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Pray for Rain Lyrics
In deepest hollows of our minds
A system failure left behind
And their necks crane
As they turn to pray for rain
And their necks crane
Dull residue of what once was
A shattered cloud of swirling doves
And their eyes change
As they learn to see through flames
And their necks crane
As they turn to pray for rain
And their eyes change
As they learn to see through flames
And their necks crane
As they turn to pray for rain
Drops on rocks fall fast and fleeting
Hearts and wings commence to beating
What’s unseen with all believing
Vision walls fall all receding
Vision walls fall all receding
Drops on rocks come fast and fleeting
Rhythm laws unleash the meaning
Usher us into the dreaming
Vision walls fall all receding
Hearts and wings commence to beating
All unending, all completing
Vision walls fall fast and fleeting
Vision walls fall all revealing (repeat X4)
In deepest hollows of our minds
A system failure left behind
Dull residue of what once was
A shattered cloud of swirling doves
And their eyes change
As they learn to see through flames
And their necks crane
As they pray for rain
A system failure left behind
As they turn to pray for rain
And their necks crane
A shattered cloud of swirling doves
As they learn to see through flames
And their necks crane
As they turn to pray for rain
As they learn to see through flames
And their necks crane
As they turn to pray for rain
Hearts and wings commence to beating
What’s unseen with all believing
Vision walls fall all receding
Drops on rocks come fast and fleeting
Rhythm laws unleash the meaning
Usher us into the dreaming
Hearts and wings commence to beating
All unending, all completing
Vision walls fall all revealing (repeat X4)
A system failure left behind
Dull residue of what once was
A shattered cloud of swirling doves
As they learn to see through flames
And their necks crane
As they pray for rain
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I thought this song is about the cyclical rise and fall of a civilization.
deepest hollow of our mind symbolizes the intimate connection between the state of mind of the people and the state of the civilization.
System failure refers to a past greatness that came to an end.
Necks craning to pray for rain symbolizes the irrational and strong need for them to turn to something supernatural during dark times.
Shattered cloud of swirling doves meaning some shattered peace(perhaps peace of mind)
Eyes changing to see through flame tells of how the people adapted to the testing times
Third paragraph shows how wishes are slowly granted. Hearts and wings commence to beating Life starts to seep back into the system
Woods unseen with all believing (no idea)!
Vision walls fall all receding All hindrance to our ability to understand is receding
Drops on rocks come fast and fleeting Prayer answered
Rhythm laws unleash their meaning The mysteries of the laws governing our environment are unlocked
Usher us into the dreaming The civilization is in a utopian state
All unending all completing The feeling of completeness is seemingly unending
Vision walls fall all revealing All understanding comes to us
The music that plays here symbolizes this Utopian state
The last paragraph is what makes the process cyclical. The last paragraph is a mixture of the first and second and is not exactly the same symbolizing the same state reached in a different point in time. (the fall of the civilization)
actually deepest hollow of mind says that the memory of the past greatness resides in the far corners of our memory
actually deepest hollow of mind says that the memory of the past greatness resides in the far corners of our memory
This is a very interesting and insightful interpretation. I think there is a parallel between your analysis and my own assessment of the song as being about the psychedelic experience: Transcendence. Ultimately, whether you interpret the song as being about individual subjective experience, or humanity as a whole, it still comes back to the same fundamental concept.
This is a very interesting and insightful interpretation. I think there is a parallel between your analysis and my own assessment of the song as being about the psychedelic experience: Transcendence. Ultimately, whether you interpret the song as being about individual subjective experience, or humanity as a whole, it still comes back to the same fundamental concept.
"Woods unseen with all believing" - I think this is a reference to the rhetorical question of whether a tree makes an unobserved sound.
"Woods unseen with all believing" - I think this is a reference to the rhetorical question of whether a tree makes an unobserved sound.
@ravesin Great stuff. Agreed with most of it. To me, though, the "hearts and wings commence to beating" is a reference the polarized reception of prayers half-answered. It rained but sparsely. That would reignite the faith of some but would cause others to abandon their faith and location. So, to me, the reference to unseen woods is the hope in a better place- either from the notion of the passing of the current or (maybe) the cynic's hope that at least there could be a better place with more sustenance here on Earth, away from the tribe (and where...
@ravesin Great stuff. Agreed with most of it. To me, though, the "hearts and wings commence to beating" is a reference the polarized reception of prayers half-answered. It rained but sparsely. That would reignite the faith of some but would cause others to abandon their faith and location. So, to me, the reference to unseen woods is the hope in a better place- either from the notion of the passing of the current or (maybe) the cynic's hope that at least there could be a better place with more sustenance here on Earth, away from the tribe (and where the proverbial wings would take you). Regardless, the repetition of setting at the end is a subtle enough way to say "don't expect too much when hoping for a better place".
I think this song is about something going wrong in the mind, leading the mind to become out of control and having their dreams and hopes lost.
"and their eyes change to learn to see through flames" could mean that the conscious mind is adapting to the chaos of its subconscious self.
"and their necks crane as they turn to pray for rain" rain to put out the fire, or the chaos, of the mind. The conscious mind wants relief of whatever is going wrong.
"drops on rocks fall fast and fleeting" sounds like it's starting to rain and help is coming...
"hearts and wings commence to beating" sounds like the mind is starting to boot back up again. Dreams are becoming realized and action is taking place.
Now when it says 'vision walls fall all revealing' it could mean that as the conscious realizes that reality is not as good as he hoped it would be.. Now I only say that because it restates the 'as their necks crane as they turn to pray for rain' part at the end
I think "the dreaming" refers to Australian Aboriginal mythology. They believe in a higher plane of existence outside of time called the Dreaming, or Dreamtime, and I'm pretty sure it's the destination for shamanic journeys among the Aboriginal people.
"Learn to see through flames" probably refers to fire scrying, or receiving visions while watching fire.
I think the people who's necks crane have emerged from some catastrophe. A system failure that left behind a deep and lasting impression on the collective psyche.
The dull residue of what once was is what is left after the event has shattered the living as they confront the world that was once teeming with swirling doves, or life.
And their eyes change, they see the world differently now that the world they new is no longer a reality. Their new reality brings challenges that they have to learn to overcome.
A prayer for rain is symbolic of the peoples lost hope that they now need to find a reason to keep living in a world they no longer recognize. The old rules they lived by no longer apply.
The people find the will to survive and life continues as hearts and wings commence to beating.
"What's unseen with all believing"
Again, the people see the world in a completely new way as the world they knew no longer exists.
Drops on rocks fall fast and fleeting. Could be reinforcing the idea that the people have found hope, a reason to keep living, or it could be that peoples hope is failing fast and slipping away.
With no system of laws to govern over the people, the more fundamental laws confront them in this new world. Either laws of survival forcing them to do things and behave in ways that never would have been tolerated in the old world, or in this new world we abandon our old way of thinking and turn to a more basic "golden rule" law that usher us into a new world.
The will to live in the people and the world is a circle of life all unending and all completing.
The song to me is about hope as we survive the world we once knew and discover a new way to live.
This song is about the rapture and the people left behind. They learn to see through flames because they are in hell and pray for rain.
I would argue that this song is about horror and the cycle of war and violence, in a general sense. The vibe is incredibly dark...and, well, has a sense of rain to it.
The first stanza already introduces the listener into a dark song. People strain their necks for rain. I conjure that this could be a few things, but the one in most accord to my argument is that rain is symbolic for violence/bombing. For some reason, I associate this song with WWII a lot. Heligoland is in Germany, and was used in WWII after all -- not to mention that the album cover is horrifying. A lot of people were war-mongering for WWII. To be fair, rain could also symbolize mourning or loss or a peace/purity, but for my argument I'll go with bombs (to be specific)
I would assume that residue of "what once was" would be spilled blood, thus violence, and thus war. People learn to see through a perspective of violence as a means to an end, and to survive. The peace breaks. Innocent people die -- suffer, and people want revenge. As the rain turns into a storm, "Hearts and wings commence to beating". People become emotionally captivated by "war", whether the feeling is disgust or praise. "Wings" or fighter planes are called to war. In a war, perspective is cut -- people think unclear.
The unyielding visions of leaders kill all who oppose, crushing them so the vision survives -- so the regime or government survives, until there is only one left. All that's left is vengeance, which brings more death. I'm not telling you its correct, but I can definitely see this interpretation being incorporated into the lyrics.
I think the line
"A shattered cloud of swirling doves"
is actually
"A shattered cloud of swirling dust"
@acidtonic It's really frustrating when the cd doesn't include the lyrics. But I'd like to think of it as swirling dust too. It really helps keep the theme of nuclear warfare consistent throughout the album, even though swirling doves in the way others have used it is more than fitting.
@acidtonic It's really frustrating when the cd doesn't include the lyrics. But I'd like to think of it as swirling dust too. It really helps keep the theme of nuclear warfare consistent throughout the album, even though swirling doves in the way others have used it is more than fitting.
To me this song describes addiction.
"In deepest hollows of our minds A system failure left behind"
The way addiction disturbes base of how one's mind functiones - ability to experience joy other than to succumb to more and more destructive urge, which renders one unable to involve in undestructive mutualy benefiting relations, and thus condemns to the life of solitude.
"And their necks crane As they turn to pray for rain"
How addiction deforms body and will to conform to the only priority - to fulfill the urge.
"Dull residue of what once was A shattered cloud of swirling doves"
How every moment of sobriety confronts with all the thing lost too addiction.
"And their eyes change As they learn to see through flames"
How it distorts perception making one see everything through the filter of paranoia, fear and resentment.
"Drops on rocks fall fast and fleeting Hearts and wings commence to beating"
The satiation of urge is a welcome yet fleeting and somehow violent experience.
"Woods unseen with all believing Vision walls fall all receding Vision walls fall all receding"
"Rhythm laws unleash their meaning Usher us into the dreaming"
The escape from surrounding reality even with psychoactive substances requires effort especially as one gets used to the effect. It takes an act of faith as it's irrational in the light of more and more destructive effects. One creates an air of mysticism around the way one stimulates one's brain to experience euphoria that's harder to come by with each time.
"All unending all completing Vision walls fall fast and fleeting Vision walls fall all revealing Vision walls fall all revealing Vision walls fall all revealing Vision walls fall all revealing"
The euphoria builds up with the repetition and the rising of the music. Fulfilling the urge gives the brief moment of bodily/cranial ecstatic burst represented by vocalized part, only to quickly return to the grim and degrading reality.
This is about the beginning of a psychedelic experience and trying to recapture the magic after it seems to have gone.
I think this song is about Massive Attack's relationship with their fans.
"In deepest hollows of our minds A system failure left behind Dull residue of what once was A shattered cloud of swirling doves"
Massive Attack was suffering from creative challenges (e.g. it's taken them 7 years to release a new album)
"And their eyes change As they learn to see through flames And their necks crane As they turn to pray for rain"
The fans have grown to love the music, and learned to see through "flames" (the logo of Blue Lines) Their necks now craned as they "prayed for rain", i.e. wished the band released more music
"Vision walls fall all receding Hearts and wings commence to beating All unending, all completing"
The band feels inspired and moved at last, and begin to produce music once again. Heligoland is the result.
This song could also be interpreted similarly in connection with any creative/talented person that others depend upon for whatever reason. The person goes through a "system failure" but recovers in the end and begins to benefit others once again.
^^ def the most plausible explanation for this amazing song!
^^ def the most plausible explanation for this amazing song!