Interpretation: Miguel - Candles In The Sun

A review. An interpretation.


"There's no separation, we're all one. Right?"

John Lennon (1980)

Just a few days ago Grammy Award winner Miguel released the music video for his upcoming single "Candles In The Sun". The recording is part of his 2012 released album Kaleidoscope Dream.

The song and the video are very critical of the US government and religious institutions. His lyrics express various fears on the current situation of human kind, which are additionally emphasised by the strong images in the video. It asks for self-reflection and encourages thinking about "us". The video is absolutely impressive and together with the message-loaded lyrics it cried out for a review.



Overall the video is hold in black and white, indicating its simplicity and the down-to-earth message it conveys. The colour selection makes the images even more powerful, but at the same time also very sad and depressing. It shows that light and darkness are very close to each other, although they are two different extremes, or in other words - darkness is the absence of (visible) light, hence darkness depends on light (candles, sun).

Singer Miguel is shown in a room without windows during the entire video. The only thing in the room is a chair, where he sits down every now and again. His outfit is quite simple in black and white, with black leather pants, a white t-shirt, and a dark trench coat. Despite their current popularity the leather pants convey the need of protection in a rough world. The shirt then again could refer to equality in the world and the innocence, while the black trench coat, that he doesn't take off although he is in a closed room, looks like he is feeling uncomfortable in his place, ready to leave.

Images in the video are strongly related to the word belief. There are pictures of religious aspects, like gospel singers, crosses, and a veiled woman, or government and society related problems, like unemployment, homelessness, and violence. The images are usually seen 1 to 5 seconds, sometimes even shorter - showing how many different kind of problems we have.

"Is there a God?

 Is he watching?

 Is she watching?

 Are they watching now?

 If not, what are we doing?

 Where are we going?

 What are we doing now?"

These are the first lines of the song lyrics. Not only does he question God's existence, but he also embedded the idea of God being a woman or polytheism. If no God is there to judge us, because no one is watching, how do we set our goals in life and where are the limits?

The whole lyrics are divided in two parts. The first half questions the behaviour of society and human kind. In the second half, he motivates humanity to take action and to change the situation that he describes in the first part.

The chorus of the song contains various phrases of other songs, which are examined in the following.

"Diamond in the back, babies on crack"

The first part refers to the Curtis Mayfield song "Diamond in the Back" where Mayfield calls on humanity to be thankful for what they have. The second part hints at the crack epidemic which was prevalent at the end of the 80s, when the U.S. was afraid of a "lost generation". The high rate of babies of mothers taking crack during pregnancy was believed to have a negative effect on most kids of this generation to grow up with brain damages and disabilities.

"Kick in the door, waving the four-four"

In the lyrics Miguel cites Notorious B.I.G.'s song "Kick In The Door". This song shows Biggie as the so called Mad Rapper, who is angry with the world and the people around him. The "four-four" regards to the .44 Remington Magnum hand gun. This part of the chorus reflects Miguel's anger on the world.

"White-collar war crime, money gets spent"

White-collar crime is crime committed by people of higher social status who use their position in order to commit these crimes. Miguel talks here specifically about the war, and its high expenditures.

"Just candles in the sun, blowing in the wind"

In this part of the chorus he points out that these criminals are just like candles in the sun, it is an unnecessary waste of light, because the sun already lightens up everything naturally. When the wind is blowing, these candles go out, but the sun remains enlightened.

"Sun goes down. Heroes often get shot. Peace has long been forgot"

When the sun goes down, respectively humanity disappears, in less unfortunate times for example; even the bravest suffer a reverse. Both, death during the war and the loss during natural disasters can embody the word "shot".

"Oh it'll be too late when we find out, We're all that we got"

In the first part of the lyrics he notes that it will be too late, when we find out, while in the second half, the motivational part of the song, he asks "Oh, will it be too late, when we find out?" 


An earlier version of the song was released in April 2012 on his Art Dealer Chic Vol. 3 EP. It includes various citations from John Lennon, which were also very socio-critical and shows that the problems do not only exist in today's culture, but have been present over the last decades.

Miguel talks about the song in an interview and on a track-by-track commentary on his album. He discusses the meaning of the recording only very general and doesn't explain it in depth that is why this review and interpretation intended a deeper analysis of video and lyrics.


xx

Cast by the White Sun in your rhyme, 

Falls a Black Shadow. 

What's the time? 

The House of the Sphinx, Candles in the Sun, William Griffith (1921)