For My Sunday Song #153, we are exploring the great song “Paper Sun” from the band’s 1999 album ‘Euphoria’. The song was released as a single in the U.S., but to little fanfare despite it being one of the best songs on the album.
The song is about the Omagh terrorist bombing on August 15, 1998 in Northern Ireland. Here is what wikipedia says about the bombing…
It was carried out by a group calling themselves the Real Irish Republican Army, a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) splinter group who opposed the IRA’s ceasefire and the Good Friday Agreement. The bombing killed 29 people (including a woman pregnant with twins) and injured some 220 others, making it the deadliest single incident of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
Lyrically and musically, the song is very dark and sad. At over 5:26 minutes, the song takes you on a journey through the emotions of that sad day. It feels like they are losing hope in humanity and in life. The world is so fragile as if made of paper that could burn up in an instant. Lyrics, like “Do you still hear ’em screamin'” is full of the pain that one would feel if they were at the bombing and could hear the cries for help and the cries of sorrow for those lost.
Continue reading “My Sunday Song – “Paper Sun” by Def Leppard”
2 Loud 2 Old Music 