There's an interesting connection between this song and tracks from previous Fleet Foxes albums relating to the theme of the Sun.
From the Sun Giant EP (first release):
"What a life I lead when the sun breaks free
As a giant torn from the clouds"
In this track, the narrator hasn't yet seen the Sun. It's trapped behind clouds, but he is anticipating it being released. Here he sees the Sun as a symbol of the promise of a better life, a symbol of hope.
From "Sun it Rises" (second release) off the album "Fleet Foxes":
"Sun rising over my head
In the morning when I rise
Hold me dear into the night
Sun it will rise soon enough
Sun rising, dangling there
Golden and fair in the sky"
The sun has broken out of its prison and is beginning to rise into sky. The narrator has found a partner and they want to bask in its warmth. The narrator almost seems to be reassuring his partner that the sun is coming soon. It might be interpreted that the two have been living a difficult life and that the narrator is hoping the "Sun" will emerge soon and solve their problems.
Finally from this album (third release):
"Sunlight over me no matter what I do...
In the morning waking up to terrible sunlight
All diffuse like skin abuse the sun is half its size"
The sun has finally arisen, but it's nothing like the narrator had hoped. The promise and hope that it symbolized in the previous records have been perverted, and now the Sun has become a symbol of despair. Everywhere he goes, the narrator can't escape the Sun and its terrible light. By the next stanza, the narrators partner has left him, probably out of disillusionment by his empty promises.
There's an interesting connection between this song and tracks from previous Fleet Foxes albums relating to the theme of the Sun.
From the Sun Giant EP (first release):
"What a life I lead when the sun breaks free As a giant torn from the clouds"
In this track, the narrator hasn't yet seen the Sun. It's trapped behind clouds, but he is anticipating it being released. Here he sees the Sun as a symbol of the promise of a better life, a symbol of hope.
From "Sun it Rises" (second release) off the album "Fleet Foxes":
"Sun rising over my head In the morning when I rise
Hold me dear into the night Sun it will rise soon enough
Sun rising, dangling there Golden and fair in the sky"
The sun has broken out of its prison and is beginning to rise into sky. The narrator has found a partner and they want to bask in its warmth. The narrator almost seems to be reassuring his partner that the sun is coming soon. It might be interpreted that the two have been living a difficult life and that the narrator is hoping the "Sun" will emerge soon and solve their problems.
Finally from this album (third release):
"Sunlight over me no matter what I do...
In the morning waking up to terrible sunlight All diffuse like skin abuse the sun is half its size"
The sun has finally arisen, but it's nothing like the narrator had hoped. The promise and hope that it symbolized in the previous records have been perverted, and now the Sun has become a symbol of despair. Everywhere he goes, the narrator can't escape the Sun and its terrible light. By the next stanza, the narrators partner has left him, probably out of disillusionment by his empty promises.