Songs about the Sun?
February 19, 2010 1:52 PM   Subscribe

Songs about the Sun?

I'm making a Sun themed mix CD to send to some people for the Vernal Equinox. Give me your best songs about the Sun!
posted by piedmont to Media & Arts (70 answers total) 8 users marked this as a favorite
 
Here Comes the Sun: Beatles
posted by craven_morhead at 1:53 PM on February 19, 2010


You are My Sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me hapEEEEEE, when skys are grey...
posted by Melismata at 1:54 PM on February 19, 2010


Why Does The Sun Shine--They Might Be Giants
posted by cottonswab at 1:55 PM on February 19, 2010




TMBG - Why Does the Sun Shine?

and - as that song is factually inaccurate - tmbg - why does the sun REALLY shine
posted by nadawi at 1:56 PM on February 19, 2010


Waiting for the sun, Doors.
posted by fixedgear at 1:57 PM on February 19, 2010


also - 100+ songs about the sun and sunshine
posted by nadawi at 1:57 PM on February 19, 2010 [1 favorite]


Maybe not peppy enough for something celebrating the vernal equinox, but the first song that comes to mind is Soundgarden-Black Hole Sun
posted by Ashley801 at 1:58 PM on February 19, 2010 [1 favorite]


Ain't No Sunshine — Eva Cassidy
Sunset — Kate Bush
Don't Look Back Into the Sun — The Libertines
Sunrise — Norah Jones
Blister In The Sun — Violent Femmes
Who Loves The Sun — The Velvet Underground

:)
posted by jaffacakerhubarb at 1:58 PM on February 19, 2010


Asleep In A Sunbeam by Belle and Sebastian is pretty good!
posted by NoraReed at 1:58 PM on February 19, 2010


100+ Songs About Sun & Sunshine
posted by Skot at 1:58 PM on February 19, 2010


Sun comes up, it's Tuesday morning, Cowboy Junkies.
posted by fixedgear at 1:59 PM on February 19, 2010




I Don't Believe In The Sun by the Magnetic Fields
posted by milarepa at 1:59 PM on February 19, 2010


ARGH! Stupid not-previewing me.
posted by Skot at 2:00 PM on February 19, 2010


Ritual (Nous Sommes Du Soleil) by Yes.
posted by goethean at 2:03 PM on February 19, 2010 [1 favorite]


Walking on Sunshine
posted by Abbril at 2:04 PM on February 19, 2010 [1 favorite]


Staring at the Sun - TV on the Radio
posted by the foreground at 2:05 PM on February 19, 2010




Heart of the Sunrise - Yes
Saturday Sun - Nick Drake
Talking Shit About a Pretty Sunset - Modest Mouse
Walking in the Sunshine - Roger Miller
Everybody Loves the Sunshine - Roy Ayers
posted by saladin at 2:07 PM on February 19, 2010


A bit esoteric, but even more factual than the TMBG song:

Laibach's Hymn to the Black Sun

It'll definitely add some variety to the mix, as an added bonus...
posted by Shepherd at 2:08 PM on February 19, 2010


Oh, almost forgot: We'll Sing in the Sunshine - Bobby Bare and Skeeter Davis.
posted by saladin at 2:09 PM on February 19, 2010


Sunshine (Go Away Today), by Jonathan Edwards (perhaps best remembered from the soundtrack to Anchorman)
posted by bookgirl18 at 2:09 PM on February 19, 2010


Night on the Sun by Modest Mouse?
I'll Bring the Sun by Jason Collett
Sun is Shining by Bob Dylan?
posted by tmcw at 2:13 PM on February 19, 2010


Hard Sun - Eddie Vedder
posted by clearly at 2:16 PM on February 19, 2010


Soak up the Sun by Sheryl Crow
posted by NoraCharles at 2:17 PM on February 19, 2010


Blue Sunny Day by Jonathan Coulton is pretty good! It's about a sad vampire who is upset about how the sun is out. That might not be what you are going for? (First of May is also an option, and might not be what you're looking for either, on account of it being about sex outside)
posted by NoraReed at 2:17 PM on February 19, 2010


Here's Raffi singing Mr. Sun
posted by ODiV at 2:17 PM on February 19, 2010


Flaming Lips - Assassination of the Sun
Rusted Root - Cruel Sun
Great Lakes Swimmers - I Will Never See the Sun
Joseph Arthur/Michael Stipe - In The Sun
Polyphonic Spree - It's The Sun
Ben Harper - She's Only Happy In The Sun
Grateful Dead - Sunrise
Bright Eyes - Sunrise Sunset
Billy Miles - Sunshine
Regina Spektor - Sunshine
Nick Drake - Things Behind The Sun
Beck - Sweet Sunshine
Girlyman - Through To Sunrise
Big Kenny - Under The Sun
posted by knile at 2:19 PM on February 19, 2010


He Likes the Sun by Tanita Tikaram

I Never Knew You from the Sun by The Innocence Mission

Fat Old Sun by Pink Floyd
posted by The Deej at 2:21 PM on February 19, 2010


Here Comes the Sun.......King
posted by grobstein at 2:22 PM on February 19, 2010


The Sun -- Flaming Lips
posted by whiskeyspider at 2:26 PM on February 19, 2010


My friend the sun by Family. Could be even better than Here comes the sun (which is a sacred text for me, so that's saying something).
posted by lapsangsouchong at 2:27 PM on February 19, 2010


And obviously Waterloo Sunset by the Kinks, another sacred text.
posted by lapsangsouchong at 2:28 PM on February 19, 2010


Lay Back In The Sun - Spiritualized
posted by joe lisboa at 2:29 PM on February 19, 2010


That Lucky Old Sun. I'm partial to the Johnny Cash version, but there are other good ones out there.
posted by chez shoes at 2:36 PM on February 19, 2010


Higher Than the Sun - Primal Scream
posted by Babblesort at 2:37 PM on February 19, 2010


The Ballad of Dr. Sun
posted by grobstein at 2:43 PM on February 19, 2010


Yeasayer Sunrise
Chemical Brothers Setting Sun (hah, remember this? it's that part of the 90's nobody has revived yet!)
Pink Floyd "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun"
posted by citron at 2:46 PM on February 19, 2010


When the Day Met the Night- Panic at the Disco
posted by kylej at 2:54 PM on February 19, 2010


The Stranglers - Always the Sun
posted by theraflu at 3:03 PM on February 19, 2010


the wonderful and brilliant Kristin Hersh: Sundrops
Serge Gainsbourg! Sous le soleil exactement
Prince - Play in the Sunshine
Aretha Franklin - Hello Sunshine (so great!)

"House of the Rising Sun" may or may not qualify, but fwiw my favorite version of that is by Nina Simone.
posted by citron at 3:03 PM on February 19, 2010


Pink Floyd - Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun
posted by Hiker at 3:07 PM on February 19, 2010


The Big Pink - At War With the Sun
The Dentists - The Sun in the Sands
Julian Cope - Sunspots
Paul Weller - Shadow of the Sun
Super Furry Animals - Cardiff in the Sun
Supergrass - Sun Hits the Sky
Teenage Fanclub - The Sun Shines from You
Zombies - Walking in the Sun
posted by dayintoday at 3:09 PM on February 19, 2010


Waiting for the Sun by the Jayhawks
posted by platinum at 3:11 PM on February 19, 2010


Everybody's Missing The Sun - The Gourds. (Sorry if the link is screwy - I'm a n00b and don't know how yet!
posted by GoodShipLollypop at 3:23 PM on February 19, 2010


I'm really into the original version of Hard Sun by Indio/Gordon Peterson. I love the Eddie Vedder version, but this one is great too with Joni Mitchell doing backup. Peterson was asked about that song, in a rare interview...
Is that what's behind "Hard Sun"?
That's a very interesting song, because some people don't quite get it. It's written in the guise of a relationship between a man and a woman. The woman represents Mother Earth and she's slipping away from him -- and it's about how one person can completely throw off the whole balance. Yet, there are lots of people who just don't get the metaphor."
posted by jessamyn at 3:28 PM on February 19, 2010


Pixies - Distance equals Rate times Time
Mutton Birds - Too Close to the Sun
posted by jet_silver at 3:31 PM on February 19, 2010


Heliopolis By Night - Aberfeldy
Ain't no Sunshine - by Bill Withers - but Sivuca's version is the sunniest.
posted by rongorongo at 3:35 PM on February 19, 2010


oh and - Icarus - by Martin Stephenson
posted by rongorongo at 3:38 PM on February 19, 2010


I Am The Sun - Dark Star
Children Of The Sun - Hawkwind
Black Sun - Loop
Walking On The Sun - Smash Mouth
posted by Chairboy at 3:42 PM on February 19, 2010


Perhaps a bit dark, and only using the Sun as a metaphor, but Rammstein's Sonne is a good song for this if you take it only at face value.
posted by strixus at 3:44 PM on February 19, 2010


WTF? Fifty comments and no Ghostface? The Sun makes all these other songs wish they'd never been written. LOOK WHO'S SHINING AGAIN!

Man, I am glad you posted to this because I just put The Sun on and I am in a much better mood. YEAH! THE SUN!
posted by jeb at 3:46 PM on February 19, 2010


Sun oh Sun -- War

"Sun blows my mind ... and keeps my tonsils dry"

great song, great band, but not known for lyrical brilliance.
posted by lex mercatoria at 3:49 PM on February 19, 2010 [1 favorite]


Unfortunately, the second I saw the title, Seasons in the Sun popped into my head, and now it will be there for months. Thanks for that.
posted by Dojie at 3:51 PM on February 19, 2010


Ritual (Nous Sommes Du Soleil) by Yes.

Alternately, The Ancient (Giants Under the Sun) by Yes. Same album (Tales From Topographic Oceans), same basic length (better part of 20 minutes), same depth of esoteric seriousness (perhaps influenced by spending too much time in t he sun).
posted by philip-random at 4:06 PM on February 19, 2010


and of course Utopia's Communion with the Sun. Dig that glass guitar.
posted by philip-random at 4:08 PM on February 19, 2010


Not exactly about the sun, but The Police's King of Pain references the sun.
posted by Simon Barclay at 4:21 PM on February 19, 2010


Ooh, great question! One of my favorites:

First Man on the Sun - BabyBird
posted by iamkimiam at 4:49 PM on February 19, 2010


Into the Sun - Sean Lennon.
posted by penduluum at 5:15 PM on February 19, 2010




Surely Billy Thorpe's "Children of the Sun"?
posted by steef at 5:47 PM on February 19, 2010


Sun it Rises and Sun Giant by Fleet Foxes.

Sunshine Superman by Donovan.

Mambo Sun by T. Rex

Sun is Shining by Bob Marley, but I'm partial to the Finley Quaye cover; it's the same song, but called Sunday Shining.

Who Loves the Sun by the Velvet Underground.

The most Vernal Equinoxist song I can think of, though, after "Here Comes the Sun," doesn't reference the sun; "Mr Blue Sky" by Electric Light Orchestra.
posted by ROTFL at 6:49 PM on February 19, 2010


Lo Fine - Warm From Bed Sun
The Perceptionists - Breathe in the Sun
Lucinda Black Bear - Noon Day Sun
The Toms - Sun
Lady & Bird - Run in the Morning Sun
Harmony Boys - Sunshine Lover
Two Gallants - Kill Sunshine
The Lucksmiths - Up with the Sun
Kathy Diamond - Until the Sun Goes Down
Isen Biter - What If the Sun Goes Down
Status Quo - Ice in the Sun

Oh, and my favorite version of In the Sun is the solo Joseph Arthur live version.
posted by Kattullus at 9:41 PM on February 19, 2010


There are a lot of Sun Ra tunes that might work, if you're interested in instrumentals. But here's "When There is No Sun" with vocals.

Yochannan (feat. Sun Ra)- The Sun One, The Sun Man Speaks
Barbara McNair - When The Sun Comes Out
Joan Baez - Rejoice in the Sun (from the 70s sci-fi flick Silent Running)
Vashti Bunyan - Hebridean Sun
Herman Düne - When the Sun Rose Up This Morning
Daniel Johnston - The Sun Shines Down On Me
The Kinks - Lazy Old Sun
Brigitte Bardot - Nue au Soleil (Nude in the sun)
posted by hydrophonic at 10:49 PM on February 19, 2010


Nedelle - "Heatstroke"

Opening verse:
The truth about the sun
It's only fire and no fun
They say it's an average star
Not so great at all
Relatively small
posted by polyester.lumberjack at 12:40 AM on February 20, 2010


Summer Sun -- Texas....awesome song.
posted by juva at 3:08 AM on February 20, 2010


ooops, it's actually called Summer Son.
posted by juva at 3:10 AM on February 20, 2010


Jakki - Sun Sun Sun
posted by hydrophonic at 9:32 AM on February 21, 2010


Up on the Sun/Meat Puppets
posted by AJaffe at 5:13 PM on February 21, 2010


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