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If It's Raining

from * (Asterisk) by Derek Brink

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References: "Cat's Cradle," Vonnegut's Family, Bokononism.

This might be the first thing I wrote for the album, way back when. It's wrapped up in Vonnegut's personal life and also in "Cat's Cradle" (which, incidentally, is my favorite Vonnegut book). Kurt's brother Bernard Vonnegut was a scientist--the main character in "Cat's Cradle" was likely somewhat modeled after him. Bernard was chiefly responsible for the scientific discovery of "cloud seeding" which is the process of sprinkling chemicals on clouds to force them to rain. It remains a common practice to this day, having been used prior to outdoor events like the opening ceremonies of the Olympics to ensure clear skies for the global television audiences. The jury has been out for decades as to if we *should* do stuff like that...it's mostly just interesting that we discovered that we *could.* And Bernard Vonnegut was the one who did it.

I also make a somewhat missable reference to Vonnegut's mother, who committed suicide in 1944 over Mother's Day weekend just prior to Kurt shipping off to the war. If the information in that sentence didn't make you pause for a second, re-read it until it does.

The other family and relationship references in the song are "Cat's Cradle" references. The chorus is the main thing. It sounds somewhat celebratory of the fact that we can make it rain, doesn't it? And I also slipped in a few references to Vonnegut's fake religion Bokononism. "Busy, busy, busy" in particular is something that a follower of Bokonon might say when they're overwhelmed by how complicated life can be at times. In a world where we can make it rain, we can manage our calendars. Even I'm writing this just two days before the album is set to release, very late at night, and exhausted after working a very difficult day at my day job. Busy, busy, busy...

lyrics

Doesn’t matter if it’s raining.
Doesn’t matter if it’s raining.
Doesn’t matter if it’s raining.
We can make it rain.

Don’t let your brother
get you down.
You both do what you’re able.
Don’t let your father
scare you now.
There’s no damn cat or cradle.

Chorus

Don’t let your heroes
get you down.
Their lies are only human.
Don’t let your mother
hurt you now.
It’s cold. Best to keep moving.

Chorus

Busy, busy, busy—-very busy…
Destroying the whole world.
Busy, busy…
Don’t let me slow you down.
Building pressure--
building, building
building all the time.
So much pressure, pressure,
we could almost drown.

It doesn’t matter
if it’s raining.

credits

from * (Asterisk), released November 11, 2018

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Derek Brink St Louis, Missouri

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