Two Suns in the Sunset

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“Two Suns in the Sunset”

Song by Pink Floyd

Album

The Final Cut

Released

March 21, 1983 (UK)
April 2, 1983 (US)

Recorded

July-December 1982

Genre

Progressive rock

Length

~5:23

Label

Harvest Records (UK)
Capitol Records (US)

Writer

Roger Waters

Producer

Roger Waters, James Guthrie and Michael Kamen

The Final Cut track listing

Not Now John
(12)

“Two Suns in the Sunset”
(13)

"Two Suns in the Sunset" is the final song on Pink Floyd's 1983 concept album, The Final Cut. Partway through the song, the lyric "the sun is in the east, even though the day is done" is a metaphor referring to the glowing fireball of a nuclear explosion.

The Final Cut's main proponent was the band's bass player and controversial frontman, Roger Waters, previously a chair of the youth branch of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in Cambridge. "Two Suns in the Sunset" was his view on the world's end, thermonuclear war, which would ultimately end in nuclear winter. Waters later returned to this theme in his solo albums, most prominently so in Radio K.A.O.S., which dealt with this theme throughout the album.

It is notable for being one of the few Pink Floyd songs in which drummer Nick Mason does not feature. It was felt that Nick was not able to play the part well enough and so drumming duties were instead given over to Andy Newmark. The song also contains the same piercing scream by Roger Waters used on earlier songs such as "Careful with That Axe, Eugene".