B01.09 I Won't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
In an interview for Electronicsound ( https://www.electronicsound.co.uk/features/landmarks/nick-kershaw/ ), published on September 9th 2021, Nik Kershaw gave details about this song:
“‘I Won’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me’ went through various evolutions.
First of all, it was acoustic. Then I bought a Portastudio and I did a version in 1982 that was much more like a pop song, with most of the main elements of the finished track. It was one of six songs I wrote and demoed to hawk around record companies to try to get a deal – something which failed miserably.
We mixed that track so many times because Charlie was never happy with it. He didn’t think that the chorus exploded in your face enough or that the vocals were as loud as they should be. It wasn’t quite as much of a pop anthem as it ended up. I hated the mix that Charlie liked, but we went with it anyway. MCA released the song as a single in 1983, and it didn’t do well at all. No one knew who I was and we didn’t seem to be able to get any interest from anywhere. It was only when ‘Wouldn’t It Be Good’ came out that people noticed me, so we released it for a second time in the July of 1984, and that’s when it became a hit.
Back then, I found it very difficult to write and sing pop lyrics, which are mostly about shagging, or your girlfriend leaving you. I didn‘t feel connected to that. ‘I Won’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me’ is actually a protest song. If you can cast your mind back that far, CND was a big thing. We were all set to get obliterated, and mutually assured destruction was uppermost in our minds. That was the subject of the song. Originally, it was just me whingeing in a Dylan-esque way. We all wanted to change the world back in the 1980s, hence Live Aid and everything else, but now the song sounds a bit naive and up itself to me.
I chose to make a lot of my lyrics at the time as ambiguous and cryptic as possible so that nobody found out that I was a fraud. I had terrible imposter syndrome, so all of my lyrics are veiled in words to point the listener in the opposite direction. Consequently, no one ever knew what ‘I Won’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me’ was about. I didn’t go on Radio 1 and say, ‘Hey, this is about the end of the world!’. I was so swept away with being famous and the centre of attention that I forgot what it was supposed to be saying.
Like a lot of artists, I have a love-hate relationship with my early hits. You’re defined by these songs, but they’re only three minutes of music that you did nearly 40 years ago. You want to be valued for what you’re doing or who you are now. I think every artist goes through a stage of resenting having to play them live, which is definitely where I was at the beginning of this century. Whenever I played ‘I Won’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me’ live, I would completely change it. It became a totally different beast, and the audience would stand there going, ‘Huh?’
And then there was a point where I suddenly got it. I started doing a couple of the 1980s tours, which I initially kicked and screamed against, but eventually did them because I saw my mates from back in the day having all the fun. Once I started doing those concerts, I figured out that all of us performing on them and those who come to watch are really sharing something together.
Those people come to hear these songs. They’re probably reliving the time when they were 15 or 16 years old. They’re fed up with having a mortgage and three kids screaming at them, and they just want to escape back to their past for a couple of hours. So I thought to myself, ‘If they want to hear that song, they almost certainly want to hear how it sounded when they first bought the record’. After that, I went back to doing it as close to the original as possible and giving them that moment.
I’ve realised that ‘I Won’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me’ and all my old songs have become like little stepping stones that get put in during a set. Even when you’re playing to your own audience, who’ve probably bought your more recent records, you’ve still got those safe areas you can go to if their eyes start glazing over when you say, ‘Here’s one from my new album’. Not to mention the fact that they’re responsible for my lifestyle and for putting my kids through university. I don’t have a problem at all playing any of those songs live now. My early hits have been really good to me, and I’ve found that respect for them".
Album / Single version (3:23)
Available on the 1984 Human Racing album (vinyl LP, tape, CD and online digital file) and on both 1983 MCA 816 and 1984 NIK4 "I Won't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" 7" singles.
Though some sources claim the single version and the album version are different, they are in fact the same mix of the song.
This version is also available on many collections.
bpm speed is slightly different on some collections resulting in different track
length of the same mix of the song.
1991 The Collection (Track 2 - 3:18)
1993 Best Of NK (Track 10 - 3:24)
1995 Anthology (Track 9 - 3:23)
1998 Greatest Hits (Track 2 - 3:18)
2000 The Essential (Track 2 - 3:22)
2001 I Won't Let the Sun Go Down On Me (Track 2 - 3:22)
2022 Essential Nik Kershaw (Track 2 - Disc 1 - 3:20)
Also released as track 1 on the A side (first vinyl record) of the 2023 "Collected" vinyl collection - 3:20.
And :
1993 "Wouldn't It Be Good / I Won't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" Old Gold collection CD single - 3:16.
1998 "Wouldn't It Be Good - '98 Remixes" - 3:18.
A remastered version was released for the first time on the 2012 "Human Racing" album double CD and online digital file.
Note that it was originally supposed to be track 5 on the B side of the LP album.
The remastered version was also released on February 21st 2025 as track 9 of Disc 1 ("Human Racing" album) from the MCA YEARS box set.
Video versions
Four different videos can be found!
The first one, filmed at Allington Castle in Kent (England), was aired in 1983 when MCA816 was released.
The 1983 video clip soundtrack is the same version that can be found on the 7" single.
This 1983 video was supposed to be featured on the DVD from the MCA YEARS box set in 2025.
According to Nik Kershaw's Facebook page, "(...) The BBC has 'Sun' a couple of years back (...) but they couldn't track it down when we asked (...)".
This video is not available on physical format.
Yet, you can watch it HERE.
***
A new video was shot for the song re-issued as a single (NIK 4) planned for June 1984.
Because Nik Kershaw was doing promotional work in Europe, there was little time to arrange anything, so a faux live video was shot.
The live performance was recorded at Hammersmith Odeon, London (England) - probably on May 25th 1984.
The tickets for the recording were given away by his fan club.
In those days (long before the Internet), you had to send in a stamped addressed envelope and back it came with 2 tickets.
Nik Kershaw performed a shortened concert set.
He then played "I Won't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" three or four times while they were filming and recording it.
Nik Kershaw was not happy with the video: "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".
The audio version of that video is in fact a mix between the album/single version and live parts.
It was released for the first time on the 1984 "Single Pictures" VHS tape.
You can watch it HERE.
***
Two alternate versions of that same "fake" live video feature shots of "the old men in stripey trousers" intertwined with live stage shots.
One can be found on three video collection DVDs : 2005 "Classic Nik Kershaw", 2005 "Essentials Videos" and 2005 "Then & Now"
Though you can hear the audience cheering at the beginning of the video, it quickly disappears.
The soundtrack is then the album/single version.
Not audience can be heard through the rest of the track.
***
The second video featuring "the old men in stripey trousers" was released on February 21st 2025 on the unique DVD from the MCA YEARS box set.
The audio part of the video is the same one used for the "Single Pictures" VHS tape (with the audience singing the chorus along with Nik Kershaw).
You can watch that video version HERE.
Extended version / Extended Dance Mix (6:00)
This remix was released on the 1983 MCAT-816 "I Won't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" 12" record.
Even though track 11 of the 2022 online only "Extended Versions" collection is identified as "I Won't Let The Sun Go Down On Me (Extended Remixed by Simon Boswell) ", the recording is in fact a remastered version of the original 1983 Extended Dance mix / Extended version.
Also released as track 1 on the E side (third vinyl record) of the 2023 "Collected" vinyl collection limited edition only.
The remastered version was also released on February 21st 2025 as track 8 of Disc 6 ("Extended Mixes and Remixes" CD) from the MCA YEARS box set.
Simon Boswell Extended Version (6:35)
This remix was released on the 1984 NIKT4 "I Won't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" 12" record.
It was also released as track 1 on the B side of the 1984 NIKC6 "The Riddle" limited edition cassette single.
This version is identified as Special Re-Mix on the Israel 1984 various artists collection "Maximum 3".
Nik Kershaw's song is track 4 on the A side of this vinyl record only.
A remastered version was released for the first time as track 11 on Disc 2 of the 2012 "Human Racing" album double CD and online digital file.
The remastered version was also released on February 21st 2025 as track 3 of Disc 6 ("Extended Mixes and Remixes" CD) from the MCA YEARS box set.
NIKDJ4 version / Simon Boswell Edited Version (3:49)
This is an edit version of the 1984 NIKT4 "I Won't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" 12" record remixed version.
It was released on the NIKDJ4 promo 7" single.
A remastered version was released as track 2 of the 2022 online only "Extended Versions" collection.
It was also released on February 21st 2025 as track 1 of Disc 8 ("Remixes" CD) from the MCA YEARS box set.
"Then & Now" shorter version (3:11)
Available as track 3 on the 2005 "Then & Now" collection.
It is the same mix as the Album version but it fades out a little earlier.
Acoustic Version (5:26)
This version can be found as track 15 on the 2010 "No Frills" collection album.
Live in Germany 1984 (4:46)
An official live version of the song, recorded in Alabama Hall in Munich (Germany) in 1984, can be found on the CD/DVD release 2011 "Live In Germany" CD/DVD release.
Reissued in 2013 on the "The Riddle (Live in Concert)" CD/DVD release.
Live at the Hammersmith Odeon 1984 (6:34 // 5:41 // 5:34)
This live version was recorded on December 31st 1984 at the Hammersmith Odeon, London (England).
And there are three different recordings of it.
The first one is that of the VHS video released in 1985.
The video ends with about 40 seconds of audience cheering and shouting "we want more!"
A remastered video version was released as track 17 on February 21st 2025 on the unique DVD from the MCA YEARS box set.
Note that the chapters of the DVD are cut in such a way that the part when Nik Kershaw is talking to the audience with keyboards notes announcing the song can be heard at the end of the previous track ("Faces").
The DVD version only has 10 seconds of audience cheering at the end of the concert and the "we want more!" part is cut.
An audio only recording was released on February 21st 2025 as track 7 of Disc 10 ("Live at the Hammersmith Odeon - Disc Two") from the MCA YEARS box set.
This recording starts with a fade-in and ends with a fade-out.
80's Classical Version (3:58)
This version was recorded with the Orchestra of Opera North.
It was released as track 13 on the "80's Classical - Volume 1" album.
[Listen to it HERE]
Live at the O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire 2012 (8:29)
Another official live version of the song, recorded in Shepherd's Bush Empire in London (England) on September 28th 2012, can be found on the 2013 DVD release of the concert.
Demo - Sunset (3:29)
A demo tape containing many demo versions of Nik Kershaw's early songs leaked in the early nineties. Copies were shared amongst fans.
Digital format transfers appeared on the Internet in the late nineties.
This recording is NOT an official release and can be found on bootleg CDs such as "NK Demos Part 2 - The Early Versions".
[Listen to it HERE]
Note : Four remix versions were released in 1998 on a CD single taken from the 1998 "Greatest Hits" Collection.
Are there remixes official versions of the song?
Did Nik Kershaw approve that release?
Here is the list of these remixes:
Rio Planet's Radio Remix (4:55)
Available on CD on the 1998 "'98 Remixes" CD Single
'98 Remix (Dean'N's Radio Cut) (4:55)
Available on CD on the 1998 Greatest Hits Collection and the 1998 "'98 Remixes" CD Single.
Phunky Rabbits' Cobacabana Club Mix (7:40)
Available on CD on the 1998 "'98 Remixes" CD Single
Revival Dub (6:17)
Available on CD on the 1998 "'98 Remixes" CD Single