Raincoat as a metaphor for condom is perfect except for the message of the rest of the song, which expresses – in almost every line – doubt about whether or not the woman shares his positive feelings. So, I always heard it as a triple meaning, a raincoat being the emotional strength to shield himself from sadness if he comes over and is rejected.
Multiple meanings are also in the line, "I've got contacts in my book and in my eyes." The book is an address book, and contacts are the people listed in it. The contacts in his eyes are corrective lenses, and this suggests his lack of potency and vitality.
Contact also has a third sense – meaningful contact. He is able to call the people in his address book, but is there something meaningful with any of them? Or the one who left him the note. Is there real contact?
All told, the narrator is a very unsure and insecure man, and he uses the mere existence of names in his address book as proof that he is liked. But when faced with a potential romantic opportunity, he is unsure if the potential is real.
I always found the word "touchdown" interesting. It's a term from American football; the band is one third American, but it seems like Sting might veto the term if that were the intended sense. Another sense is the landing of a spacecraft, and this sense gibes with another song on the album, "Walking on the Moon." In both senses, it indicates completion, success, and contact. If there is contact, will he need a raincoat in the one sense (condom) or the other (shielding from sadness)?
Raincoat as a metaphor for condom is perfect except for the message of the rest of the song, which expresses – in almost every line – doubt about whether or not the woman shares his positive feelings. So, I always heard it as a triple meaning, a raincoat being the emotional strength to shield himself from sadness if he comes over and is rejected.
Multiple meanings are also in the line, "I've got contacts in my book and in my eyes." The book is an address book, and contacts are the people listed in it. The contacts in his eyes are corrective lenses, and this suggests his lack of potency and vitality.
Contact also has a third sense – meaningful contact. He is able to call the people in his address book, but is there something meaningful with any of them? Or the one who left him the note. Is there real contact?
All told, the narrator is a very unsure and insecure man, and he uses the mere existence of names in his address book as proof that he is liked. But when faced with a potential romantic opportunity, he is unsure if the potential is real.
I always found the word "touchdown" interesting. It's a term from American football; the band is one third American, but it seems like Sting might veto the term if that were the intended sense. Another sense is the landing of a spacecraft, and this sense gibes with another song on the album, "Walking on the Moon." In both senses, it indicates completion, success, and contact. If there is contact, will he need a raincoat in the one sense (condom) or the other (shielding from sadness)?
@rikdad101@yahoo.com muchas gracias por tu analisis! me sirvio para entender la cancion..
@rikdad101@yahoo.com muchas gracias por tu analisis! me sirvio para entender la cancion..