Research: Songs that Highlight the Sun
“When you do something noble and beautiful and nobody noticed, do not be sad. For the sun ever morning is a beautiful spectacle and most of the audience still sleeps.” -John Lennon
The sun has been used as a metaphor for:
warmth
knowledge (gnosis)
justice (rays shining everywhere equally)
hope (with an idea of resurrection and return, knowing it’ll rise again everyday)
and as passion, for its fiery determination to keep shining.
Here is an ongoing list of songs that use the sun (or other solar imagery) as metaphor.
Here Comes the Sun
By the Beatles
Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo-doo
Here comes the sun
And I say, it's alright
Little darlin', it's been a long, cold, lonely winter
Little darlin', it feels like years since it's been here
Little darlin', the smile's returning to their faces
Little darlin', I feel that ice is slowly melting
Little darlin', it seems like years since it's been clear
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Here comes the sun
It's alright
If I Can Dream
by Elvis Presley
There must be lights burning brighter somewhere
Got to be birds flying higher in a sky more blue
If I can dream of a better land
Where all my brothers walk hand in hand
Tell me why, oh why, oh why can't my dream come true
Oh why
There must be peace and understanding sometime
Strong winds of promise that will blow away the doubt and fear
If I can dream of a warmer sun
Where hope keeps shining on everyone
Tell me why, oh why, oh why won't that sun appear
We're lost in a cloud
With too much rain
We're trapped in a world
That's troubled with pain
But as long as a man
Has the strength to dream
He can redeem his soul and fly
Deep in my heart there's a trembling question
Still I am sure that the answer, answer's gonna come somehow
Out there in the dark, there's a beckoning candle, yeah
And while I can think, while I can talk
While I can stand, while I can walk
While I can dream
Oh, please let my dream Come true
This song was written for Elvis the year Martin Luther King Jr was shot, in reverence to King’s iconic speech “I Have a Dream”. One of the most beautiful and inspirational speeches of all time uses the sun as metaphor in its imagery.
“Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice.” -MLK Jr.
Bad Moon Rising
by Creedence Clearwater Revival
I see the bad moon a-risin'
I see trouble on the way
I see earthquakes and lightnin'
I see bad times today
Don't go around tonight
Well it's bound to take your life
There's a bad moon on the rise
I hear hurricanes a-blowin'
I know the end is comin' soon
I fear rivers over flowin'
I hear the voice of rage and ruin
These subtle “superstitious” lilts all bring us back to pagan ideas… but things about the moon have some scientific backing. We know the moon effects the tides, how could it not effect us, beings that are 90%+ water? The word “looney” comes from the short version of luna, the moon. Folkloric stories of transformations under the full moon run back pretty far back into pre-history (werwolves, etc).
More to come:
“Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain’t goin’ away” - Elvis
“Pocketful of sunshine” Natasha Bedingfield
“Walking on Sunshine” By Katrina and the waves
“Sunshine song” Jason Mraz
“Brighter than the sun” Colbie Callait
“The sun will rise” Kelly Clarkson
“Sunrise” Kygo
Sunshine of Your Love, Cream
House of the Rising Sun, The Animals
Ain't No Sunshine, Bill Withers
Black Hole Sun, Soundgarden
Waiting for the Sun, The Doors
Sunshine Superman, Donovan
Don't Let the Sun Catch You Cryin', Gerry and the Pacemakers
Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me, Elton John
Walking On Sunshine, Katrina and the Waves
Sunny Afternoon, The Kinks
Sunshine, Jonathan Edwards
Under the Big Black Sun, X
Walkin' on the Sun, Smash Mouth
Seasons in the Sun, Terry Jacks
Soak Up the Sun, Sheryl Crow
Sundown, Gordon Lightfoot
Steal My Sunshine, Len
Children of the Sun, Billy Thorpe
California Sun, The Rivieras
"Sunshine on My Shoulders" by John Denver
"Sun is Shining" by Bob Marley
"You Are My Sunshine" by Johnny Cash
Golden Brown - The Stranglers - 1981
Seasons in the Sun - Terry Jack's - 1973
Always the Sun - The Stranglers - 1986
Brothers in Arms - Dire Straits - 1985
The Sun Always Shines on TV -A-ha- 1985
Sailing Ship - Whitesnake - 1989
Black Velvet - Alannah Myles - 1989
I Can See Clearly Now - Johnny Nash - 1972
Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay - Otis Redding - 1967
Saturday Sun by Vance Joy
New Sun in the Sky from the musical Bandwagon
Seasons in the Sun by Terry Jacks
Shadow of the Day by Linkin Park
I'll Follow the Sun by the Beatles
Don't Let the Sun To Down on Me by Elton John
Tomorrow from the Annie soundtrack
Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden
Don’t Let The Sun Go Down on me by Elton John
Ain’t No Sunshine When She’s Gone by Bill Withers
Sunshine of your Love by Cream
Good Day Sunshine by The Beatles
Sunshine Superman by Donovan
Who Loves The Sun by The Velvet Underground