It's still a perfectly serviceable boss theme, but the lyrics speak to a character direction now on the cutting room floor. The song's already done, it's written, probably even recorded. But there's part of it they can't just repaint: Red Sun. So when Sundowner's moved to Desperado HQ, they realize they can't use the original plan, and instead make him an outright war profiteer to engage in the themes surrounding him more directly. I propose that they moved Sundowner there from a scrapped, more expensive chapter that actually did focus on that side of things perhaps an oil rig in a wartorn nation, or something. It's why they had the 'boss gauntlet' of two bosses, it's why Sundowner's fight has that weirdly brief shooter segment. Sundowner's chapter is clearly the 'oh crap, we ran out of money' chapter of Revengeance, where Platinum pile up all the scraps of reusable and otherwise unused content they could swing to get together another chapter that's not too surprising or sad, most of Platinum's early games have that chapter. This song is so pro-environmental exploitation that a Captain Planet villain would be proud to have it, so perhaps it was meant for one! I propose: at the time the song was written, Sundowner was intended as something like an oil magnate. Which is weird, because every single other boss theme in the soundtrack is extremely on the nose for the boss it's for. It's not a theme that doesn't work for the war profiteer that is Sundowner, but it's clearly more focused on the 'industrial' part of the 'military-industrial complex' to the exclusion of all else. 'Arid breeze blows across the mountains Giving flight to the birds of prey In the distance machines come To transform Eden - day by day' I won't copy 'em all, but this is the part that always stuck out to me: Most likely because its vocals are so sidelined that it's the only boss theme where you can miss them entirely.Īnd maybe that's intentional. First of all, unsung hero of the soundtrack right here it's hard to beat Revengeance's A-tier, but nobody talks about how Red Sun is a solid B-tier leader. I will not do this, but I will throw down the general outline! Like all good Metal Gear theories, this one has received about ten minutes' worth of thought, and yet could fill twenty minutes' worth of stock footage filled powerpoints.

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