Rainbowarriors

CocoRosie

Of all the white horses...

In these times of evil spirits
Of material thugs and mischief
Fear Saint Noni's wisdom
And his love for rainbow spirits
Jealous of their faithful heart-bond
And their dancing and their laughing
Made at last a league against them
To molest them and destroy them
Saint Noni wise and heart-strong
Often said to Rainbowarrior
"O my brother do not leave me!
Lest the evel spirits harm you!"
Rainbowarrior of two spirits
Gentle hand and lion-hearted
He laughed and then he answered
Like a child he softly whispered

We are Rainbowarriors
Evil come not near
Rainbow path awaits us
With hearts of love and tears

He's dead our sweetest mother
Loving father and our teacher
He's gone from us forever
He has moved a little nearer
To the master of all laughter
To the master of all song
O my brother, O my brother
Crystal brother of two spirits
Then we gathered in a circle
Stood round the rainbow fire
Burning embers hearts united
We remembered mystical beauty
If you look hard you can find a
Rainbow trail it's deep inside ya
Fear not you're a rainbowarrior
Golden light on everything gleaming

We are Rainbowarriors
Evil come not near
Rainbow path awaits us
With hearts of love and tears


Lyrics submitted by TDeMello, edited by hikyle, punch

Rainbowarriors song meanings
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18 Comments

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  • +8
    General Comment
    I was reading Longfellow's "Song of Hiawatha" and I came upon these verses and thought... wait a minute... Cocorosie! Book XV: Hiawatha's Lamentation In those days the Evil Spirits, All the Manitos of mischief, Fearing Hiawatha's wisdom, And his love for Chibiabos, Jealous of their faithful friendship, And their noble words and actions, Made at length a league against them, To molest them and destroy them. Hiawatha, wise and wary, Often said to Chibiabos, "O my brother! do not leave me, Lest the Evil Spirits harm you!" Chibiabos, young and heedless, Laughing shook his coal-black tresses, Answered ever sweet and childlike, "Do not fear for me, O brother! Harm and evil come not near me!"
    cyndil5000on May 12, 2008   Link
  • +2
    General Comment
    To me rainbowarriors means like spiritual warrior. Creating a world of love and peace. It's like the name given to the Greenpeace ship. It originated in native american legends. "The name of the ship comes from a North-american-Indian legend, that inspired the crew of the Phyllis Cormack during the first Greenpeace sea journey. According to the legend man will someday destroy the world through his greed. The rainbow warriors will stand up to save the world."
    kouzenon November 06, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment
    it would be a fantastically interesting children's show - two spirit is a general term (there are more specific terms in some cultures) for a native american person who doesn't fall within the gender binary - wikipedia describes them as a third gender, but it really depends. at any rate, that's a beginning to your exploration of the song, if you want.
    bugmenot123on May 23, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment
    God, this is so beautiful.
    Escapiismon June 20, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment
    Well, as the person above me said about the significance of "two-spirits" in certain Native American cultures, I would also go along with queer reading of this song. It seems like CocoRosie is creating a mythology about about queer people in general, and this queer god or hero of sorts, Rainbowarrior, like Hercules or something, kind of along the lines of "The Origin of Love" in Hedwig and The Angry Inch. I mean, they're singing about looking hard for the "rainbow trail deep inside ya" and "rainbow love" and fighting for rainbow freedom in general (come on, connect the dots). Not to mention the video has Bianca in drag (she actually makes a really hot boy).
    lucian_ohon November 23, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment
    The name Rainbow Warrior comes from the book Warriors of the Rainbow by William Willoya and Vinson Brown, (1962, Naturegraph Publishers). The book describes what the authors say are Hopi prophecies of warriors who would be mankind's key to survival. The legend says these warriors would appear at a dark time when the fish would die in the streams, the birds would fall from the air, the waters would be blackened, and the trees would no longer be; mankind as we know it would all but cease to exist. Widely repeated accounts of the legend recorded in the Naturegraph book say "They will be called The Warriors of the Rainbow, Protectors of the Environment." Other accounts attribute the legend to a Cree woman, as told by a non-enrolled Oklahoma woman who says she is of Cherokee heritage.
    claudel22on December 10, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment
    I would argue that Saint Noni is really Saint Nomi, as in Klaus Nomi, the German gesamtkunstwerkker. See link below: nytimes.com/2008/07/06/magazine/…
    Badingon July 15, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment
    its a sweet song, it sonds alot like this native american story i read, calle warriors of the rainbow, which makes sense caus cocorosi traveld reservation to reservation with thier father, wich is cool, i looooovvvveee thise song!
    kyky15on September 19, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment
    bianca clearly states in an interview -> youtube.com/… <- that rainbowarriors are a counter war army against "material wars" hence: "In these times of evil spirits Of material thugs and mischief" bianca also says that rainbow warriors fight for individuality :)
    jasxnnon June 16, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    why has no one commented this? it's such a cute song. no idea what it means, sounds like something that would be a theme song for some cartoon show.
    technicolor.girlon May 13, 2007   Link

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