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..."
Alexie Davis pointed us to this week's pick for the musical countdown: Radioactive by the Imagine Dragons (Off their Continued Silence EP recording). An Indie rock band, Imagine Dragons first appeared in the local music scene of Provo, Utah. By 2009, they were based in Las Vegas, NV and made their first studio recordings there - - released in the following year. In Nov. 2011, Imagine Dragons signed a contract with Interscope Records leading to their first extended play recording being released on Valentine's Day in 2012 - - it included our current pick, Radioactive.
Waking up to ash and dust,
I wipe my brow but I sweat my rust,
Breathing in, the chemicals. Aahh - ahhhhhh.
Breaking in, shaping up, but I'm checking out on the prison bus.
This is it, the apocalypse. Woa-oh.
I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones.
Love to make my systems go.
Welcome to the new age, to the new age.
Welcome to the new age, to the new age.
Whoa-uh-oh.Whoa-uh-oh. Radioactive. Radioactive.
Whoa-uh-oh.Whoa-uh-oh. Radioactive. Radioactive.
Raise my flags, don my clothes,
It's a 'cupolution' I composed.
We'll paint it red, to fit right in. Woa-oh.
Breaking in, shaping up, and I'm checking out on a prison bus.
For sure, you don't want to miss this one. This could be the last BIFF. Erh, that is if the prophesies for 2012 are accurate? Dropping back to 1986 for this week's Countdown tune that was written by Phil Collins, Tony Banks and Michael Rutherford.
The song, Land of Confusion, came out on Genesis's album, Invisible Touch. You may remember its music video on MTV. The video featured bizarre puppets that were caricatures of the band members and included puppet versions of Ronald and Nancy Reagan. Collins commissioned Peter Fluck and Roger Law of the British television show Spitting Image to create puppets of the entire band, as well as all the characters in the video. See how many famous, contemporary and historical people you can identify, world leaders, and hang on til the very end of the video clip when then President Reagan awakes from his dream.
I must've dreamed a thousand dreams
Been haunted by a million screams
But I can hear the marching feet
They're moving into the street
Now did you read the news today
They say the danger's gone away
But I can see the fire's still alight
There burning . . into the night
There's too many men, too many people
Making too many problems
And not much love to go round
Can't you see this is a land of confusion?
Well this is the world we live in
And these are the hands we're given
Use them and let's start trying
To make it a place worth living in
Ooh, Superman where are you now
Where everything's gone wrong somehow?
The men of steel, the men of power
Are losing control by the hour
This is the time, this is the place
So we look for the future
But there's not much love to go round
Tell me why this is a land of confusion
This is the world we live in
And these are the hands we're given
Use them and let's start trying
To make it a place worth living in
I remember long ago - - when the sun was shining
Yes and the stars were bright, all through the night
And the sound of your laughter, as I held you tight So long ago
This week's countdown song, London Calling, is by the British punk rock band, The Clash. It was released as a single from the band's 1979 double album London Calling. This apocalyptic, politically charged rant combined the band's famous reggae basslines with punk electric guitar riffs and vocals. The urgent first chorus finds Joe Strummer snarling his way through a grim little warning: "The ice age is coming" . . . The second chorus adds another cataclysmic possibility to Strummer's list of worries: a nuclear error, perhaps inspired by the recent meltdown at Three Mile Island. The line, "London is drowning and I live by the river" came from the belief in England that if the Thames river ever flooded, all of London would be under water.
Surprised? There you were - - just swinging to the beat, maybe not aware what the lyrics were all about!
Written by Joe Strummer and Mick Jones (1979) London calling to the faraway towns
Now war is declared and battle come down
London calling to the underworld
Come out of the cupboard, you boys and girls
London calling, now don't look to us
Phony Beatlemania has bitten the dust
London calling, see we ain't got no swing
Except for the ring of the truncheon thing [Chorus]
The ice age is coming, the sun's zooming in
Meltdown expected, the wheat is growing thin
Engines stop running, but I have no fear
Cause London is drowning and I . . . live by the river London calling to the imitation zone
Forget it brother, you can go it alone
London calling to the zombies of death
Quit holding out - and draw another breath
London calling - and I don't want to shout
But while we were talking - I saw you nodding out
London calling, see we ain't got no highs
Except for that one with the yellowy eyes [Chorus]
The ice age is coming, the sun's zooming in
Engines stop running, the wheat is growing thin
A nuclear era, but I have no fear
Cause London is drowning, and I . . . I live by the river The ice age is coming, the sun's zooming in
Engines stop running, the wheat is growing thin
A nuclear era, but I have no fear
Cause London is drowning, and I . . . I live by the river Now get this
London calling, yes I was there too
And you know what they said? Well, some of it was true!
London calling at the top of the dial
After all this, won't you give me a smile? London calling I never felt so much a'like, a'like, a'like . . .
