Album: August And Everything After (1993)

Charted: 49 66

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• When I think of heaven
  Deliver me in a black-winged bird
  I think of flying down into a sea of pens and feathers
  And all other instruments of faith and sex and God
  In the belly of a black-winged bird
  Don't try to feed me
  'Cause I've been here before and I deserve a little more
  
  I belong in the service of the Queen
  I belong anywhere but in between
  She's been crying, I've been thinking
  And I am the rain king
  
  I said mama, mama, mama
  Why am I so alone?
  I can't go outside, I'm scared, I might not make it home
  But I'm alive, but I'm sinking in
  If there's anyone home at your place
  Why don't you invite me in?
  Don't try to bleed me
  'Cause I've been there before and I deserve a little more
  
  I belong in the service of the Queen
  I belong anywhere but in between
  She's been lying, I've been sinking
  And I am the rain king
  
  Hey, I only want the same as anyone
  Henderson is waiting for the sun
  Oh, it seems night endlessly begins and ends
  After all the dreaming I come home again
  
  When I think of heaven
  Deliver me in a black-winged bird
  I think of dying
  Lay me down in a field of flame and heather
  Render up my body into the burning heart of God
  In the belly of a black-winged bird
  Don't try to bleed me
  'Cause I've been here before and I deserve a little more
  
  I belong in the service of the Queen
  I belong anywhere but in between
  She's been dying
  And I've been drinking and I am the rain king
  'Cause I say I am the rain king
  'Cause I say I am the rain king, yeah Writer/s: Adam Fredric Duritz, Ben G Mize, Charles Thomas Gillingham, Daniel John Vickrey, David Lynn Bryson, Matthew Mark Malley, Steve Bowman
  Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 4

• Stickygeckojim from Seattle WaI thought the song was about a guy that does a lot of traveling, like a guy in a band on tour, and he has regular hookups in the cities he travels to (he doesn’t go to the girls’ places to have dinner, but to get something more). He is the “rain king” because when he leaves a girl to go to the next city she cries (rains), and he feels he must do this more than anyone else (he’s the king of making girls cry). He laments not having a “normal” relationship like other people have (he belongs anywhere but constantly in between relationships).
• Kevin from AustinMy take is that the Rain King has mental problems (All of Verse 2 : "why am I so alone", "I can't go outside", "I'm sinking in") and it's getting worse ("I've been here before" repeated in the chorus). He's with a woman who's fed up with his depression and quirks. She has one foot out the door. She's already seeing someone else ("She's been lying"), but she still loves him deeply ("She's been crying", "She's been dying"). He knows he's lost her ("Why don't you invite me in?") and he's given up. The only emotion left for him is resentment, that his love for her is no longer enough. His love, which in his mind is bigger than life, bigger than anything, should be enough. In his mind, his love is true, unwavering, unbending ("I belong in the Service of the Queen"), and he can't understand why that's not enough. And here comes the darkness. Again.
• Chris from UsaI always thought the song was about reincarnation? Lyrics such as "I've been here before" and "I belong in the service of a queen" or " I belong anywhere but in between" I thought the rain king was a reference to the water cycle that is continuous and never ending like reincarnation?
• Tim from ClarkdaleFor me Rain King is about a poet/songwriter/artist- Adam D of course. He is a complicated man, highly literate and he must compose and express as all artists do. A brief attempt to define himself can only result in messy, multi-faceted poetic image, splattered onto paper. The word messy works well here as he is also careless with people, particularly those close to him. True artists like Adam know their art and the requisite emotions that generate it (such as loneliness) are the primary thing, the only thing that matters. All other concerns are subordinate such as pesky women, whose fragile little hearts are routinely crushed. He is like a professional heartbreaker and I think quite conscious of what he is doing. I think Adam would be OK with me saying that most geniuses are a PITA. Love them at your own risk.

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