Sunny Came Home

Yay I love this site :).

It's actually come up three times in the past two days on searches I ran...

so I guess it's a sign I should start contributing to the discussions

My interpretation was inspired by the movie "the burning bed" which I think

was based on true events about an abused wife who eventually escaped the

clutches of her husband by burning his bed (and their house) while he slept.

She then took the kids off in the car.

In this song however, there is a slight madness to Sunny - as if she has

finally snapped.

Firstly her name is ironic "Sunny" being bring and happy. It kind of gives

that image of the abused woman who always makes an effort to appear as though

nothing is wrong (who claims she fell down the stairs or walked into a door)

"favorite room" is reference to being a housewife but if you listen to the

song there is a slight ironic inflection on "favorite". The next line states

that this room is the kitchen. The book and the box of tools, at first I

thought of a a bomb kit... but maybe it is the Bible with fighting fire with

fire? The tools is a box of matches.

The chorus says how she is "walking on a wire". This, I see, as her tredding

the line between sanity and insanity but also as her having to tip toe around

her husband because if she puts one foot out of place, she gets beaten. The

next line supports this by saying: "I close my eyes and fly out of my mind

into the fire". This can be both a metaphorical escape from the beating and

also her mentally snapping and going 'out of her mind'.

The next verse is where I get the idea that she has finally had enough and

mentally snapped. I don't have my own ideas on this verse, but I think the

ones presented so far are good. I thought that maybe the list of names could

be people who could help her/ she could take the kids and live with after

she'd burned down the house? Then "repairs" says to me that she's finally

reached a point where she knows that the only one able to save and repair her

is herself. There is also a hint at anger with "vengence" so maybe the idea

of the list of names being a list of her husbands girlfriends is right. Maybe

finding out about his affairs is what finally makes her snap?

The verse: "Get the kids and bring a sweater Dry is good and wind is better Count the years, you always knew it Strike a match, go on and do it" is said in a kind of demented/dreamy voice

which is the final clue that she's lost it. "Count the years, you always knew

it" supports the idea that it was a list of names of her husband's lovers

that made her snap. "it" I believe is the fact that he didn't love her.

Someone said a few comments ago that she brought a sweater because of the

cold she'd be standing in while the house burnt... well I think it's that but

also "bring a sweater" is a very normal thing to do. It's juxtaposed against

this horrific scene to emphasise how she no longer believes what she is doing

is wrong. It's also put there to show tht she thought about burning him and

the house. It wasn't something spontanious but was well planned and thought

through.

"Light the sky and hold on tight The world is burning down She's out there on her own and she's alright"

This just gives me an amazing mental image of her burning the house and

standing watching it burn while holding onto her children. Even though the

only world they ever knew is burning down, being out there in the world on

her own and without her abusive husband makes her alright. Despite the horror

of it, "light the sky" has a positive conitation, almost as if it is lighting

the future (the skies always being related to the future).

"Sunny came home" is repeated in a kind of ironic way because she doesn't

have a home anymore but also in the more metaphysical way of her finding

herself and "coming home" to the mental self she was before her husband

abused her.

he he. If you don't flame me I might stop by here more often. That was fun.