For me, the lyrics of a song are important and I prefer lyrics that refer to something other than romance. But I have a confession to make. There is a particular type of music where the lyrics don't matter at all. And here I'm not referring to a genre, but to a technique - the Wall of Sound that was popular in the 1970s and 1980s.
In a Wall of Sound track, I find that the vocals disappear, and the human voice becomes one more layer in that dense, layered sound. The technique lifts me up and carries me away, perhaps in a way that drugs do to people. I've never partaken, not even weed, so I'm relying on hearsay.
Today's video clip is Rain by the New Zealand group Dragon, and was released in July 1983 as the first single from their seventh studio album, Body and the Beat. The song was co-written by the band members and brothers, Marc and Todd Hunter, and Johanna Pigott who was Todd's partner at the time. The song is about a troubled relationship that is affected by the "rain", which symbolises hardship, depression or perhaps some other form of struggle. The singer asks his partner not to "go out in the rain" and tries to find shelter from it himself.
Rain reached the number 2 spot on the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart in September 1983 and remained in the top 40 for a total of 26 weeks, from August 1983 to February 1984. It is the only Dragon song to make onto the US Billboard Hot 100 where it peaked at number 80 in mid 1984. I apologise for the visual quality of the video which appears to have been captured directly from the popular weekly NZ pop music television show Countdown, but I prefer the sound quality over other versions available on YouTube. The child appearing in the video is Todd Hunter's son, Oscar Hunter.
Rain
It's a happening thing, and it's happening to you
Full moon and thunder, ribbons of blue
Ice on the window, ice in my heart
Fooling with thunder, every time we start
It's been raining for so long
It's been raining for so long
Oh is it any wonder, the streets are dark
Is it any wonder, we fall apart
Day after day straight rain falls down
All over town, rain coming
It's been raining for so long
It's been raining for so long
Don't you go out in the rain
Don't go out in the pouring rain
If you go out in the rain
We'll never have that time again
Is it any wonder, streets are dark
Is it any wonder, we fall apart
All these feelings that seem so wrong
Remember when we were so strong
Well it's been raining for so long
It's been raining I can't go on
Don't you go out in the rain
Don't go out in the pouring rain
If you go out in the rain
We'll never have that time again
Don't you go out in the rain
Don't go out in the pouring rain
If you go out in the rain
We'll never have that time again
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