Thursday 15 February 2007

Spring Drizzle




“When the first drizzle of spring comes, do you feel that all is gone? Tempest is pacified, and wintertime is over. Here comes spring…”

Spring is my favourite season. A fresh spring, with all the velvet-green leaves that and the jade sheen it brings, is always the symbol of hope. So when the first drizzle comes tonight to give the signal of a new spring, I have every reason to celebrate it… this time by listening to Rain, one of my favourite songs:

If the rain comes, they run and hide their heads.
They might as well be dead.
If the rain comes.
If the rain comes.

When the sun shines, they slip into the shade,
And sip their lemonade.
When the sun shines.
When the sun shines.

Rain, I don't mind.
Shine, the weather's fine.

I can show you that when it starts to rain,
Everything's the same.
I can show you.
I can show you.

Rain, I don't mind.
Shine, the weather's fine.

Can you hear me, that when it rains and shines,
It's just a state of mind?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?

Its accompaniment and the vocal of John gave the song an air of hallucinogenic clarity which is found in other famous Beatles songs like Lucy in the Sky with Diamond or Across the Universe. (By the way, this sort of hallucination is one character that I love about many Beatles songs.) Once we consider the song in terms of its lyrics, though, it is also beautiful and, as critics said, Rain is a profound example of how the lyrics of a song can be extended and amplified by the music. So, in brief, the song’s music and words are equally beautiful and haunting.

Some critics also went further to say what we have is a song about the transformative and liberating of art. With this interpretation, The Beatles "seem to be saying that it doesn't make much difference what sorts of experiences you have: what makes a difference is what you do with those experiences. It is not who you are, where you come from, how much money you make that matter: it is whether you choose to live a life of creative expression."

I don’t believe it yet, though. I would rather think that Rain is just a song about rain, and it fits well with my present state of mind.

Rain, I don't mind.
Shine, the weather's fine...

Khi hạt mưa, khi hạt mưa của mùa xuân rơi xuống,
Em có nghe, giông tố đã bình yên?

(This is not the Vietnamese translation of the Beatles' Rain. It's some words in the song "Spring Drizzle" by Huy Du.)