Red Skies

"Red Skies" is a song and video by the musical group The Fixx which was first released in 1982 and then again as an entirely new video in 1987.

Red Skies At Night

This is a song and video by the musical group The Fixx which was first released in 1982 and then again as an entirely new video in 1987. This last rendition is accessible on youtube.com through multiple users or channels.

The 1987 video appears to be brimming with metaphorical allusions to the dangers of atomic weapons proliferation and the near-inevitability of a nuclear holocaust in the not-so-distant future. The title itself may originate in the old adage, "Red skies at night - Sailors' delight*****Red skies at morning - Sailors take warning". But now the meaning is inverted to imply that "red skies at night" means an imminent nuclear attack from a Communist country like the Soviet Union or even the actual detonation of atomic and hydrogen weapons within the target countries.

The keyboardist, for openers, is wearing a representation of flash-blindness goggles as seen in quasi-documentary films like Atomic Cafe. It seems no coincidence that at the very peak of the song's refrain he moves his head into optimal "viewing" position of a simulated nuclear detonation.

Much more immediately striking, however, is the image of the bass guitarist in the way he is attired from top to bottom in somber shades of black. He is photographed in ways which only serve to further reinforce the impression of a supernatural Matador-figure or even the Angel of Death Itself. He wears a wide-brimmed black hat which always conceals the eyes from every possible angle. This may refer back to stories of the Angel of Death claiming that anyone unfortunate enough to receive Its gaze do not survive to speak of it.

The figure is also clad in a long, black flowing cape which furls gently about him as he appears to pivot or turn through the camera's point-of-view. This apparent turning motion is directly reminiscent of a matador or even of another personification of death known as The Grim Reaper. The Grim Reaper is popularly depicted as a hooded skeleton in a long, black, loose-fitting robe who carries a long-handled, razor-sharp scythe with which he "harvests" human souls whose allotted time on earth has elapsed. The harvesting of wheat by a scythe-wielding human being usually involves a degree of twisting or turning or pivoting of the upper body as the reaper swings the long curved blade through its arc of travel.

The lyrics of course are more obviously explicit on the theme of impending doom and only serve to underscore rather than contradict the eidetic insinuations listed above.