Sunshine Lyrics
pure grunge...pure alice in chains...
musically i think this is among their best songs. every member in this band contributes to the song, the bassline that thunders out at just the right moments, that fuckin solo... the contrast of verse/bridge/chorus, the way the tempo slows... it makes me want to slit my wrists.
as for the lyrics, definitely about a woman getting pregnant, i had a feeling it was the virgin mary, "dude came down" - god descended from heaven to impregnate her. it would fit with the religious theme of a lot of the songs on this album (most specifically man in the box, bleed the freak...) also the mention of a soul.
but yeah i see everyones point that its probably a song written from the point of view of a kid whose dad left them. I like the way he refers to his dad as "some dude". and it makes sense that he asks, is he like his father, "reflection"; did he catch the disease (tendency to be a bad father) genetically ("contagious"), and will he in turn defile someone with his love the way his biological father left him.
mostly i love the darkness of the word sunshine. its a name that parents often call their kids, he's using it ironically and that's accentuated by the dark music. "sweet love, my labour" - his mother loves him even though it was such a burden bringing him up alone. The word "labour" is ambiguous - it refers to his birth, but labour also means hard work, so his birth caused hard work for his mother. I like it.
very cathartic song. "set me free." "don't mind." "i don't care no more".
No relation, I'd say the songs about Layne's father. "Then some dude came down to touch the Mother Mother touched and dude ain't here no more." I think refers to how Layne's father met Layne's mother, had sex with her (touched the mother), then she had Layne, and then Layne's father left (Dude ain't here no more).
Maybe not rape, just my opinion, but about a guy who didn't own up to his responsibilty leaving the mother alone to raise a child by herself thus leaving many questions to be answered by a child growing up and even into adulthood. I think the song further implies that the mother accepts her "burden" and does not resent or regret this child. I think this song is one of their most soulfull songs with a great solo by Jerry.
The protagonist is sickened and ashamed, probably of himself, or maybe not only himself and finds relief in what he refers to as "sunshine". My guess is also that this one's about a mother raising a child on her own. It's important to note that (by my opinion) the verses are the child's words and in the chorus are the mother's.
Anyway,this song is No.1 AIC in my list and I usually don't have favorite songs, but this one means so much to me, I love it!
Very good!
Very good!
Perhaps as well you might think of the protagonist as having lost a father (or male figure) for reasons beyond one's control.. longing for a connection that clearly isn't reciprocated. Doesn't really have to be the father, but since the mother was and is addressed forthright, it kind of made more sense it'd be a 'male' role model...
Perhaps as well you might think of the protagonist as having lost a father (or male figure) for reasons beyond one's control.. longing for a connection that clearly isn't reciprocated. Doesn't really have to be the father, but since the mother was and is addressed forthright, it kind of made more sense it'd be a 'male' role model...
'Then some dude came down to touch the Mother, Mother touched, and dude ain't here no more... Suck your woman down'
'Then some dude came down to touch the Mother, Mother touched, and dude ain't here no more... Suck your woman down'
'to brand some name across my back... so you care? Find someone to tell you!'
'to brand some name across my back... so you care? Find someone to tell you!'
lastly- perhaps he...
lastly- perhaps he sees himself becoming the same person he hated all this time....wondering whether or not this is the case and looking for 'mother' to answer him truthfully...worrying whether he's to be the same 'hurting' type as what he's been shown....
then realizing- why bother self reflecting- no one cares to answer him anyways..
Agreed with your interpretation, and the general consensus. Jerry Cantrell wrote this song after the passing of his mother, so it's an emotional one (with a cool riff).
Agreed with your interpretation, and the general consensus. Jerry Cantrell wrote this song after the passing of his mother, so it's an emotional one (with a cool riff).
The lyric "Then some dude came down to touch the mother" does seem reminiscent of the Bible (the birth of Jesus to the virgin Mary) - perhaps a way of portraying the Mother as a sort of saintly woman, while defacing the father as "some dude."
The lyric "Then some dude came down to touch the mother" does seem reminiscent of the Bible (the birth of Jesus to the virgin Mary) - perhaps a way of portraying the Mother as a sort of saintly woman, while defacing the father as "some dude."
I agree he seems to be comparing himself to his father (who apparently runs off), and questioning himself as a person.
I agree he seems to be comparing himself to his father (who apparently runs off), and questioning himself as a person.
But...
But his mother comforts him and loves him (affectionately calling him "sunshine"), tells him "don't mind" and he ceases to worry ("I don't care no more") - all is right in the world because of a mother's love.
I always thought that maybe "came down to touch the Mother" had some religious meaning
i thought it was religious too
I say its pretty much entirely about Jerry's mother. "mother please, come for me"
"dude (his father) aint here any more", parents divorvced
"Is my soul entier?" missing part of his soul - mother died few years befor this song was created
Sunshine his last connection to all that is good telling his lovely dog he just dosent care any more as hes lost everything that mattered.
Could be really wrong but just as i see it.
This is one of AiC's saddest songs in my opinion. As others have stated, I believe this song is about Jerry Cantrell's memories of his mother's last days. But I'm going to analyse it verse-by-verse:
Am I too contagious? (Jerry asking himself if his negativity affects others too much) Full of sick desire (His negativity. I don't know exactly what he means by this, but the rest of the lyrics seem to indicate my interpretation) Am I that I promise? (questioning if he's strong enough to handle her death) Burning corpsed pyre (I believe this is a general vision of death and his fear of it, a burning corpse pyre)
Then some dude came down to touch the Mother (his father coming down to his senses to support his mother) Mother touched, and dude ain't here no more (But his father very coldly just touches Jerry's mother a little then leaves) Suck your woman down (sarcastically asking his father to treat her worse, as if he isn't treating her bad enough already)
He's very critical of his father in this song, remember this song was recorded way before Rooster (a homage to his father), when they made peace with eachother.
Am I your reflection? (Jerry realizing how similar he is to his mother) Melting mirror smile (both of them smiling a sad smile at eachother, as both of them know she's dying) Am I worth the value? (Jerry asking himself if he deserves to have a mother) Do my love defile? (asking if his love will fade)
Then some dude came down to touch the Mother Mother touched, and dude ain't here no more Ain't no day the sun don't crack (there was no day that wasn't sad when his mother was dying, his father contributing to this, as this is placed in the same verse of the other lines about him)
Then to brand some name across my back, so you care? (yet his father has named Jerry after himself) Find someone to tell you (Jerry thinks his father is that cold because no one ever told him what he is about to mention) Sunshine... sweet love, my labor (his mother addressing Jerry at her deathbed, telling him he is the fruit her labor) Don't mind... I don't care no more (she tells him to not mind her death, as she herself has already accepted it)
Memory, set me free, yeah (he's trying to forget the pain her death caused him) I don't care no more (remembering her words once again) Mother please, come for me (asking his mother to come back)
Can you face the question? (facing the question of not knowing when we will die) Is my soul entire? (is his soul entire now that she died) Sunshine...sweet love, my labor Don't mind... I don't care no more
@kachimbo11 I think you nailed it with your interpretation. I agree with most but will add just a couple items.
@kachimbo11 I think you nailed it with your interpretation. I agree with most but will add just a couple items.
Full of sick desire - either: he wishes so hard that his mother was back that it's affecting his life in general, he himself said he doesn't know how to function now that his mother is gone. OR - Conversely, this loss has caused him to run to a life of excess as a way of trying to cover up and blunt his feelings and emotions over her death (much like people "pour themselves into their work"). This lifestyle has...
Full of sick desire - either: he wishes so hard that his mother was back that it's affecting his life in general, he himself said he doesn't know how to function now that his mother is gone. OR - Conversely, this loss has caused him to run to a life of excess as a way of trying to cover up and blunt his feelings and emotions over her death (much like people "pour themselves into their work"). This lifestyle has allowed him to give in to debauched excesses that most would perhaps consider him to be "full of sick desire," i.e., the worse (for him), the better. He may feel so inconsolable and lost, but he "don't mind...I don't care no more." He's so numb at this point, that he feels numb to the awful things he's now doing. See, Jerry acts like a badass mofo rocker, but deep down, I don't think that's really who he is. I think he just went there because at that point in his life he had nothing else. Layne scooped him up when he was at his lowest point, and the rocked the world together. And when the opportunity for said debauchery presented itself, he grabbed it with both hands, even though it might not actually have been something he would have gravitated toward.
Am I that I promise? - I think this is based on his promise to his mother to become famous, make money, buy her a house so that she'd never have to work another day in her life (which she had to do to keep the 4 of them all afloat). But now that she's gone, he is unable to fulfill his promise to her, and he feels guilty about that.
Am I worth the value? - this may be Jerry asking himself if he's worth living at this point, what's the use, everyone he loves has died. He's living this weird lifestyle that he likes, but at the same time he feels kind of guilty about it, because many people might look down upon it, so he wonders if he's even worth being around anymore.
Do my love defile? - Wondering if he'll follow the same path as his father when it comes to women - doing hurtful things to them, breaking their hearts, leaving them behind, acting uncaring. Again, I think Jerry WANTS a long term relationship, but his lifestyle (in his own words) as turned him into a "wolf" where he just goes in for the kill, and then moves on.
Memory, set me free - I think he's reverting back to his memories with his mother because that's when his life was happy, peaceful, and carefree. The memories he had from then take him away from this new world of pain, uncertainty and death.
I don't care no more - he's numb, emotionless, doesn't really care one way or another what happens to him.
Is my soul entire? - he feels as if his soul has been ripped out of him, or broken in pieces. He can't seem to reconcile continuing through his life feeling the way he does, broken.
I've always had a heart for Jerry - he gets deserted by his father, loses the 2 people closest to him at a young age, then gets rescued by the most amazing person he's ever met, only to watch said rescuer die a long, slow, agonizing, self-inflicted death, crushing all of Jerry's dreams and goals in the process, forcing Jerry to do things he never wanted to do, and go forward with a limping band of friends that's never been the same since the rescuer died. WHAT a life he's had.
I like this song, I not sure what it's about though? something sexual apparently.
from what I get, the verses are about some guy who raped a woman"am I too congtagious full of sick desire" and the chorus seems like someone telling the story of the rape "then some dude came down to tocuh the Mother" anyways.... great song