Yesterday I Heard the Rain
Echoes of Longing: Dionne Warwick's Melancholic Rain Serenade
Lyrics
Yesterday I heard the rain
Reflecting on a past day when the speaker heard the rain
Whispering your name
The rain is metaphorically addressing or mentioning someone
Asking where you'd gone
Wondering about the whereabouts of the person being referred to
It fell softly from the clouds
Rain falling gently from the sky
On the silent crowds
Falling on a quiet or somber gathering of people
As I wandered on
The speaker wandering around as the rain continues
Out of doorways black umbrellas
People with black umbrellas approaching the speaker
Came to pursue me
These umbrellas are pursuing or following the speaker
Faceless people as they passed
Faceless individuals passing by, not recognizing the speaker
Were looking through me, no one knew me
No one understands or acknowledges the speaker
Yesterday I shut my eyes
Recalling a moment when the speaker closed their eyes
Face-up to the skies
Looking up at the sky while experiencing the rain
Drinkin' in the rain
Enjoying the sensation of drinking in the rain
But your image still was there
The memory of a person is still present in the speaker's mind
Floating in the air
The person's image is vivid, almost like a visible presence
Brighter than a flame
The memory is intense, brighter than a flame
Yesterday I saw a city
Observing a city filled with shadows and lacking compassion
Full of shadows without pity
The shadows in the city are devoid of pity or empathy
And I heard the steady rain
Continuing to hear the rain mentioning the person's name
Whispering your name
The rain continues to whisper the person's name
Whispering your name
Repetition of the rain whispering the person's name
Asking where you've gone
The rain is still asking about the person's whereabouts
Yesterday I saw a city
Recalling the earlier scene of a city without compassion
Full of shadows without pity
Reiteration of the city's shadows lacking empathy
And I heard the steady rain
Repeating the sound of the rain whispering the person's name
Whispering your name
Continuing to hear the rain softly uttering the person's name
Whispering your name
Emphasizing the ongoing whispering of the person's name by the rain
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