This is a song about a social sui­cide, with a swing­ing but slight­ly apoc­a­lyp­tic feel to it.

I had­n’t writ­ten any­thing in 10 years or more, but once I had the basic struc­ture of this song (cho­rus: when this or that hap­pens, you’re past it — verse: you should­n’t have done this and that…) the words just kept flow­ing. In the end I had lyrics for 5 or 6 vers­es and so I had to cut it down to size.

There was one line that did­n’t make it but that I found too clever to scrap, so I turned it into a lit­tle after­thought with strange sound effects. That was fun. It’s great what effects and com­put­ers can do. I wish I could be one of them.

When the Sun Has Fallen — Lyrics

When the sun falls down
When the sky caves in
When what is has been
You’re past trou­ble and the world’s past mending

When the sea drops out
When the ice­berg boils
When your lifeboat recoils
You’re past sav­ing and the world is ending

You should­n’t have skipped the final lesson
Should­n’t have heaped all your confessions
Onto the girl with the pierc­ing scream
She’s just what she seems

You should­n’t have sipped the shal­low water
Should­n’t have drugged the Doc­tor’s daughters
Should­n’t have tak­en to extremes
Being nobody’s dream

When the sun contracts
When the fire dries up
When rota­tion has stopped
You’re past fix­es, sup­port is ending

When your new ground shifts
When your faith burns out
When the mute mass­es shout
You’re past prayer and your knees are past bending

You should­n’t have hid­den in the steeple
Should­n’t have min­gled with people
Should­n’t have talked as if redeemed
Oh you should­n’t have screamed

You should­n’t have made the cru­cial copy
The way you did, being sloppy
You should­n’t have planned, you should­n’t have schemed
You should­n’t have dreamed

When the top is blown
When rea­son has ceased
When gods can’t be appeased
You’re past guess­es and past comprehending

When sound stands still
When grav­i­ty rejects you
When your angels won’t pro­tect you
It’s no sur­prise you’ve had enough
There’s no ties and there’s no love
No point in try­ing to put it off
‘Cause when the sea has fallen
There’s no hope below and none above

You should­n’t have hid­den your agenda
Should­n’t have played The Great Pretender
They must have felt it, that’s not you
It did­n’t ring true