Red Rain I am standing at the water’s edge in my dream, I cannot make a single sound as you scream! It can’t be that cold, Ground’s still warm to touch... Hay ay ay... we touch! This place is so quiet, sensing that storm... Red rain is coming down! Red rain! Red rain is pouring down, pouring down all over me... Well I've seen them buried in a sheltered place in this town, They tell you that this rain can sting, and look down... There is no blood around... see no sign of pain! Hay ay ay... no pain! Seeing no red at all, see no rain... Red rain is coming down! Red rain! Red rain is pouring down! Pouring down all over me... Red rain! Ohhhh! Putting the pressure on much harder now, To return, yet, again and again! Just let the red rain splash you! Let the rain fall on your skin! I come to you defenses down, With the trust, of a child... Red rain is coming down, Red rain! Red rain is pouring down! Pouring down all over me... And I can't watch any more! No more denial! The truth hurts for a reason, It's so hard for me to lay down, In all of this red rain coming down! Red rain! I'm bathing in Red rain coming down, Red rain, is coming down all over me... I'm begging you, red rain coming down! Red rain coming down, over me, over me, In the red, red sea, red rain is coming down. (Peter Gabriel)
There are a few poems that I'm including in my collection which are not mine at all, and this is an example of one I'm including, in part, because water is a central theme in Chaung Tzu Taoism. Peter Gabriel says this poem expresses a bizarre dream he had and his belief that holding in anger and sorrow is self-destructive. This song has always puzzled me, and now that I comprehend it linguistically the reason why are obvious to me. The vagueness of the statement "Seeing no red at all, see no rain..." is what holds the entire song together using what is, demonstrably, the most humble imaginable lyrics. This is the same trick I use in all my poetry, leveraging how humble it can be to figure out how beautiful it can also be when placed in the most intimate contexts. Gabriel's words are so minimalistic and ideal an expression that I could not begin to imagine how to write the sentiment any better for my collection, and anger and sorrow are particularly difficult to express this way. Of course, the answer to red rain, is the truth hurts for a reason, which is the one explicit line I wanted to add to his lyrics, because it is a central theme of the poetry. Note that the entire lyrics and sound of the song are almost tribal, and he was famous for doing unusual work for popular music.
