Red Rain

I stayed home from work today because I'm illin' with a sore throat, cough, and general fatigue. It's no fun, and the weather today's pretty dismal, too.

I'm not giving myself a lot of points for creativity -- rainy day, the word rain in the song title -- but I was nonetheless glad when this song started welling up from within this afternoon:

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
This place is so quiet, sensing that storm

Partly because there is something about Peter Gabriel's voice -- it's haunting, in a good way -- a bit like the redness of the rain in these lyrics -- I'm not sure exactly what it signifies, but it's clearly not pretty, and I dig his ability to surrender to it:

Red rain
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

....because sometimes, surrender is the only dignified move to be made:

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 is coming down
Red rain is pouring down
Red rain is coming down all over me
I see it
Red rain is coming down
Red rain is pouring down
Red rain is coming down all over me
I'm bathing in it
Red rain coming down
Red rain is coming 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

So I'm going to try to let this sickness wash over me, too...