Sunrise (Pulp song)

"Sunrise" is a song by British rock band Pulp, from their 2001 album We Love Life. It was released as a double-A single with "The Trees" on 8 October 2001 ahead of the album, charting at #23 in the UK Singles Chart. "Sunrise" is also used in the award-winning BBC animated satirical comedy sketch show Monkey Dust.

"Sunrise"
Single by Pulp
from the album We Love Life
A-side	"The Trees"
Released	8 October 2001
Genre	Britpop, alternative rock
Length	5:53
Label	Island
Producer(s)	Scott Walker
Pulp singles chronology
"Party Hard" (1998) "Sunrise" / "The Trees" (2001) "Bad Cover Version" (2002)

Background

"Sunrise" was one of the first songs written for We Love Life and was debuted at the 2000 Reading Festival.[1] Cocker explained of the song's meaning:

They say the darkest hour is just before the dawn, don't they? ... I always hate it when you've been at an all-night party and then suddenly the sun starts coming up and you think, 'Why didn't I go home an hour ago?' You feel unnatural because every other creature's just waking up and the birds start doing the dawn chorus ... So on a simple level the song's about trying to react to the sunrise in a better way.[1]

Release

"Sunrise" was the favorite of the band to be We Love Life's first single, due to its having a "life of its own" and "a real vibe," according to Island Records' Nigel Coxon. In the end, the song was released as a double-A side with "The Trees" at the insistence of the record company. Coxon explained, "'Sunrise' seemed to have a momentum of its own, but no one in the record company... got it. We all thought it was brilliant and it should be a single... but the record company, being very timid possibly, thought, 'Sunrise', six minutes, two-minute outro, no chance."[1] As a compromise, the two songs were released as a double-A side, which meant, according to Coxon, that "that single got slightly diluted". The single reached number 23 in the UK, a relative disappointment for the band.

The Fat Truckers remix of "Sunrise" is notable for removing the instrumentation from the original recording and using loops and quick-cuts of Jarvis Cocker sighing and breathing heavily to replace it.

Track listings

CD one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Sunrise"	Nick Banks, Jarvis Cocker, Candida Doyle, Steve Mackey, Mark Webber, Peter Mansell	5:53
2.	"The Trees"	Banks, Cocker, Doyle, Mackey, Webber	4:51
3.	"Sunrise" (Fat Truckers/Scott Free Mix)	Banks, Cocker, Doyle, Mackey, Webber, Mansell	4:07

CD two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"The Trees"	Banks, Cocker, Doyle, Mackey, Webber	4:51
2.	"Sunrise"	Banks, Cocker, Doyle, Mackey, Webber, Mansell	5:53
3.	"The Trees" (Felled by I Monster)	Banks, Cocker, Doyle, Mackey, Webber	5:27

12"

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Sunrise" (All Seeing I - Middle of the Road Mix)	Banks, Cocker, Doyle, Mackey, Webber, Mansell	6:08
2.	"The Trees" (Felled by I Monster)	Banks, Cocker, Doyle, Mackey, Webber	5:27
3.	"The Trees" (Lovejoy the No Jazz Mix)	Banks, Cocker, Doyle, Mackey, Webber	4:47

References

1. Sturdy, Mark (2009). Truth And Beauty: The Story Of Pulp. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-103-5.

• "Sunrise/The Trees" at Discogs (list of releases)