Through good times and bad, hot and cold, dazzling and dim, there is one constant on this giant rock we call earth – the sun. In Mike Bern’s newest single, “Grateful Sun,” the award-winning artist pays homage to that which always ignites.
The Tobique First Nation, New Brunswick-based singer/songwriter decided to do something a little different with this one.
“The world can be a dark place at times,” Bern explained. “I wanted to write a song that gave thanks to life itself.”
Underneath ethereal instrumentals with an indie twist, Bern serenades the sun from our universal human perspective, encapsulating our relationship with life’s shining necessity. Bern touches on the hardships we all face, and how the sun acts as a foil to the darkness, infinitely illuminating for brighter days.
“You take the fall
Under the sunlight
Time is precious
Oh no no
Don’t go home
Don’t go home.”
While we never want the sun to disappear, it does every night. But without fail, it is back in the morning, and we can put the pieces back together again when it returns. We’re always “trying to escape the dark,” as Bern eloquently explains, and there isn’t anything that does it quite like the sun, and for that we are grateful. Bern gives thanks to the sun for all it does – nothing matches the consistency of our galaxy’s shining star.
“Grateful Sun” is Bern’s follow up to his previous dual singles, “Ancestors” and “Shrine of Shirl,” which both hit the top five of the Indigenous Music Countdown.
Bern has sung in award-winning bands Kickin Krotch and District Avenue, and he’s opened for Seaway, The Trews, One Bad Son, The Motorleague, and more. In 2018, District Avenue’s song “Revival” was featured at the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, and his signature raspy rock vocals harmonizing with traditional folk acoustical melodies have earned him several notable musical awards and nominations through the years. Most recently, Bern was nominated for three Native American Music Awards.
Drawing his influence from the likes of Chris Otepka, Frankie Miller, and Ben Schneider, Bern’s music oozes a combination of purity and pain, appealing to listeners with its unwavering root.
There is no greater root to reality than the sun, and Bern explores that deeply in his latest work.
“While it can be overbearing at times, the sun is always there to pick us up and keep us warm when we feel lost and alone,” he said.
There is darkness all around us, literally and figuratively. But the sun forces light through, every day, and breathes life into the void.
