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This week we are joined by our guest Justin Hite as we review “Beneath the Savage Sun” the 9th track from the 2014 album “World on Fire” by Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators.

Justin’s Links:

@JustinHiteArt

@FineYoungSir

What’s That Non-English Song About?

Song Facts: (Source: SongFacts.com)

This song is about a subject close to Slash’s heart – elephant poaching. “It raises some awareness of that subject, and being an animal activist, I’m glad to be an advocate against animal poaching of any kind,” he told Classic Rock magazine.



Slash came up with the riff for this metal stomper on the road, whilst the classical middle section was an idea that he had completely separate from the song. The former Guns N’ Roses guitarist told The Independent.



“When we were working on the arrangement for the body of ‘Beneath the Savage Sun,’ I thought, ‘You know, I have this classical thing I could use,’ so I looked through all my little voice memo recordings, I found that part and it seemed to fit. The song just sort of materialised from there, once you have a section of a song, it inspires ideas for the rest.”



“When we were working on the arrangement for the body of ‘Beneath the Savage Sun,’ I thought, ‘You know, I have this classical thing I could use,’ so I looked through all my little voice memo recordings, I found that part and it seemed to fit. The song just sort of materialised from there, once you have a section of a song, it inspires ideas for the rest.” Slash and Kennedy wrote the song after witnessing the plight of the elephants when they were on tour in South Africa. “Myles and I went to South Africa a couple of years ago to do some shows and ended up spending roughly the better part of maybe two weeks there,” Slash told Rolling Stone. “We did a lot going out and seeing a lot of wildlife and whatnot. And when you’re there, you get a real feel for how majestic the elephants are and then you learn about the details of what’s going on with the poaching there.”



“So [Myles] wrote some really poignant lyrics, written from the elephant’s point of view about the death of one of his own comrades,” he continued. “And so when we got back to Los Angeles, we got together and came up with this song.”



“So [Myles] wrote some really poignant lyrics, written from the elephant’s point of view about the death of one of his own comrades,” he continued. “And so when we got back to Los Angeles, we got together and came up with this song.” Slash and Kennedy partnered with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) for the video, which features footage of the decimation of elephants. “An elephant is killed every 15 minutes for its ivory and the result is the elephant population has declined 95% in the past century,” said Slash. “Seeing that these majestic animals are on the path to extinction, possibly within the next decade, we wrote ‘Beneath The Savage Sun’ and partnered with IFAW.

Lyrics:

It was a blood red summer

One I can’t forget

When you took the one thing

All in this world I had left

For I will remember

Until the end of time

If it takes forever

Retribution will be mine

This I know

In the end

But I wanted you to know

That I wont forget, no

In the fields you’ll hear us crying

For the ones we’ve lost and loved

Underneath the savage sun

How many killing seasons

Can you justify?

How many dead and bleeding

Only for an ivory lie?

Was it for the money?

Was it for the thrill?

If I could have my way

Yours would be the blood I’d spill

But I won’t

Not today

‘Cause revenge is best served cold

This I know

So I wait

In the fields you’ll hear us crying

For the ones we’ve lost and loved

‘Cause the evil never stops and we keep dying

Underneath a savage sun

Underneath a savage sun

How many bleeding and how many die?

All for the greed of an ivory lie

When will they see what they’ve done isn’t right?

The blood that they spill could not be justified

How many bleeding and how many die?

Blood that they spill could not be justified

In the fields you’ll hear us crying

For the ones we’ve lost and loved

‘Cause the evil never stops and we keep dying

Underneath a savage sun

Underneath a savage sun