Released: 2018
Vance Joy’s “Saturday Sun” is a melodious exploration of a burgeoning romance on the sun-kissed West Coast, filled with the longing and uncertainty that colors the early stages of love. It echoes the feeling of yearning for the connection that’s been briefly tasted, but not fully grasped.
The opening lines, “Oh, Saturday Sun / I met someone / Out on the West Coast / I gotta get back, I can’t let this go”, encapsulate the narrative of a fleeting, chance encounter that sparks an intense desire for more. The repetition of “I met someone” indicates the significance of this connection. The phrase, “I gotta get back, I can’t let this go” suggests an undeniable pull towards this newly met person.
Lyrical phrases like “So tired of sleepin’ alone / So tired of eatin’ alone” effectively paint a picture of a loneliness that feels even more acute after meeting someone who fills up that hollowness. The line, “She felt like resting her head / My shoulder was the perfect height” crisply captures the physical comfort and emotional closeness that comes with new intimacy. Then comes the confession “I’ve been undone” expressing how this experience has unmoored him from his previous state of being.
When he sings, “The long drive, the coastline / Lookin’ out at first light / Am I still on her mind?”, he encapsulates the anxiety and doubt that often accompany new love, that sense of wondering if the feelings are genuinely reciprocated.
The verses are punctuated with the refrain of “Saturday Sun,” a metaphor that represents both the woman he met (lighting up his life and making the previously ordinary remarkable) and the fleeting nature of their encounter (like a single day under the sun). He expresses eagerness to pay any price for more of such ‘sunlight’: “Don’t care what it costs / No ray of sunlight’s ever lost”.
In the lines, “She put the breeze in my hair / No kiss was softer, softer than this”, he immerses us in the sensory details of their relationship, which were brief but deeply impactful. With “She left her books in my bed / And her song in my head”, he gives us an insight into her impact on him, leaving traces of herself in his life and mind, fuelling his longing.
Throughout the song, the semblance of the ‘ba-ba, ba-ba’ chorus stays on, serving as an auditory metaphor for his persistent thoughts about the ‘Saturday Sun’. By the end of the song, the listener is fully immersed in his yearning, empathizing with the potent mix of anticipation and uncertainty of new-found love.
