A good commentary on "Falling Of The Rain"
Margaret
"Once upon a time, in the land of misty satin dreams..."
A Commentary on 'Falling of the Rain'
We need to stand up to the adversity of life- the very challenge that
it presents in itself- if we are to truly experience it. This is the
message that I take from Billy Joel's 1971 song 'Falling of the Rain'.
My commentary will deal with the lyrical portion of the song (1). The
song tells a story to the reader about a mystical place, the "land of
misty satin dreams", but like many such fantasy stories, there is a
moral message to be gleaned.
The song begins with the time-honored line "Once upon a time...". Joel
is telling the reader immediately to expect a story, a diversion or
amusement. We are also subconsciously able to connect the phrase to a
more innocent time, when we were able to indulge in such tales. The
third implication is that there may be a message to take away with us.
There is, and it unfolds over the verses of the song.
In the first verse, we are told of a "man who painted nature scenes"
in his house (in the "land of misty satin dreams"). Joel gives
examples of what he paints: "trees and fields and animals and
streams". This person, or painter, is an artist. He seems to live
alone, painting the outside world, as he is "staying" inside his
house. Although this man may be able to reproduce nature, he is not
able to experience it. Perhaps he refused to venture outside- Joel
says he "didn't hear the falling of the rain." - to hear the rain,
which is present outside his sanctuary, just as he refuses to go
outside to be in the nature that he paints. Joel's message is that we
need to "get our hands dirty" and participate (not just watch); the
artist (maybe Joel speaks about himself) is more used to recording
life than to living it.
The (eponymous) common theme of the "falling of the rain" runs
throughout the entire tale. The need to face life is the continuous
theme. The use of rain as a symbol is very powerful and interesting in
the song.
Rain is something heavenly, thrust upon us. It has a will of its own,
and we cannot control its patterns. Joel agrees, as he concludes "No,
you can't stop the falling of the rain." Rain is something eternal,
and can lend itself to cyclical repetition. The ongoing natural
systems that take water, evaporate it, and then send it falling back
to the earth again as rain cannot be halted or ignored; weather must
be faced by humans, who must continue living despite it. This is a
metaphor for life in the sense that we cannot stop it, nor can we
control it. Rain can be perceived as slightly negative ('a rainy
day'), which lends the symbol an air of challenge.
Can we, as people, go out into the world and face its ongoing
challenge? Can we even laugh at it? Joel seems to think some can, as
he relates in the second verse.
This verse is about a "girl who put her hair in braids", a young girl,
who is innocent and not world-weary. She lives in the "forest green"
and "walked all about the wooded glades." Unlike the man of the first
verse, the girl is not sheltered from the rain, from life. To the
contrary, "She was glad when the rain came falling on her face." She
enjoyed life, and the image we have of a child exploring conforms to
that. We can see Joel's picture of a girl thrilled with nature and the
world, eager to learn despite its challenges. She is happy. To express
her joy, she sings in the face of the rain. In emphasis, the phrase
"And she sang..." begins both the third and fifth lines of the verse.
Perhaps, having already slighted 'the artists' in the first verse, he
makes amends with them through this, rewarding the exultation (and
catharsis) that art (singing, also Joel's craft) can provide.
The third verse is one of two 'bridge' verses. Third and fifth in the
complete order of verses, these two are identical, and serve as an
apostrophic reminder that Joel is speaking directly to the reader. The
one coming directly after the tale of the girl is telling, as it
begins "Will it always be the same as we recall?". Joel is asking his
audience if they will remain like the girl, as he recalls his
childhood and fascination. His question also has to do with the
inexorable march of time, which is also expressed in the rain. Again,
"you can't stop" the rain. This more subtle shade of meaning brings
about further implications in the two verses we have already
discussed. The painter of the first verse seems now to be letting his
life slip by him; maybe he doesn't realize that he is aging without
taking advantage of the things he paints. The girl is even better off,
as she is not succumbing to the time passing, but enjoying each new
minute she is given.
Joel continues to ask: "Does it touch you when the rain begins to
fall?". The choice of the word "touch" is interesting as it is
ambiguous. The phrase 'Does it touch you' can be a question similar to
'are you affected by...' In this sense, Joel wants to know if the
reader feels anything about the passing of time or the process of
maturing (due to facing life's challenges, the rain). But he is also
asking if the reader is touched by the rain; are they more like the
man or the girl? Perhaps this is a plea to hear the message in the
song and take heed.
Then Joel's narrator reveals that he is speaking to a loved one by the
next two lines. The use of the two words "know" and "see" in
connection with the rain is significant as it implies that the rain
(time, or life) is not only something to be seen but also to be
'known'- as a profound truth. The last line of this verse is very
important, as it presents yet another idea not seen in the 'story'
verses: he doesn't want to "know" another "rainy day without you lying
next to me." He is saying that the 'rainstorm' can be 'weathered'
together by people- the narrator of the verse wishes to face the
adversity of time with the person he's speaking to. This is a pledge
of love in one sense, and at least a desire for companionship. He
feels it would be easier to conquer challenges with someone else, a
partner.
The fourth verse returns us to the narrative as we are introduced to
the final character, the foolish boy. This boy is "High upon a hill,
far away from all the dusty crowd." The impression held by the reader
is that of aloofness, someone who is metaphorically 'above' the rest
of humanity (the "dusty crowd"). This boy is condescending, looking
down with "his eyes on the ground". At the same time, he "will not see
the falling of the rain". He is blind to it, because he chooses to
look away. Perhaps he thinks he is too good for time or for challenge.
Maybe he thinks he's above the rain (above the clouds?). But no, "he
is a fool" and he holds "hopeless dreams". This is an interestingly
oxymoronic phrase. We, the readers, know that the hopes he has will
not be fulfilled, but he can't see that because "his head is bowed".
So, worse even than the man, he does not even look at the world, let
alone take part. "He waits" on his hill for nothing, alone. This verse
is followed by the repetition of the 'bridge' verse.
The repetition serves two purposes: to reiterate the apostrophic
message as to ensure, in a sense, that the reader understands the
point (Don't be like the foolish boy! "Does it touch you when the rain
begins to fall?") and (in somewhat less of a poetic fashion) to
conform to the musical structure Joel created to convey his message.
The final verse of the song is the grand conclusion, and serves to
emphasize both endlessness, and (both contrastingly and in parallel)
the cyclical nature of time. Those who are foolish like the boy do not
change, they simply grow old: "So now the boy becomes the man who sits
and paints all day..." continues the inaction ("sits") of the
character, hanging in limbo, not noticing the rain falling. But those
who face the challenges will be able to move on and leave the
purgatory of "the land of misty satin dreams". The girl we met in the
second verse has: "But the girl with the braids in her hair has gone
away". Joel proceeds to finish his tale here. In the cinematic fashion
consistent with the powerful imagery in the song, he sounds like a
kindly grandfather when he says "And it seems that time has brought
things to an end." The rain, or time (it's expressed directly here),
has finished a cycle. The girl has 'graduated' from the forest green,
and the boy has grown to become the man. So, although this has
happened, "Nothing's changed" and we have come full circle to the
beginning again. The rain continues falling, and the characters are
all there again. There will be more 'girls' with the desire to enjoy
life's adversity. And the cycle of fools represented by the boy and
man will also continue (2). And life will go on: in the flourishing
concluding line, "No, you can't stop the falling of the rain."
The story has ended, and the storybook is closed. With his successful
morality tale, Joel has himself brought us momentarily to see the land
of misty satin dreams. Like children who may become like either the
boy or girl, we are shown that life is there to be lived actively, not
passively (in a house or on a hill). We should enjoy its vigor. It is
not necessarily a lonely task either: the challenge can be met by
friends, lovers, partners (from the 'bridge'). We all need to see,
hear, and "know" the falling of the rain.