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.[2][3]

"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
GenreFolk rock[1]
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 Gilmour, Wright and Mason 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.[4] Waters also played it in 2022 on his 2022–23 show This Is Not a Drill.

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.[5] The song was partly inspired by Andrzej Wajda's movie Ashes and Diamonds (Polish: Popiół i Diament)[6]

Session drummer Andy Newmark plays drums on this song, as Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason felt unable to perform 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.[7][8][9]

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."[10]

Toby Manning was less enthusiastic in his retrospective review, saying that this was the one song off The Final Cut where the musician Waters couldn't stay on the same level as the conceptualist Waters.[11]

Personnel

with:

See also

References
  1. Moskowitz, David V. (2015). The 100 Greatest Bands of All Time: A Guide to the Legends Who Rocked the World. ABC-CLIO. p. 462. ISBN 978-1-4408-0340-6.
  2. Strong, Martin C. (2004). The Great Rock Discography (7th ed.). Edinburgh: Canongate Books. p. 1177. ISBN 1-84195-551-5.
  3. Mabbett, Andy (1995). The Complete Guide to the Music of Pink Floyd. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-4301-X.
  4. "Roger Waters Setlist at Itaipava Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador". setlist.fm.
  5. Glenn Povey (2007). Echoes: The Complete History of Pink Floyd. Mind Head Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9554624-0-5.
  6. "Pink Floyd news :: Brain Damage – May 26th 2006 – Poland web portal". www.brain-damage.co.uk.
  7. Pink Floyd: The Wall (1980 Pink Floyd Music Publishers Ltd., London, England, ISBN 0-7119-1031-6 [USA ISBN 0-8256-1076-1])
  8. Pink Floyd: The Final Cut (1983 Pink Floyd Music Publishers Ltd., London, England.)
  9. Bezer, Terry (26 March 2009). "Vintage Pink Floyd Interview – Part 1". Classic Rock. Archived from the original on 13 April 2009. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  10. Gerber, Justin (25 November 2008). "Dusting 'Em Off: Pink Floyd – The Final Cut". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  11. Toby, Manning (2010). The rough guide to Pink Floyd. Metro Books. ISBN 978-1-4351-2029-7. OCLC 714880424.


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