Oh I can live with it, and it grates much less in the song than seeing it down in print. I just wondered if there was anything more to it, or whether as Leenia says it's just one of those things.

Ed is right about the meaning, but the phrase 'bright Phoebus' is common in English literature and invariably refers to the sun, alluding to Phoebus Apollo, and takes the male pronoun.

I'd always thought it was one of Lal's songs rather than Mike's, I'm happy to be corrected. I didn't buy the album when it came out, being rather too snobbishly traddy at the time, something I now rather regret. It's a true classic with some great songs.