The Sun: Under The Big Black Sun

X: Under The Big Black Sun [purchase]

"Smoke in one hand, looking for a drink,
Drink in the other hand,
Pointing out midnight."

Here's a "sun" song off a "sun" album from sunny southern California. And by sunny, of course I mean dark, seedy, noir-ish underbelly. Where some folks turn to The Doors for a Bukowskian visage of Los Angeles, I always opt for X, and this was X at their peak. Actually, with Ray Manzarek on board as producer of their first four albums ... that classic run from Los Angeles to More Fun In The New World ... it was both a bridge between generations and a passing of the torch. Of this tune, the album's title track, John Doe says, "The lyrics are mostly Exene's. I was listening to a lot of Bo Diddley then, so the melody was influenced by him."

"I'm doing everything alone,
Rave on children and try to sleep."