Annotations for Sunburn

Lyric: [Guitar Solo]
Annotation:
A slowly ascending, and then reaching a climax, may well be called a beatdrop, this solo is like your bloop pressure going up.

Lyric: Make no mistakes
Annotation:
This might be a way of reinforcing the idea of how the protagonist is now corporately owned and no longer original or their own, being reduced to mass produced cliches.

Lyric: And she’ll burn our horizons
Annotation:
She is burning not just the protagonist, but their entire future, as far as they can see. She has completely consumed him, most likely with greed born of the promises of “millions”, to the point of annihilating everything around them in space and time.

Lyric: And I’ll hide from the world
 Behind a broken frame
Annotation:
Bellamy feels the expression of his art is fouled by the pressure to turnover profits for the music industry. Thus the art that he presents is not framed as he would intend; the broken framing representing that unwelcome corporate imperfection around his art.

Lyric: And I’ll run forever
 I can’t face the shame
Annotation:
The protagonist will keep lying to themselves in a neverending denial, lacking the courage to face the ‘shame’ of feeling sell-outs to corporations. A second interpretation is that they have attempted to reveal the truth (‘break these endless lies’), but they’ve been discredited by the corporations, and are now called a liar, so now they want to escape the shame that has been put on them.

Lyric: She burns like the sun
 And I can’t look away
Annotation:
The woman is using up all her energy on the falsely promised wealth, just like the sun is burning out. Despite this, the protagonist feels captivated: just like you shouldn’t stare directly at the sun, they are unable to look away due to fascination.

Lyric: Secretly, she cries
Annotation:
She is again putting up a front, but is secretly crying because she knows she is a part of an unfair system. The woman here could be a different one to the one in the chorus: she too realises the promise of millions is a lie, but she’s in too deep to leave now. This line, deeply in contrast with the opening (“secretly she sneers”), perfectly sums up the concept of  Showbiz as an album: while the characters in the song seem to show a confident attitude and to fit their role, they are actually insecure tormented souls who raise moral doubts.

Lyric: No one ever dared
 To break these endless lies
Annotation:
While people want to end the false promises, no one has the courage to do so because they are so common and an accepted part of society. On the other hand a possible interpretation is no one actually wants to break them, as they are still partly under the spell of the promises.

Lyric: Come let the truth be shared
Annotation:
This line is urging people to share the truth about the falsely promised lies.

Lyric: Secretly, she sneers
Annotation:
The woman puts up a front of believing the promises but is secretly sneering because she knows the promise is of wealth is a lie.

Lyric: Come waste your millions here
Annotation:
A false promise of wealth, the money/time/resources you invest will go to waste, most likely from some sort of corporation or business such as a record label or a shady businessman. Possibly also an anxious thought about whether the the making of music will pay off, or it’s only a waste of time in someone or something, making the “millions” metaphorical.

Lyric: I’ll feel a guilty conscience grow
 And I’ll feel a guilty conscience grow
Annotation:
The idea of the guilty conscience growing may suggest that the main character has sold out already, and is only just beginning to feel guilty for getting money so easily. Similarly, it may be that their music is now being influenced by the corporations that they'e sold out to, and thus are now feeling guilty for not actually making music true to or by themselves.

Lyric: Another corporate show
 A guilty conscience grows
Annotation:
It can be hard to stay true to yourself, the main character of the song gives in and does something against their true self to obtain some of the (falsely) promised wealth and feels guilty about it. A corporate show or  corporate hospitality is an event in which a business books a band, comedian, or other entertainer, to play at their social function. Although lucrative, this can be seen as ‘selling out’ and can tarnish an act’s authenticity. This stems from an unwritten rule in the arts community that authenticity is king and any money-grabbing endeavour is taboo. Thus, before actually making their ‘millions’ they have sold themselves to a business to do so, stopping them from feeling true to themselves.

