to a glowing fireball of a massive nuclear explosion. It features a sax solo by Raphael Ravenscroft, who played on several of the songs of the album, The Final Cut. Andy Newmark played drums on this track instead of Nick Mason, the regular drummer of Pink Floyd, who was unable to perform the complex changes needed for the 5/4 time signature.



In my rear view mirror the sun is going down
Sinking behind bridges in the road
I think of all the good things that we have left undone
And I suffer premonitions
Confirm suspicions
Of the holocaust to come

The rusty wire that holds the cork that keeps the anger in
Gives way and suddenly it's day again
The sun is in the east even though the day is done
Two suns in the sunset
Could be the human race is run

Like the moment when the brakes lock
And you slide towards the big truck ("Oh no!")
You stretch the frozen moments with your fear
And you'll never hear their voices ("Daddy, Daddy!")
And you'll never see their faces
You have no recourse to the law anymore

And as the windshield melts and my tears evaporate
Leaving only charcoal to defend
Finally I understand the feelings of the few
Ashes and diamonds
Foe and friend
We were all equal in the end


(Faintly underneath the closing Sax solo)
"...and now the weather. Tomorrow will be cloudy with scattered showers spreading from the east ... with an expected high of 4000 degrees Celsius..."

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