"Another Day in the Sun" is a song by Australian rock band the Moffs. It was originally released as a 7" vinyl single in May 1985 on the
Citadel Records
Citadel Records is an independent record label from Sydney, Australia. It was established in the early 1980s by John Needham. Bands released through Citadel include Died Pretty, Deniz Tek, Kim Salmon and the Surrealists, The Trilobites, Porcelain ...
label. The song became a signature song of the band. It was recorded at Paradise Studios in Sydney in February 1985. It was produced by Chris Logan, and engineered by Tom Colly. It was the band's first vinyl single, that followed their initial self-titled six-track cassette.
Writing
The song was written by
Tom Kazas
Tom Kazas (born 1965 in Sydney, Australia) is a composer/songwriter, record producer/sound engineer, film maker, broadcast operator and a post-utopian.
He was the singer, guitarist, songwriter/composer of the Australian psychedelic rock group The ...
, vocalist and guitarist of the Moffs. Kazas recalls that the song was influenced more by early
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...
than by 60s psychedelia. It is an example of the experimental nature of Kazas' songwriting for the Moffs.
The form of "Another Day in the Sun" is unconventional in a few ways. The vocal only enters after a long guitar solo. It has only seventeen lines, and then exits, to return to the guitar solo again. The four chords of the song, G/D/C/Em, were not unusual in themselves, but their re-arrangement was. The change from the more ubiquitous C/D/Em/C to the rarer G/D/C/Em, gave the song a dramatic and altered feel. The separately staggered entry of the instruments: drums – bass guitar – organ – guitar – voice, was also unusual. The fade out of the band at the ending of the songs reveals a piano arpeggiating the chords, was also unconventional. At a length of 4:51 it was rather long as a single, but this did not hinder the song being played on extensively on radio at the time.
The guitar solo is a semi-improvised take that only came to life in the studio when producer Chris Logan urged Kazas to turn on his tube screamer pedal, that he usually used live, but had strangely left off in an attempt to try for a different sound The lyrics a short poem, can be interpreted as positive and uplifting, but also somewhat melancholic. Kazas thinks this juxtaposition is also part of the song’s appeal.
Cover art
The front cover art was designed and hand drawn by graphic artist Benevision, aka Benjamin Evison. It is a literal rendering of the song title, with four people, ostensibly the four band members, 'in' the sun. Benevision created most of the visual material for the band, including cassette covers, album covers, posters and flyers.
Reception
"Another Day in the Sun" became a major independent success in Australia and internationally. It reached no.1 on the Australian Independent Charts and stayed in the top 20 for over four months. Australian music magazine
Rock Australia Magazine
''Rock Australia Magazine'' or ''RAM'' (its acronym and popular name) was a fortnightly national Australian music newspaper, which was published from 1975 to 1989. It was designed for people with a serious interest in rock and pop, and was co ...
(RAM) at the time wrote, "The Moffs have strung together every solemn rock'n'roll cliché and somehow succeeded in creating the most perfect yearning melancholy spine-tingler since White Rabbit". The song was also embraced by the underground music scenes in the UK and Europe, with Jon Storey of influential UK fanzine '' Bucketfull of Brains'' calling it "single of the year...this is the best of the flawless series of Citadel singles, and believe me, the competition is fierce".
B-side
"Clarodomineaux" is the B-side of the single, written by Tom Kazas. The song's name is a
portmanteaux
A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsSurry Hills, Sydney), and ' dominoes' (the tile game). The 'eaux' suffix extended the word play of the title. Playing dominoes at the Clarendon Hotel was a favourite past-time of David Byrnes (bass player) and Alan Hislop (drummer) at the time of recording the song. Apart from the more recognisable 60s-style rock riff, the song is notable for its middle section. This has a 3/4-time lilt, that along with the chords and melodies, give this section a medieval folk feel. It also features a vocal by Tatjana Grujic. The lyrics allude to the unstable nature of words, to the doubt created by language itself, and to the logic it entrenches.
Personnel
*Tom Kazas – guitar, vocals, piano
*David Byrnes – bass guitar
*Alan Hislop – drums
*Nick Potts – organ
*Tatjana Grujic – vocals on "Clarodomineaux"
Usage in media
*The song was used in a 2010 episode of the Australian TV series '' Spirited''. It appears on the series soundtrack.
*The song was used in an Australian '' Vogue'' Ksubi fashion show in 2010.
* Jagwar Ma + Dreems covered the song in 2015.
*Words of the song are physically embodied at a memorial at Leighton Beach,
Fremantle
Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...