If the sun has faded away...

[optimistic pessimist]

Dear all,

I'd like to ask about the lyrics of a song titled "Any Time At All". This song was composd by Lennon and McCartney in 1964.

If the sun has faded away
I'll try to make it shine
There is nothing I won't do.

I think it's far from reality to make the sun shine that has faded away, so subjunctive mood would be appropriate as follows.

If the sun had faded away
I would try to make it shine

What do you think John or Paul intended?

Thank you!

OP

 

[Raymott]

Dear all,

I'd like to ask about the lyrics of a song titled "Any Time At All". This song was composd by Lennon and McCartney in 1964.

If the sun has faded away
I'll try to make it shine
There is nothing I won't do.

I think it's far from reality to make the sun shine that has faded away, so subjunctive mood would be appropriate as follows.

If the sun had faded away
I would try to make it shine

What do you think John or Paul intended?

Thank you!

OP

It means "There is nothing I won't do. If the sun fades away, I'll try to make it shine."
I think that, like my most songwriters, they intended their lyrics not to be grammatically analysed too closely.

 

[BobK]

:up: ... neither grammatically, nor logically. It's a metaphor'

b

 

[mmasny]

If the sun has faded away
I'll try to make it shine
There is nothing I won't do.

To me, this sentence seems perfectly correct. Putting 'had' in the place of 'has' changes the meaning. We're in the poet's world where the person speaking in the song really wonders if the sun has faded away. It could be an answer to someone telling bad news: "The sun has faded away."
Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[BobK]

:up: As I said, it's a metaphor. They wanted a ryhme for

If you need a shoulder to cry on I hope it will be mine.
Call me tonight, and I'll come to you.

There's no point in getting obsessive about grammar and logic (not that these are seriously infringed ;-))

b