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"I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"
First Release
Single by Nik Kershaw
from the album Human Racing
Released	16 September 1983
Format	7" / 12" Vinyl
Genre	New Wave
Length	03:23
Label	MCA
Writer(s)	Nik Kershaw
Producer	Peter Collins
Nik Kershaw singles chronology
"I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" (1983) "Wouldn't It Be Good" (1984)

"I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" is a song by singer Nik Kershaw, first released on his hit debut album Human Racing.

The song was written during the latter part of the Cold War period when nuclear war between the two superpowers of the USSR and USA was still a very real concern, and the lyrics reflect a satirical view of politics and the threat of war with lines such as: "old men in stripey trousers, rule the world with plastic smiles", and: "forefinger on the button, is he blue or is he red?"

"I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" only reached number 47 in the UK charts when first released. However, the follow up single from the same album, "Wouldn't It Be Good", reached the top five and on the back of that success "I Won't ..." was re-released and soared to number two. It was also subsequently a major hit in several other countries and was responsible for bringing Nik Kershaw to greater public attention.

In Kershaw's version, the synth tune was produced with an Oberheim OB-8 played by Paul Wickens (Wix).^[1]

Robin Cook

The song was released by Jonas Ekfeldt as Robin Cook under the name "I Won't Let the Sun Go Down" and later formed part of the album Land of Sunshine in 1997.

Sampled by Sveriges Radio

Ekfeldt filed a lawsuit against Sveriges Radio for sampling "I Won't Let the Sun Go Down" and accused them for using the sample without permission in the parody "I Won't Let Susan Go Down on Me" on the album Rally 2 from the radio show Rally on the channel P3. Sveriges Radio denied the accusations, but the National Laboratory of Forensic Science in Sweden compared the songs^[2] and asserted that the former song indeed had been sampled.

The amount of Ekfeldt's compensation was not made public, but was said to be of a significant amount and a lot more than if the channel had asked for permission first^[3].

References