“Sun (Acoustic)” by Mae, Sunday, April 16, 2023 (updated repost)

Between their debut album Destination: Beautiful and their fan-favorite sophomore record The Everglow, Mae released  Destination: B-Sides, which includes live and acoustic renderings of some of the standout tracks, songs that didn’t make it to the record, and demos that would make it onto The Everglow. The chorus of “Sun” contains the the lyrics  “Destination Beautiful,” making “Sun” like the title track of the album, and one of the the most memorable tracks in the middle of the album, and it has one of the finest melodies on the album after "Embers and Envelops" and "All Deliberate Speed."

IF YOU’RE WILLING, LET IT GO. In a 2018 two-part episode of Labeled (now available only to Patreon subscribers), Mae's lead singer Dave Elkins talked about the inspiration for the songs on Destination: Beautiful. Many of the tracks had to do with a disagreement between Elkins and members at his church. Elkins wrote many of the songs, including the first track “Embers and Envelops” in hopes to repair the broken relationship. “Sun” also talks about this misunderstanding. The lyrics on the band's debut album are vague and arguably immature compared to the subject matter in their more recent efforts, sticking to lines like “something happened.” No one is incriminated, and the song can be applied to the listeners’ own lives and is problems. Mae would eventually reject Christian marketing, and their recent efforts deal with band members' deconstruction journeys and explorations into art, science, and hallucinogens.  The songs on Destination: Beautiful remind me of a time when my whole world relied on the opinion of someone at church. And listening back to the album, it seems that's where the frustrations lie. And then listening to how far beyond that Mae has come, reminds me of how we all grow in self-acceptance as we get older. That search for approval seems trivial now, even though at the time, it meant the world to us.

WAITING FOR THE RAIN TO STOP. "Sun" is the soundtrack to the moody weather of April showers, when days start out clear, only to cloud up and surprise us with showers, or a cloudy morning that clears for a windy afternoon before a weekend of rain, it’s a month of transitions. When life and the weather are in flux, it’s tempting to think of the time as a waiting period—waiting for things to settle down, "waiting for the rain to stop." You’re waiting for “Destination beautiful.” But you go through enough of these waiting periods and you start to realize that this is your life. What’s the ultimate destination of the weather? Unless climate change obliterates seasons all together, weather is a cycle that will repeat throughout our lives, creating a kind of liturgy of rituals and practices. Yes, we may be working toward something, but becoming that someone doesn't mean that you were never that person all along. It’s best to just try to enjoy whatever it brings. What’s the ultimate destination of a life but the grave? Best to make the moments count and enjoy the rainy weekend around the corner. 

Studio Acoustic:

Live Acoustic:

Destination Beautiful original version:

Read the lyrics on Genius.