Song Of The Day: Tom Glazer & Dottie Evans, “Why Does The Sun Shine? (The Sun Is A Mass Of Incandescent Gas)”

You know this song. If you’re older–like yours truly–you’ll remember this song being used in elementary school science, to help teach the basics of science. If you’re a slightly younger Gen-X’er, you’ll remember that this was a delightful single by They Might Be Giants, released in 1993, as part of the excellent soundtrack to Where In The World Is Carmen Santiago? But the original version appeared on Space Songs, a 1959 album credited to Tom Glazer & Dottie Evans, and part of a series of educational records entitled Ballads For The Age Of Science. The series itself is long forgotten, but Space Songs endures, partially because of the cool factor related to the Space Race era–the songs found here aren’t particularly space-age inasmuch as they are standard elementary school educational fare. But there’s a definite charm to it all, and this song–whichever iteration you may be familiar with–is a pure delight for all ages. Modern Harmonic will be reissuing the record this week. Do yourself a favor and check it out…

Preorder: Amazon/Modern Harmonic

Tagged as: 1959, Dottie Evans, Modern Harmonic, Song of the Day, They Might Be Giants, Tom Glazer