Two Suns in the Sunset

"Two Suns in the Sunset" is the closing track on Pink Floyd's 1983 concept album The Final Cut, and Roger Waters' final chronological contribution to the band, before leaving in 1985.[1][2]

"Two Suns in the Sunset"
Song by Pink Floyd
from the album The Final Cut
PublishedPink Floyd Music Publishers Ltd
Released21 March 1983 (UK)
2 April 1983 (US)
RecordedJuly–December 1982
GenreProgressive rock, art rock
Length5:23
LabelHarvest Records (UK)
Columbia Records (US)
Songwriter(s)Roger Waters
Producer(s)

Since there was no promotional tour for The Final Cut, and this album was entirely ignored by the band during the tours for A Momentary Lapse of Reason and The Division Bell, "Two Suns in the Sunset" was never performed live by Pink Floyd. However, Roger Waters, as a solo artist, premiered the song almost 35 years after its release in a concert from the Us + Them Tour, held on 17 October 2018 at Itaipava Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.[3]

Lyrics and music

Partway through the song, the lyric "the sun is in the east, even though the day is done" refers to the glowing fireball of a nuclear explosion.[4] The song was partly inspired by Andrzej Wajda's movie Ashes and Diamonds (Polish: Popiół i Diament)[5]

Session drummer Andy Newmark plays drums on this song, as Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason was unable to perform the song, due to its complex time signature changes. The song begins and ends in 9/8 time, while the majority of the song is in 4/4 (or "common time"), and it is punctuated with added measures of 7/8 and 3/8. Adding to the complexity, the main theme of the rhythm guitar has chords changing emphatically in dotted eighth notes, so three eighth-note beats are divided equally in two. This is not unlike what "Mother", from the previous Pink Floyd album, The Wall, does, and on that song, Mason relinquished the drumming duties, in that case to Jeff Porcaro.[6][7][8]

Reception

In a review for The Final Cut, Justin Gerber of Consequence of Sound described "Two Suns in the Sunset" as "the album's crowning achievement."[9]

Personnel

with:

See also

References
  1. Strong, Martin C. (2004). The Great Rock Discography (7th ed.). Edinburgh: Canongate Books. p. 1177. ISBN 1-84195-551-5.
  2. Mabbett, Andy (1995). The Complete Guide to the Music of Pink Floyd. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-4301-X.
  3. https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/roger-waters/2018/itaipava-arena-fonte-nova-salvador-brazil-3b96845c.html
  4. Glenn Povey (2007). Echoes: The Complete History of Pink Floyd. Mind Head Publishing. ISBN 0-9554624-0-1.
  5. http://www.brain-damage.co.uk/roger-waters-interviews/may-26th-2006-poland-web-portal.html
  6. Pink Floyd: The Wall (1980 Pink Floyd Music Publishers Ltd., London, England, ISBN 0-7119-1031-6 [USA ISBN 0-8256-1076-1])
  7. Pink Floyd: The Final Cut (1983 Pink Floyd Music Publishers Ltd., London, England.)
  8. Terry Bezer, Vintage Pink Floyd Interview — Part 1 Archived 2009-04-13 at the Wayback Machine, Classic Rock Magazine, 26 March 2009.
  9. Gerber, Justin (25 November 2008). "Dusting 'Em Off: Pink Floyd – The Final Cut". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 27 July 2017.


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