Songfacts®:

• Before Lil Nas X came out as gay in 2019, he struggled to come to terms with his sexuality. During this reflective track he talks about how he used to question his looks when younger, and the racist bullying he endured:
  
  Had friends but they was pickin' on me
  Always thinkin', "Why my lips so big?
  Was I too dark?
  
  The loneliness and alienation he felt:
  
  It's hard for you when you're fighting
  And nobody knows it when you're silent.
  
  He even contemplated suicide:
  
  Don't wanna lie, I don't want a life
  Send me a gun and I'll see the sun
  
  Once the rapper came out, he found a creative outlet through his music:
  
  I'm happy by the way
  That I made that jump, that leap of faith
  I'm happy that it all worked out for me
  I'ma make my fans so proud of me
• Lil Nas X said he titled the song "Sun Goes Down" because, "I feel like at night is when those thoughts you try to avoid really start to hit and you can't escape them."
• The rapper recalls finding solace in the @NasMaraj fan account he ran on Twitter.
  
  I'd be by the phone,
  Stanning Nicki morning into dawn
  Only place I felt like I belonged
  Strangers make you feel so loved, you know?
  
  Lil Nas X said he dedicated six years of his life to running the account.
• Lil Nas X wrote the song with producers Take A Daytrip, Roy Lenzo, and Omer Fedi, the same team behind his previous single, "MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)." Both tracks are about Nas X's identity as a homosexual. However, while "Montero" is a sexually explicit song about a gay dalliance, "Sun" is more contemplative. The producers' slow-whining acoustic guitar, understated trap beats and strings give the track a melancholic feel.
• The song samples Iann Dior's 2020 single "Holding On."
• Lil Nas X performed the song on the May 22, 2021 episode of Saturday Night Live, marking his musical guest debut on the show.
• Lil Nas X directed the song's touching music video alongside Psycho Films. The clip sees the rapper traveling back in time to offer support and encouragement to his younger self. His father, Robert Stafford, makes a cameo, driving him home from work.
  
  Lil Nas X explained that in the clip, he visits a "younger version self, who's struggling inside, hating himself, and doesn't want to live anymore. I try my best to uplift him."