Eco-communities as a social vision

Eco-communities as a social vision
Egalitarian and ecological communities, like the pictured East Wind (www.eastwind.org), are very close to our vision of an ecological society

13 October, 2008

“The Sun Is Burning” by Ian Campbell (1963)


The sun is burning in the sky
Strands of clouds go slowly drifting by
In the park the lazy breeze
Are joining in the flowers, among the trees
And the sun burns in the sky

Now the sun is in the West
Little kids go home to take their rest
And the couples in the park
Are holdin' hands and waitin' for the dark
And the sun is in the West

Now the sun is sinking low
Children playin' know it's time to go
High above a spot appears
A little blossom blooms and then draws near
And the sun is sinking low

Now the sun has come to Earth
Shrouded in a mushroom cloud of death
Death comes in a blinding flash
Of hellish heat and leaves a smear of ash
And the sun has come to Earth

Now the sun has disappeared
All is darkness, anger, pain and fear
Twisted, sightless wrecks of men
Go groping on their knees and cry in pain
And the sun has disappeared


A metaphoric song about a nuclear disaster: a nuclear explosion produces heat like the sun and is like the beneficial in its distance sun has touched the Earth. Then it disappears leaving darkess, havoc, complete disaster. This song has also been covered by Simon & Garfunkel in their debute in 1964.

You can hear this cover in youtube

7 comments:

candiru - stratis aigaiopelagitis said...

Because there is an artist with the same name in hiphop, we put the article in all music about this old British folk singer:

Ian Campbell & the Ian Campbell Folk Group were Britain's favorite folk performers, bar none, during the '60s. Based in Birmingham, they featured singers Ian and Lorna Campbell of Aberdeen as well as Dave Swarbrick and Dave Pegg, later of Fairport Convention. Their arrangements are somewhat dated today, but with their rousing guitar, banjo, and fiddle accompaniments, some songs still sound fresh, and Swarbrick in particular was ahead of his time.

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Anonymous said...

In the first verse, the words are "In the park, the dreamy bees are droning in the flowers, among the trees."

Anonymous said...

Anonymous above is right about the first verse lyrics. It's a shame that this important song is often attributed to artists like Simon and Garfunkel or Luke Kelly rather than to its correct author, Ian Campbell. In the description "A metaphoric song about a nuclear disaster...". I hardly think so... go and read your history if you don't know better.

Gregor said...

^Anonymous above me could not be more unhelpful. If you want to enlighten people who "don't know better" then you should include something specific to start from as history is pretty big. Otherwise, keep your superiority to yourself.

Ann said...

I would think the song describes the effect of the detonation of a nuclear bomb. As it was first recorded in 1963 when I bought a copy of the single it might well have been influenced by the Cuban missile crisis of 1962.