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Dirty Rain Lyrics
Last time I was here it was raining
It ain't raining anymore
The streets were drowning
Waters waning
All the ruins washed ashore
Now I'm just looking through the rubble
Trying to find out who we were
Last time I was here it was raining
It ain't raining anymore
Last time I was here you were waiting
You're not waiting anymore
The window's broke and the smoke's escaping
All the books scattered across the floor
And the churchbells are ringing through the sirens
And your coat was full of bullet holes
Last time I was here you were waiting
You're ain't waiting anymore
So may the wind blow
May the moonlight know your name
So let the needle move the record round til the walls cave in
And you and I were out there dancing in the dirty rain
Last time I was here it was raining
Like you ain't never ever seen it rain
And your eyes were filled with terror
And the smoke from the gasoline
As the stars exploded with gunfire
I saw you smiling just before
Last time I was here you were crying
You're not crying anymore
So may the wind blow
May the moonlight know your name
So let the needle move the record round til the walls cave in
You and I out there dancing in the dirty rain
Dirty rain
In the dirty rain
It ain't raining anymore
The streets were drowning
Waters waning
All the ruins washed ashore
Now I'm just looking through the rubble
Trying to find out who we were
Last time I was here it was raining
It ain't raining anymore
You're not waiting anymore
The window's broke and the smoke's escaping
All the books scattered across the floor
And the churchbells are ringing through the sirens
And your coat was full of bullet holes
Last time I was here you were waiting
You're ain't waiting anymore
May the moonlight know your name
So let the needle move the record round til the walls cave in
And you and I were out there dancing in the dirty rain
Like you ain't never ever seen it rain
And your eyes were filled with terror
And the smoke from the gasoline
As the stars exploded with gunfire
I saw you smiling just before
Last time I was here you were crying
You're not crying anymore
May the moonlight know your name
So let the needle move the record round til the walls cave in
You and I out there dancing in the dirty rain
In the dirty rain
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I think it's about the demise of a relationship. It sounds as if the last time they were at home together they were in the beginning stages - and being torn to pieces - by the realization that they were breaking up. Now time has passed, she's no longer waiting or crying. Although it saddens him, he understands. He even wishes her well. They've done their best to adjust to the fact that they are no longer together. It was a tough blow, but now they are just digging through the rubble of who they were and trying to move on in the process.
I think someone (a former lover) has died via some violent and the song is describing the songwriter going back to the exact place where the events occurred. If you can read through the lyrics thinking about it that way...that message really comes through. Every verse of the song touches on it sort of a factual manner (gunfire, terror, bullet holes, etc.)
I think the lines between the verses is about his memory of the happy times that relationship brought in general or perhaps, more exclusively, the moment just before this event erupted. The songwriter knows he has to work through the pain (walls caving in) before he can "dance" again with her.
Great song.