Two Suns in the Sunset

Two Suns in the Sunset 5:17
     (written by Roger Waters)

Lyrics:
In my rear view mirror the sun is going down
Sinking behind bridges in the road
I think of all the good things
That we have left undone
And I suffer premonitions
Confirm suspicions
Of the Holocaust to come

The rusty wire that holds the cork
That keeps the anger in
Gives way, and suddenly it's day again
The sun is in the east
Even though the day is done
Two suns in the sunset
Could be the human race is run

Like the moment when the brakes lock
And you slide towards the big truck   Oh, no!
You stretch the frozen moments with your fear
And you'll never hear their voices   Daddy, daddy!
And you'll never see their faces
You have no recourse to the law any more

And as the windshield melts
And my tears evaporate
Leaving only charcoal to defend
Finally I understand the feelings of the Few
Ashes and diamonds
Foe and friend
We were all equal in the end

Radio:
Nuclear missiles... the head of the US... and now the weather — tomorrow will be cloudy with scattered showers, spreading... most of the home counties by late afternoon; a light fog, with an expected high of four thousand degrees Celsius...

Whereas the previous songs on the album seem to mostly be about betrayal of past generations, the finale concerns itself with loyalty to future generations, even less common.

Roger Waters: "That was a thought I had, driving home one night, thinking: We all sit around and talk about the possibility of accidents, or as I put it in the song, people just getting so bloody angry that finally somebody pushes a button. Well, the song's all about that moment when suddenly it happens, you know it's happened and you know, it's the end, you're dead, and it's the end of the world, and that you'll never see your kids again or your wife or anybody that you love and it's over. It's very easy to go 'Oh yes, well, there may be an accident and the holocaust may happen,' without having the feeling of what it might be like. And that's why it says in the song '...finally I understand the feelings of the Few' which is supposed to be a reference to the bomber and the gunner and all those people, my dad, and all the other war casualties. That song, I suppose, in a way is going back to the second song where there's a line, 'a warning to anyone still in command of their possible futures: to take care.'" [TAP 52]

Nick Mason: "I was going to play on it [Two Suns in the Sunset]; and then they more or less said 'Let's not get too precious about this — let Andy Newmark do it the way you want it done' rather than me spend weeks trying to get it absolutely stylistically right. It still doesn't seem that important to me." [TAP 52]

TRACK LISTING
Post War Dream, The
Your Possible Pasts
Hero's Return, The
Gunner's Dream, The
Paranoid Eyes
Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert
Fletcher Memorial Home, The
Southampton Dock
Final Cut, The
Not Now John
Two Suns in the Sunset