Red Rain

Peter Gabriel

Red rain is coming down
Red rain
Red rain is pouring down
Pouring down all over me

I am standing up at the water's edge in my dream
I cannot make a single sound as you scream
It can't be that cold, the ground is still warm to touch
We touch, this place is so quiet, sensing that storm

Red rain is coming down
Red rain
Red rain is pouring down
Pouring down all over me

Well I've seen them buried in a sheltered place in this town
They tell you that this rain can sting, and look down
There is no blood around, see no sign of pain
Hay ay ay no pain
Seeing no red at all, see no rain

Red rain is coming down
Red rain
Red rain is pouring down
Pouring down all over me

Red rain
Ohhhh
Putting the pressure on much harder now
To return again and again
Just let the red rain splash you
Let the rain fall on your skin
I come to you defenses down
With the trust of a child

Red rain is coming down
Red rain
Red rain is pouring down
Pouring down all over me

And I can't watch any more
No more denial
It's so hard to lay down in all of this

Red rain coming down
Red rain
Red rain is pouring down
I'm bathing in
Red rain coming down
Red rain is falling down
Red rain is coming down all over me
I'm begging you

Red rain coming down
Red rain coming down
Red rain coming down
Red rain coming down

Over me in the red red sea
Over me
Over me
Red rain


Lyrics submitted by fez, edited by tsimtsum

Red Rain Lyrics as written by Peter Gabriel

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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Red Rain song meanings
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30 Comments

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  • +5
    General CommentI can't decide if this is a social commentary about holocaust or a testimony of guilt. It seems to suggest a witness that never spoke, and has lived with the knowledge of a terrible deed ("I can't watch anymore","I cannot make a single sound as you scream"); then again it also seems that others carry the guilt (though that knowledge lends no solace) ("They tell you that this rain can sting, and look down").
    ballzofsnoon April 27, 2002   Link
  • +5
    General CommentThe song is a combination of several inspirations. The lyrics directly reference a recurring dream Gabriel was having where he swam in his pool drinking cold red wine. Another version of the dream had bottles falling from a cliff, and the bottles were in the shape of people. When they were smashed on the ground, the people-shaped bottles had red liquid coming out, and then it began to rain the same red liquid.

    So says Wikipedia!
    GeoJoe1000on July 12, 2014   Link
  • +4
    General CommentOn Peter Gabriel's Play DVD, he talks aobut how Red Rain is a British expression relating to being overcome by one's emotions.
    MasterDuncan03on February 11, 2005   Link
  • +3
    General CommentIt's less social and much more psychological than that - I remember reading somewhere that this song is based on the writings of early psychoanalyst Carl Jung.
    Halo Apeon May 01, 2002   Link
  • +2
    Song MeaningGiven the comments below and my feelings--this song haunts me beautifully--this song sure touches lots of us. It's meaning? First, from Jungian psychology: Like lots of great songs, such as Dylan's, the meaning is enigmatic, yet it somehow makes sense to a deep part of the psyche. Though I, too, read in an interview with Gabriel that this song is based on a dream he had--he just put his dream into music--that does not contradict what it means to each of us. We project the unconscious parts of our psyches onto it, as with Dylan songs--and, many of us share similar unconscious minds. There is, in addition to a great collective unconscious mind, there are many, many lesser collective unconscious minds where it resonates. That's the Jungian trip.
    And who knows? Gabriel may be giving us just a piece by saying that it's from a dream of his. Like Dylan, he may conceal the truth. He's a guy that dressed up like a flower in Genesis some, and he's very, very bright. I wish I knew THE meaning; all we know is it touches us deeply enough to be on this site. Really something, ain't it? cheers
    dogheartcon February 16, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General CommentIt's less social and much more psychological than that - I remember reading somewhere that this song is based on the writings of early psychoanalyst Carl Jung.
    Halo Apeon May 01, 2002   Link
  • +1
    General Commentsee if you can find the version of this with Michael Stipe and Natalie Merchant...also, R.E.M. covered this in a medley(on MTV unplugged)...they sing "Time After Time (Annelise)" then they go into this song...then they sing the classic "So. Central Rain," reprise "Red Rain" then finish "So. Central Rain"...it's awesome
    ZinbobDanon April 15, 2003   Link
  • +1
    General Commentnot sure what this is about, but yeah that would make very good sense. I love these two lines:

    just let the red rain splash you
    let the rain fall on your skin

    Going off of that --he could be saying, when you get overcome with your emotions, don't fight them, just let them happen.
    radical347on July 27, 2005   Link
  • +1
    General Commentthis song just makes you want to fall to your knees and just let everything you've been hiding and supressing to spill out in one climactic moment.
    ilikestuffandyouon May 07, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Commentrikdad.. you fucking asshole. this song ain't about nothing like what you've said.
    gabriel has mentioned a few times that this song is based on a dream he had about the red sea. but of course perverted idiots like rikdad don't have anything better to do than invent their own sex-manic variations of the meaning of the song. awful.
    carrotkinson April 24, 2007   Link

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