5. Cost of the Sun (Full song — ~4:44 | steady mid‑tempo observational rock) [Intro — 0:00‑0:36: steady bass + light rhythm guitar, faint distant cicada hum] Verse 1 The sun climbs high and it burns the land all day We work the hours through the heat and through the grey It ain’t just money that you pay to stay alive It’s the strength you give, the time you leave behind The heat wears thin the skin, it wears thin the mind You learn to move slow when the days get unkind The sky stays bright till the late‑afternoon haze Stretching out across the red‑earth ways Pre‑Chorus You can reach for shade, you can reach for rest But the northern sun don’t spare the best It shines alike on the rich and poor On the open plain and the shore Chorus It’s the cost of the sun, the price of the northern sky Every drop of sweat beneath the blue up high You gain the light, you gain the wide‑open view But you give a part of yourself to the sun too It’s the cost of the sun, the weight of the long hot days Beneath the big bright Queensland haze Verse 2 Some chase profit, some chase peace out here Some chase ghosts along the track that disappears The sun don’t care what you hope or what you plan It just shines down on every patch of land Storm comes hard, then the clear sky opens wide You take the good with the hard side by side You watch the clouds build up above the range Knowing nothing ever stays the same Pre‑Chorus You can reach for shade, you can reach for rest But the northern sun don’t spare the best It shines alike on the rich and poor On the open plain and the shore Chorus It’s the cost of the sun, the price of the northern sky Every drop of sweat beneath the blue up high You gain the light, you gain the wide‑open view But you give a part of yourself to the sun too It’s the cost of the sun, the weight of the long hot days Beneath the big bright Queensland haze Bridge We trade our days for a place to stand Beneath the big bright Queensland sky and land There’s no easy way, no shortcut to be found Just the red earth solid underneath the ground The sun keeps rising, the sun keeps going down Turning all our moments into memory now Final Chorus (slightly slower, warmer tone) It’s the cost of the sun, the price of the northern sky Every drop of sweat beneath the blue up high You gain the light, you gain the wide‑open view But you give a part of yourself to the sun too [Outro — 4:02‑4:44: bass fades, cicada hum softens away]
