If someone knew instinctively how to match a song to an artist to create the most impact, they’d be able to name their price at the record company of their choosing. It’s an inexact science, which is why sometimes it’s not the first artist that has the biggest hit with a song, but rather somebody else who takes a shot at it further down the road.
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Despite his incredible track record in the 1960s, Frankie Valli couldn’t get “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore” over the hump. It took The Walker Brothers to give the song its definitive, chill-inducing reading. Here’s how it all went down.
Seasons in the Sun
The songwriting duo of Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe were responsible for the creation of “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore.” These were the guys responsible for “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Walk Like a Man,” “Rag Doll,” and numerous other classics by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Gaudio was a member of the group, and Crewe their producer, so it should have been a lock for them to push “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore” in Valli’s direction.
But that wasn’t the case. They initially wanted to send the song to The Righteous Brothers. But Valli happened to hear it, and he realized it had hit potential. Gaudio explained to Songfacts what inspired them to write the song:
“I remember it was a rainy day and Bob Crewe and I were in his office, which was in the Atlantic Records building in the Lincoln Center area of New York, and it started to come together. It was a gloomy day and we were both a little depressed. And out it came.”
The Walkers to the Rescue
“The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore” was released as a Frankie Valli solo song, but it did poorly on the charts. Maybe fans didn’t like that the Four Seasons weren’t involved (although that wouldn’t stop “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” from doing just fine as a Valli-only single two years later). Or perhaps that Valli didn’t get a chance to go soaring off in his highest register turned them off.
But the song’s true tale had yet to be told. In stepped The Walker Brothers (who weren’t brothers, and none of whom had the surname Walker). The trio formed in Los Angeles, but their sweeping pop ballads hit harder in Great Britain for some reason, including the 1965 UK No. 1 “Make It Easy on Yourself.”
They did a take on “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore” as a 1966 single that was quite similar in arrangement to Valli’s. The big difference was Scott Walker, the band’s lead vocalist, whose brooding baritone was just the right delivery system for the song’s heartsick sentiments. This version of the song also topped the UK charts, and became the group’s biggest U.S. hit (No. 13) as well.
The Meaning Behind “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore”
The lyrics of Gaudio and Crewe for “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore” suggest that a loveless life is filled with devastating extremes. There’s no sugarcoating this scenario: Loneliness is the cloak you wear, sings the narrator. A deep shade of blue is always there.
The second verse is more of the same: Emptiness is the place you’re in / There’s nothing to lose but no more to win. In the refrains, the narrator again lays the consequences on the line: The sun ain’t gonna shine anymore / The moon ain’t gonna rise in the sky / The tears are always clouding your eyes.
In the bridge, the songwriters shift the perspective to the first person: I can’t go on, Scott Walker bellows. The narrator is warning the listener what to expect because he’s had first-hand experience dealing with the absence of love. The Walker Brothers brought out the best in “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore” by convincing listeners to expect the worst.
Photo by Ivan Keeman/Redferns
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