Setting Sun
Episode #204:\xa0 The Setting Sun. (Song starts at 4:12)\nIn the studio, I opened the songbook book and thought \u2018Hey, why haven\u2019t I featured Setting Sun on on an episode yet? It\u2019s been sitting there since 2013\u2019. So here we go.\nI thought I\u2019d have a sing and play through the song, but I did a quick search of my hard drive and found an old piano vocal demo. It\u2019s got lots of energy. A snapshot of a moment in time. That\u2019s what makes demos great.\nSo where does a song come from? Looking at my song book, I see the songs immediately before and after Setting Sun are quite serious\xa0 in a sort of a social conscience/ political style.\nI must\u2019ve been reading the news paper too much (something I don\u2019t do much)\u2026there\u2019s a line in the song: This news ain\u2019t news \u2026and it\u2019s driving me to tears.\nSo there\u2019s been some bad news happening for some time. But there\u2019s been good stuff as well.\nSetting sun is about acknowledging the situation and needing/choosing to rebuild - rebuilding society, connection, all the good stuff.\nIt\u2019s also about going too fast. \u2018Been on the run like an Apple stealing boy\u2026\u2019. Speaking of apples, they must\u2019ve been still on my mind on because late in this episode as I relate an anecdote about an airborne apple (perhaps it was me that threw the apple)..I particularly enjoy sharing some of the memories that pop into my mind as I talk about the songs.\nThis song is also about (potentially) evolving \u2018 I\u2019m on the brink of new dimension\u2026.(with a dose of reality): : or maybe having a drink ( perhaps not the most helpful coping mechanism), and did I mention\u2026.the setting sun.\nThe setting sun is a fairly cliched (cliched for a reason) image of a rather gloomy view of humanity.\nBut I\u2019m an optimist. I believe we can turn things around.\nPeople see the world as a storm of threats. If you\u2019ve been watching the news, we\u2019ll you\u2019d\xa0 be entitled to think that was the case.\nI think the reality is: there\u2019s a lot of good stuff going on in the world too, it just doesn\u2019t make the news very often.\nTo draw attention to all these \u2018heavy\u2019 things, I\u2019ve chosen to deliver \u2018the news\u2019 in an up sort of rocking song.\nThen, unexpectedly, the chorus drops back into halftime feel to acknowledge the gravity of the situation, and the same for a reflective quiet end, allowing time for reflection on what might be.\nThis is the power of music and words. Wrapping the heavy news in a somewhat lighter manner makes it more palatable, allowing for the message to get across - like it\u2019s inside some sort of Trojan horse, I suppose.\nI haven\u2019t set out to do this consciously. It was more of an automatic decision\u2026my optimistic self appears to be tied closely to my entertainer self: art and music can entertain and inform\u2026\nSpeaking of which, that\u2019s exactly what I\u2019m setting out to do each week on this podcast\u2026and my weekly blog: lots of good news here folks: art and music on offer here each week. www.petepascoe.wordpress.com\xa0. Enjoy.\nAnd I hope you enjoy this episode\u2019s song and chat as much as I\u2019ve enjoyed putting it together. Here we go: Setting Sun.