Hello everybody on HIVE, and especially the AFRITUNES Community. My name is Jasper, and I'm writing (and singing) to you from Cape Town, South Africa! Welcome to Week 117 of AFRITUNES.
I love South Africa and some of the special flavours of music we get here, and I look forward to doing a few posts on AFRITUNES to bring you music from South Africa, or to show you my original songs that have South African inspiration…
After playing some of my favourite South African covers (there will be more), I thought it might be nice to do a few weeks where I play original songs I’ve written myself, but where I know that I’ve been influenced by a traditional South African musical style, or where I use some words from another local South African language.
Today I would like to sing you an original song I have written called “You are the Rain”.
In a place like London, where it is grey and rainy all the time (what a pain!), a song about rain is probably going to be a sad song… However, in some parts of South Africa, especially the Karoo and Namaqualand, it might not rain all year, and rain is seen as a huge blessing that can turn a semi-desert into fields of wild-flowers and potentially give some grazing to farmer’s animals! There is even a historical town called Pella, where the spring would sometimes dry up, and the town would have to be abandoned for years until things improved…
In this song, I compare the desperation for it to rain with missing a special person who can “quench the drought” when they finally come home to you!
Lyrics for “You Are The Rain” by @jasperdick (original)
There ain’t a cloud in this burning sky
And the land is dry and grey
If it don’t rain soon then everything will die
That’s how I feel when you’re away, ‘coz…
I don’t like living without you…
I don’t like living without you there
I don’t like living without you…
This loneliness is more than I can bare, oh…
I see a cloud forming in the sky
Rolling in from the sea
Now there’s a chance that everything won’t die
It’s like I’ve heard that you’re coming home to me, ‘coz…
I don’t like living without you…
I don’t like living without you there
I don’t like living without you…
Come home soon or my heart could tear…
My heart could tear! Without you there… My heart could tear! Without you there…
You are the rain
You quench the drought in my soul, and
You take away the pain
So Darling, come on home…
Big drops are falling down from the sky
The land is green again
Tears of joy roll down from my eyes
As long as you remain, ‘coz
I don’t like living without you…
I don’t like living without you there
I don’t like living without you…
If you leave again, my heart could tear…
My heart could tear! Without you there… My heart could tear! Without you there…
You are the rain… You quench the drought in my soul, and
You take away the pain… So Darling, don’t let go…
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