Pink Floyd Lyrics, Themes & Meanings: Fat Old Sun

Fat Old Sun 5:23
(written by David Gilmour)

Lyrics:
When the fat old sun in the sky is falling
Summer evening birds are calling
Summer Sunday and a year
The sound of music in my ears
Distant bells
New mown grass smells so sweet
By the river holding hands
Roll me up and lay me down

And if you see, don't make a sound
Pick your feet up off the ground
And if you hear as the warm night falls
The silver sound from a time so strange
Sing to me, sing to me

When that fat old sun in the sky is falling
Summer evening birds are calling
Children's laughter in my ears
The last sunlight disappears

And if you see, don't make a sound
Pick your feet up off the ground
And if you hear as the warm night falls
The silver sound from a time so strange
Sing to me, sing to me

When the fat old sun in the sky is falling
Summer evening birds...

Evensong church bells open this acoustic reverie directly inspired by Roger's Grantchester Meadows. Apparently that piece was sufficient to inspire Dave to write his second lyrical song ever, and the first of his own free will (see Ummagumma). The lyric here is certainly not brilliant, but it was a step forward for Dave to write it at all. This is the second of three Pink Floyd songs about Cambridge, the home town of Roger, Dave, and Syd, gently evoking the pastoral moods of the beautiful countryside. The last verse fades into an electric guitar solo, perhaps the best part of the song (certainly the most memorable). Dave sings in a high register which many have noted is very like the voice of the Kinks' Ray Davies, leading some to believe he might have 'borrowed' ideas from their song Lazy Old Sun.

Dave: "Maybe I ripped it off subconsciously. Who knows? They've never sued me. One sometimes gets the feeling about something that maybe one pinched it from someone; you can't figure out where on earth it's from. The added coincidence is that there were only one or two tape libraries around: the EMI Abbey Road library and one or two others, which mostly had the same sound effects. It can make a magical difference in a track if you put some bit of real atmosphere in the background, like church bells. Usually, you'd go find the bells, and it's the only set on tape that anyone can use. You'd often recognize exactly the same bit of birdsong on different records from that period."