This song is about the Sun exhausting its nuclear fuel, ending its life and the reaction of Earth's inhabitants to this result. In the first part, the Earth's nukes are launched at the Sun to try to restart the nuclear burning process. Some hit the Moon by mistake on the way. The 8.5 minutes refers to the transit time for the light from the Sun to the Earth. The main recurring theme in this song has to do with what the Earthlings would do during the final 8.5 minutes of that last beam of sunlight coming to the Earth - the last time we'd have light. The astronomer is on CNN because they are asking him about the Sun burning out and what we're going to do? will life continue with the ensuing ice age we are about to embark on? It is now realize that everyone is going to die as the power plants are shutting down and the world is basically fucked. The author presents his case as someone who has found peace in the whole horrible mess - he is in the 5th stage of the Kübler-Ross model: acceptance. He finds beauty in the terribleness, e.g. "And a dead black disk slides silently overhead
It’s fucking beautiful is what it is, " which again proves that he is saying that the Sun has burnt out. The end is pretty self-explanatory....
This song is about the Sun exhausting its nuclear fuel, ending its life and the reaction of Earth's inhabitants to this result. In the first part, the Earth's nukes are launched at the Sun to try to restart the nuclear burning process. Some hit the Moon by mistake on the way. The 8.5 minutes refers to the transit time for the light from the Sun to the Earth. The main recurring theme in this song has to do with what the Earthlings would do during the final 8.5 minutes of that last beam of sunlight coming to the Earth - the last time we'd have light. The astronomer is on CNN because they are asking him about the Sun burning out and what we're going to do? will life continue with the ensuing ice age we are about to embark on? It is now realize that everyone is going to die as the power plants are shutting down and the world is basically fucked. The author presents his case as someone who has found peace in the whole horrible mess - he is in the 5th stage of the Kübler-Ross model: acceptance. He finds beauty in the terribleness, e.g. "And a dead black disk slides silently overhead It’s fucking beautiful is what it is, " which again proves that he is saying that the Sun has burnt out. The end is pretty self-explanatory....