If I Could Be The Rain – Bruce 'Utah' Phillips
Sung by Polly Stewart on "Long Gone - Utah Remembers Bruce 'Utah' Phillips." Sung by Rosalie Sorrels. SheetMusic(pdf)
Sometimes I wonder how the simple rain can weep, C7/F/F/C/C/
Or why the wind’s a lonely child that cries itself to sleep. /D7/D7/G7/G7/
I’ve envied all the sunlight, the amber of its smile, /C/C/F/F/
And wished it could be borrowed for a while. /C/G7/C/C/
If I could be the rain, I’d wash down to the sea;
If I could be the wind, there’d be no more of me;
If I could be the sunlight, and all the days were mine,
I would pick some special place to shine.
But all the rain I’ll ever be is locked up in my eyes.
And when I hear the wind it only whispers sad goodbyes.
If I could hide the way I feel I’d never sing again;
Sometimes I wish that I could be the rain.
If I could be the rain, I’d wash down to the sea;
If I could be the wind, there’d be no more of me;
If I could hide the way I feel I’d never sing again;
Sometimes I wish that I could be the rain.
If I could be the rain, I’d wash down to the sea;
If I could be the wind, there’d be no more of me;
If I could be the sunlight, and all the days were mine,
I would pick some special place to shine.
"Everybody I know sings this song in their own way, and they arrive at their own understanding of it. Guy Carawan does it as a sing-along. I guess he thinks it must have some universal appeal. To me, it's a very personal song. It's about events in my life that have to do with being in love. I very seldom sing it myself for those reasons." Utah Phillips
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