Get all 14 Rain Perry releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of A White Album, Melody & Jack, This is Water, Heroes (a benefit for Mercy Corps in Ukraine), The Money, Let's Be Brave Podcast - Songs, Let's Be Brave, Earthquake Country - RAINN benefit track, and 6 more.
1. |
Melody & Jack
04:59
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Picture a shipyard town
In California after the war
Salt air and daffodils
And everybody on the edge of poor
At the clothesline
My Nana keeps an eye
As my mom Melody and her friends
Go running by
“Those kids were like Our Gang,” Nana said
Which meant one of them was Black
And then her face got strange
As she told me about Jack
In her kitchen one day
When the rest had gone to play
He smiled at my Nana
And this is what he had to say
“I love Melody
She’s the girl for me
I’m gonna marry her someday
And raise a family”
Then off he went with his friends
And left Nana with a tale she told again and again
Every time she mentioned it
She had an actual furrowed brow
I didn’t understand it at the time
Like I do now
I felt bad for him
Because it was so impossible
But this would’ve been about the same year as Emmett Till
So when I think about it now
My heart breaks
Picturing his small, sweet, innocent little face
Saying “I love Melody
She’s the girl for me
I’m gonna marry her one day
And raise a family”
Oh Jack, did your mom sit down with you
And have The Talk that every mother of a Black son goes through?
Are you still alive, Jack?
Did you move away?
Has life been good to you?
Are you doing ok?
Did you join the service?
Did you go to Vietnam?
Do you have a family?
Do you remember my mom?
If you’re still near the shipyard
She’s there too
Buried down the road
From where she played with you
I’m thinking about you guys
Running near the waves
In the salt air and daffodils
And I’m dreaming of better days
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2. |
The Money
05:14
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The best things in life are free
It’s not about money
My grandpa told me that it’s true:
“If you work hard, good fortune comes to you”
Nope, gotta talk about the money
Oop, gotta talk about the money
Yep, gotta talk about the money
You bet, gotta talk about the money
My grandpa bought a little house up on the hill
He was a poor boy on the GI Bill
He said: “if you’re smart and put your money away You can be part of the American Dream someday”
Nooooo
I want to believe
He meant well, he was just naïve
I’m not saying he wasn’t motivated
But now I’m a little more educated
Let me tell you a little story about two GIs
Brothers in arms, one black one white
Ready to put the same money down
In Daly City or Levittown
But the Federal Housing Administration
Requires racial separation
If the lender wants to get insured
So they each buy a house – just not next door
Both men start a family
While the white GI builds equity
So when their kids are almost grown
Guess which dad can get a college loan?
So we end housing discrimination
And there’s no more legal segregation
But the wedge between these sons of soldiers
Widens as they each get older
‘Cause the white GI’s kid goes to college
And what he gains is not just knowledge
He gets connections, opportunity
That he passes along to his family
Like little sayings about rainy days
And the fortune that will come your way
If you work hard, but now I see
Those rules were made for my grandpa and for me
So yeah, we gotta talk about the money
We gotta talk about the money
Yep, we gotta talk about the money
You bet, we gotta talk about the money
If you’ve got ten, you can get twenty
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3. |
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Fractals of splintered sunlight filtered freely past the windowpane
And the loveliest song he’d ever heard wound its way into his battered brain
His brother from another mother smiled and said “I put this on for you”
And on the couch they closed their eyes and drank in the sweet sound of “Morning Dew”
Walk me out into the morning dew, my brother
And I will walk through the morning dew with you
I can’t walk you out into the morning dew, my brother
I am your brother – I’m not your brother too
They’d never be yarddogs; they’d find a way to get out of this town
Twin loudmouth longhairs – one was white, the other one was brown
Both their dads were drinkers; that does something to you
Both full of so much potential neither one of them knew how to live up to
[break]
One drove off to school, one stayed in town and went to work when September came
And they’d see each other sometimes but it never was the same
The doors that opened to him – he didn’t see them at the time
But one steps right through and one is left behind
Walk me out into the morning dew, my brother
And I will walk through the morning dew with you
I can’t walk you out into the morning dew, my brother
I am your brother – I’m not your brother too
I thought I heard a young man mourn this morning
I thought I heard a young man mourn today
I thought I heard a young man mourn this morning
I can’t walk you out into the morning dew today
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4. |
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Listen sisters and brothers
And if you do you can hear
There are voices still calling across the years
And they're crying across the ocean
And they're crying across the land
And they will till we all come to understand
None of us are free
None of us are free
None of us are free if one of us is chained
None of us are free
We are people still in darkness
And we just can't see the light
If you don't say it's wrong then that says it’s right
We got try to feel for each other
Let our brothers know we care
Got to get the message, send it out loud and clear
None of us are free
None of us are free
None of us are free if one of us is chained
None of us are free
It's a simple truth we all need to see
None of us are free if one of us is chained
None of us are free
Now I swear that my salvation isn't very hard to find
None of us can find it on our own.
We've got to join together in sprit, heart and mind
So that every soul who's suffering will know they're not alone
Oh, none of us are free
None of us are free
None of us are free if one of us is chained
None of us are free
If you just look around you
Your gonna see what I say
'Cause the world is getting smaller each passing day
Now it's time to start making changes
And it's time for us all to realize
That the truth is shining bright right before our eyes
None of us are free
None of us are free
None of us are free, if one of us is chained
None of us are free
Oh, none of us are free
None, none, none of us (None of us are free)
It’s the simple truth we all need to see
It’s the very heart of humanity
None of us are free if one of us is chained
None of us are free
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5. |
Indian Hill, Ohio, 1967
02:26
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Indian Summer in Indian Hill
Warm afternoons and a morning chill
Autumn leaves drift by in the glittering water
The neighbors are over for a drink
The bourbon pours, the glasses clink
A toast to the good life
Our little piece of heaven
Indian Hill, Ohio, 1967
The city burned a dozen miles down the road
But the Long Hot Summer seems so long ago
And a world away from these green lawns and old trees
It’s lovely here in fall
The fox hunt, the autumn ball
Twirl me around our little piece of heaven
Indian Hill, Ohio, 1967
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6. |
What's Wrong With You?
02:25
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It’s a beautiful day down by the bay
You could just go on your way
Past that family having a BBQ
But you call the police – what’s wrong with you?
What’s wrong with you?
What’s wrong with you?
Don’t you have anything better to do What’s wrong with you?
Nobody better wait in a coffee shop
Nobody better go for a jog
No one’s gonna tell you to leash your dog
Oh my God, what’s wrong with you?
What’s wrong with you?
What’s wrong with you?
Your mama didn’t raise you right – but I bet she’s just like you
What’s wrong with you?
You’ve got that pointy finger
And that weird little smile
And when you’re caught you’ve got those tears
Like a crocodile – ugggghhhh
Are you full of rage like the handmaids
Terrified you’re gonna lose your place
In a system that thinks so little of you?
Maybe that’s what’s wrong with you
What’s wrong with you?
What’s wrong with you?
Where do I start to talk to you
What’s wrong with you?
What’s wrong with you?
What’s wrong with you?
Why you gotta act the way that you do
What’s wrong with you?
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7. |
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People hand in hand
Have I lived to see the milk and honey land?
Where hate's a dream and love forever stands
Or is this a vision in my mind?
The law was never passed
But somehow all men feel they're truly free at last
Have we really gone this far through space and time
Or is this a vision in my mind?
I'm not one who make believes
I know that leaves are green
They only turn to brown
When autumn comes around
I know just what I say
Today's not yesterday
And all things have an ending
But what I'd like to know
Is could a place like this exist so beautiful
Or do we have to find our wings and fly away
To the vision in our mind?
I'm not one who make believes
I know that leaves are green
They only change to brown when autumn comes around
I know just what I say
Today's not yesterday
And all things have an ending
But what I'd like to know
Is could a place like this exist so beautiful
Or do we have to take our wings and fly away
To the visions in our minds?
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8. |
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They can have their conquerors, they can keep their kings
The lady of the harbor beckons me
My hope, my heart, my hustle are the gifts I bring
The lady of the harbor beckons me
When I’m tired, when I’m poor
As I dream of something more
At the golden door she is beckoning to me
If I come seeking refuge or opportunity
The lady of the harbor beckons me
Exiled in my own land or stolen across the sea
The lady of the harbor beckons me
That’s not pity in her eyes
She is fierce and she is wise
The Mother of the Exiles beckons me
Imagine a land where we can breathe free
Imagine a land where we can breathe free
Imagine a land where we can breathe free
But first imagine a land where we all can breathe
If I make it through the tempest and I’m doing alright
The lady of the harbor beckons me
To see my sisters and brothers through their cold dark night
The lady of the harbor beckons me
The spark inside me is the flame
That she raises in my name
The lady of the harbor beckons me
The lady of the harbor beckons me
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9. |
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Two little fish swimming in the water
On a sunny day
Meet another fish
Swimming the other way
He says, “Mornin’ boys, how’s the water?’
They smile and pass him by
Then one fish shakes his head and to his friend says “What the hell is water?”
As a little fish swimming in the water
Of this great big sea
I went to school
I read my history
And at the movies
And on my TV
I saw a world where nearly everybody looked like me
You breathe it
You believe it
It just seems like life
So it seems alright
Once you see it
You can’t unsee it
When you know you know
So where do we go from here?
I grew up with Sesame Street And Free to Be You and Me
I learned about tolerance And diversity
Well, it’s been 50 years since “I Have a Dream”
And the world still shows me every day a lie that I’m supreme
You breathe it
You believe it
It just seems like life
So it seems alright
Once you see it
You can’t unsee it
When you know you know
So where do we go from here?
Look, I know it’s not as if I planned it
I grew up where I landed
But now I’ve got to understand it
I ‘ve got to see
The things I take for granted
The sense of ease I’m handed
All the circumstances
I move through easily
And I’m not gonna lie
I’m afraid I won’t get it right
I’ll try to help and hurt someone
I’ll walk when I should run
But fairness is like love
A thing you can’t have too much of
The more you give the more you get
We haven’t tried that yet
So I’m looking in the rooms I’m in
And the songs I sing
The bent notes I sing with
I’m looking at everything
Look out – look in
Let it in
And when I see it call it out and say “This is water”
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Rain Perry Ojai, California
Rain Perry’s “Beautiful Tree” was the theme for the CW Network’s Life Unexpected, on which she also had the surreal pleasure of appearing as herself. She has released four albums on her own Precipitous Records, as well as writing and touring a solo play about her childhood. In 2016 she completed The Shopkeeper, her first film. She teaches a series of classes called Songwriting for Civilians. ... more
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