"The Sun and Moon" by Cursive

Many cultures have a "Why the Sun chases the Moon" mythos, so it's hard to trace where this story starts. Probably Ancient Sumaria....everything seems to start in Ancient Sumaria. But, to be fair, this story is also present in a lot of Native American and Mesoamerican cultures as well, so the story may be as old as humanity. Because that's what we did in the olden days - when it was dark and cold outside and we couldn't hunt, we told stories and made art.

The story of the Sun and Moon goes like this - The Moon loves the Sun so much that he chases her around the sky. That's it. Sometimes the Moon is the female and the Sun is male, but they follow each other, day in and day out. It's a magnetic attraction - one is pulling, one is pushing - but they can never be together. Because the Sun is like 8 light minutes away, which is probably like a zillion miles. I have no idea how far away the Sun is but I know the Moon is about 250,000 miles from Earth.

I did some research on the symbolism of the Sun and the Moon. The essential nature of the relationship between the Sun and Moon is that they are a balance of opposites, which also crosses cultures. However, at the core, there are similarities between them. To us, they appear the same size (because humans don't quite understand perspective), they share equal time in the sky throughout the year (because humans don't quite understand celestial orbits either), and they both provide light in some form. They're different but they're the same - which is Rule #1 of Romantic Comedies. Yin and yang in Chinese philosophy, dualism in Ancient Greece - you have to balance the elements that the Sun and Moon represent in order to reach inner peace/nirvana/Truth/True Love/whatever. Not to mention that the Sun and Moon is all over romantic literature, because it is the first romance. For example, Act II, Scene II of "Romeo and Juliet":

But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?

It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.

Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,

Who is already sick and pale with grief,

That thou her maid art far more fair than she

It's also common for the Sun to be used as a metaphor for love and be compared to someone you love (see "Lullaby" and "You are My Sunshine"). Hence today's song from Cursive. Essentially, he's saying that the person he's singing about completes him, but he's kind of resentful, because she's more amazing than he'll ever be, even though they are the same in some ways. Even though he knows all her darkness and the things that haunt her and the questionable choices she's made, she still shines. And he's stuck reflecting her glow, following her around. Near the end, he gets kind of childish and for a moment he's like, "Maybe I'm the one who's awesome," but then he's like..."No, you really are more amazing." The sad thing is...the Sun doesn't really need the Moon, but the Moon needs the Sun. The Sun can shine without him, but the Moon is just a hunk of cold rock without the Sun. There's your philosophy/astronomy lesson for today.

My flesh and blood? It can't be true

You're everything I could never be

I was no one, now I'm two

You're actually here acknowledging that I am the we that makes us complete

"The Sun and Moon" Video