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I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me

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Not to be confused with Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me.

"I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"
First release
Single by Nik Kershaw
from the album Human Racing
B-side"Dark Glasses"
Released31 October 1983
4 June 1984 (re-release)
Genre
Length3:19
LabelMCA
Songwriter(s)Nik Kershaw
Producer(s)Peter Collins
Nik Kershaw singles chronology
"I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"
(1983) 		"Wouldn't It Be Good"
(1984)
"Dancing Girls"
(1984)
"I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me (re-issue)"
(1984)
"Human Racing"
(1984)

"I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" is a song written and performed by the English singer-songwriter Nik Kershaw. It was his first single, released in 1983 to little success, but was re-released in 1984 and became his highest charting hit, peaking at no. 2 in the UK. The song was included on Kershaw's debut album Human Racing.

Song history

"I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" first charted in November 1983, though despite spending 8 weeks in the UK Top 100, only reached number 47. However, the follow-up single, "Wouldn't It Be Good", reached the top five and after a further Top 20 hit with "Dancing Girls", "I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" was re-released and soared to number two. It was also subsequently a major hit in several other countries and was responsible for bringing Kershaw to greater public attention.

During an appearance on BBC One's The One Show in June 2015, Pete Waterman claimed he produced the record. Kershaw took to social media to point out that "I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" was in fact produced by Peter Collins, who is credited on all releases as the record's sole producer. (Waterman managed Collins at the time the song was recorded, but had no involvement in the actual production of the track.)[1]

Lyrics

The song was written during the latter part of the Cold War period when nuclear war between the two superpowers of the USSR and United States was still a very real concern, and the lyrics reflect a satirical view of politics and the threat of war with lines such as: "old men in stripey trousers, rule the world with plastic smiles", and: "forefinger on the button, is he blue or is he red?"

In September 1984, Kershaw told Number One magazine:[2]

It's probably not immediately obvious but "I Won't Let the Sun" is about The Bomb, or rather about people taking responsibility for what they do generally. It's saying that it probably won't do much good for one person to shout about these things but I'm going to anyway.

Musical arrangement

The song was originally written as a folk protest song, but as Kershaw's manager had signed him up to Peter Collins and Pete Waterman's Loose Ends production company, it turned into a pop anthem in the studio.[3]

In Kershaw's version, the synth tune was produced with an Oberheim OB-8 played by Paul Wickens (Wix).[4]

Music video

There are two different music videos for this song.

First release

The original video for "I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" shows Kershaw singing the song on a hillside and in a castle. He is accompanied by children, and by a minstrel, who plays the guitar parts on a lute. The video was filmed in Maidstone, Kent.[5]

Second release

When the song was re-released in June 1984, a new video was shot. Because Kershaw was doing promotional work in Europe, there was little time to arrange anything, so a faux live video was shot. It was interspersed with occasional shots of the old men in stripey trousers.[2] At one point, one of the old men picks a blue rabbit out of a guitar case. This had been sent to Kershaw by a fan named Lauren, and he placed it on stage in front of his right hand monitor during gigs, for luck.[6] Kershaw was not happy with the video, feeling it was hurried:[2]

I'll never forget the day of the shot, it was a real pandemonium. The band was trying to rehearse -'cos we hadn't played live for so long - and do the video at the same time. It would've been a much better video if we'd had more time. The best way to shoot a live gig is over four or five nights then you might get a good set because when you're playing live, there's a lot of excitement and you can't always concentrate on every note.

Track listing

First release

16 September 1983
7" single (MCA 816)[7]

A. "I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" - 3:19
B. "Dark Glasses" (4:15)

12" single (MCAT 816)

A. "I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" (Extended Dance Mix) - 6:00
B. "Dark Glasses" (4:20)

Second release

4 June 1984
7" single (MCA NIK 4)

A. "I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" - 3:19
B. "Dark Glasses" (4:12)

12" single (MCA NIKT 4)

A. "I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" (Extended Remix) - 6:35
B. "Dark Glasses" (4:12)

Credits

"I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"[7]

Produced by Peter Collins

"Dark Glasses"

Produced by Peter Collins

"I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" (Extended Dance Mix)

Remix by Micky Modern and Phil Harding

"I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" (Extended Remix)

Remix by Simon Boswell

Charts

Original release

Chart (1983) Peak
position
Canada Top Singles (RPM) 94
UK Singles (Official Charts Company) 47

Re-release

Chart (1984) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[8] 17
Canada Top Singles (RPM) 5
Denmark (Hitlisten)[9] 3
Germany (GfK Entertainment)[10] 12
Ireland (IRMA) 4
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[11] 6
Norway (VG-lista)[12] 8
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[13] 10
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[14] 6
UK Singles (Official Charts Company) 2

Robin Cook version

"I Won't Let the Sun Go Down"
Single by Robin Cook
from the album Land of Sunshine
B-side"Reggae in the Night"
ReleasedJune 1996
GenreReggae fusion
Length3:20
LabelStockholm Records
Songwriter(s)Nik Kershaw
Robin Cook singles chronology
"I Won't Let the Sun Go Down"
(1996) 		"Comanchero"
(1997)

Swedish producer Jonas Ekfeldt recorded his version of the song as Robin Cook under the title "I Won't Let the Sun Go Down" and later formed part of the album Land of Sunshine in 1997. The song charted in Sweden for 19 weeks in 1996 peaking at no. 3 and in Finland for 2 weeks peaking at no. 16.[15]

Track listing

CD single - Europe (1996)
  1. "I Won't Let the Sun Go Down" (Radio Edit) - 3:05
  2. "I Won't Let the Sun Go Down" (Extended Version) - 4:34
  3. "I Won't Let the Sun Go Down" (Summer Club Mix) - 7:00
  4. "Reggae in the Night" - 3:25

Sampled by Sveriges Radio

Ekfeldt filed a lawsuit against Sveriges Radio for sampling "I Won't Let the Sun Go Down" and accused them for using the sample without permission in the parody "I Won't Let Susan Go Down on Me" on the album Rally 2 from the radio programme Rally on the channel SR P3. Sveriges Radio denied the accusations, but the Swedish National Laboratory of Forensic Science compared the songs[16] and asserted that the former song indeed had been sampled.

The amount of Ekfeldt's compensation was not made public, but was said to be of a significant amount and a lot more than if the channel had asked for permission first.[17]

Charts

Chart (1996) Peak
position
Denmark (Tracklisten)[18] 4
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[19] 16
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[20] 3

References

  1. ^ Nik Kershaw [@NikKershaw] (11 June 2015). "Just watched Peter Waterman on the one show. For the record "I won't let the sun go down" was produced by Peter Collins" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. ^ a b c "The Nik Kershaw Picture Show". www.nikkershaw.it. 2005. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
  3. ^ "Interview with LineaMusica - October 2008". www.nikkershaw.it. 2005. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
  4. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 21 August 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ^ "Nik Kershaw: The Face of 84 - Beatbox, July 1984". www.nikkershaw.it. 2005. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
  6. ^ "Nik Kershaw: Smash Hits Interview - 5 July 1984". www.nikkershaw.it. 2005. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
  7. ^ a b "Nik Kershaw Singles Discography 1984-2005". www.nikkershaw.it. 2005. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  8. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 165. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. N.B. The Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA from mid 1983 until 19 June 1988.
  9. ^ https://www.ukmix.org/showthread.php?63915-Danish-Charts-Archive
  10. ^ "Nik Kershaw". Offiziellecharts.de. GfK Entertainment. 2019. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
  11. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Nik Kershaw" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  12. ^ "Nik Kershaw – I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me". VG-lista.
  13. ^ "Nik Kershaw – I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me". Singles Top 100.
  14. ^ "Nik Kershaw – I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me". Swiss Singles Chart.
  15. ^ I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on swedishcharts.com. Retrieved on 9 November 2010.
  16. ^ Elin Törnqvist. "Ny analysmetod avslöjar olagliga musiksamplingar" (in Swedish). Swedish Police webpage, 23 November 2006. Retrieved 2 July 2007. Archived with Wayback machine here. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
  17. ^ Tony Fischier. "Återskapad inspelning var stöld" Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine (in Swedish). Göteborgs-Posten's webpage, 31 August 2006. Retrieved 2 July 2007.
  18. ^ Inc, Nielsen Business Media (12 October 1996). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. – via Google Books. {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  19. ^ "Robin Cook: I Won't Let the Sun Go Down" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat.
  20. ^ "Robin Cook – I Won't Let the Sun Go Down". Singles Top 100.
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