"Night on the Sun" by Modest Mouse Analysis

This nine minute and twenty two second song has the capability of letting the listener completely engross themselves in the complexity of the lyrics and the intense fluctuation of the instrumentals. The lyrical content is a heavy message once analyzed, showing the agony Isaac Brock is trying to portray towards his listeners. The recurring theme throughout the song refers to Brock dealing with his depression in two ways - finding the darkness in the brightest situations, but also convincing himself that things will be and are okay.

The opening lyric, the song starting with the pre-chorus, doesn’t waste time with getting to the point. “So, turn off the light cause it’s night on the sun” is the ultimate link to the title of the song showing that Brock wants to be confined in his darkness away from any sense of sun. The following verse transitions into a glimpse of why he may be feeling this way, referring to a person, presumably a past lover, that hurt him by saying he hopes the best for them.

The chorus has multiple references towards blood in a metaphorical way, asking this person to stab their blood into him and “blend.” “Blend” is Brock’s way of pleading to understand this person’s thoughts and decisions by “blending their blood together,” whether that involves pain or not. He also alludes to how he eats his own blood in order to get to know himself, but what he finds out is too overwhelming for him - “I eat my own blood and get filled up get filled up I get filled up on me and end so turn off the light.” The repetition of the pre-chorus and chorus drives Brock’s emotional weight into the rest of the song.

A two minute interlude of a simplistic but heavy sounding guitar solo was strategically written and placed between the chorus and the outro to evoke more emotion out of the listener and draw them closer. Following the powerful solo comes a strong message against the world Brock is adverting to. “Well there's one thing to know about this town It's five hundred miles underground and that's alright” is an innuendo stating that this town he is talking about is so-called hell, but the point of where he is at, he doesn’t care, hence the “that’s alright.” The lines following are slight variations of the first lyric from the outro, mentioning the globe, the earth, and the town once more, but the second time this town is mentioned, Brock is emphasizing on the fact that everyone there wants him dead - “Not a person doesn't want me underground.”

As Modest Mouse finalized their masterpiece, they included yet another invoking sound via guitars, drums and bass to allow the listener to receive a more calming sense of mind for the last remaining three minutes of the song.