Ari's Song

Nico's relationship with her son, Ari was incredibly strained due to the issues of her drug addictions and his paternity. Later on when the two were reunited, it was said that they had a very strange relationship, not like mother and child because of being rather estranged from one another for so long.

I feel this song is a bitter apology from Nico to Ari. He was (I think) about 7/8 at the time of the recording, and the relationship that formed between the two of them was pretty much set.

Essentially at the core of the song is Nico disconnecting herself from him, telling Ari to get on with his life and forewarning him of future dissapointment. There isn't really a sense of a maternal feeling from Nico.

In a way it kind of conjures up a Moses-like scenario. But alos, very much like the story of Moses is a mother sacrificing her relationship with the child, for it's benefit.

I agree with ambriel, and would just like to put that this is a truly heartfelt and beautiful song. Probably one of the only light spots on The Marble Index.

I love the line "Now you see that only dreams can send you where you want to be".. It's so heartbreakingly true and I think it sums up what the song is about: in time you'll see that life is often dull and disappointing, only in dreams, fantasy and in the beauty of nature (the wind and the rain) you can find shelter from the mundane.