COL49 - Chap 5: Hard Rain?

[kelber at mindspring.com]

"In Golden Gate Park she came on a circle of children in their nightclothes, who told her they were dreaming the gathering."

"Among her other encounters were a facially-deformed welder, who cherished his ugliness; a child roaming the night who missed the death before birth ..." 

etc. etc.  

This sequence reminds me somewhat of Dylan's " A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall."  All right, it's partly because my husband's dealing with his midlife crisis by taking guitar lessons and he's been playing this song a lot lately.  But TRP was certainly familiar with the song.  Is Oedipa the blue-eyed son?  More of a fit than Mr. Jones in Ballad of a Thin Man.

Laura


Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son? 
Oh, where have you been, my darling young one? 
Ive stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains,
Ive walked and Ive crawled on six crooked highways,
Ive stepped in the middle of seven sad forests,
Ive been out in front of a dozen dead oceans,
Ive been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard,
And its a hard, and its a hard, its a hard, and its a hard,
And its a hard rains a-gonna fall.

Oh, what did you see, my blue-eyed son? 
Oh, what did you see, my darling young one? 
I saw a newborn baby with wild wolves all around it
I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it,
I saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin,
I saw a room full of men with their hammers a-bleedin,
I saw a white ladder all covered with water,
I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken,
I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children,
And its a hard, and its a hard, its a hard, its a hard,
And its a hard rains a-gonna fall.

And what did you hear, my blue-eyed son? 
And what did you hear, my darling young one? 
I heard the sound of a thunder, it roared out a warnin,
Heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world,
Heard one hundred drummers whose hands were a-blazin,
Heard ten thousand whisperin and nobody listenin,
Heard one person starve, I heard many people laughin,
Heard the song of a poet who died in the gutter,
Heard the sound of a clown who cried in the alley,
And its a hard, and its a hard, its a hard, its a hard,
And its a hard rains a-gonna fall.

Oh, who did you meet, my blue-eyed son? 
Who did you meet, my darling young one? 
I met a young child beside a dead pony,
I met a white man who walked a black dog,
I met a young woman whose body was burning,
I met a young girl, she gave me a rainbow,
I met one man who was wounded in love,
I met another man who was wounded with hatred,
And its a hard, its a hard, its a hard, its a hard,
Its a hard rains a-gonna fall.

Oh, whatll you do now, my blue-eyed son? 
Oh, whatll you do now, my darling young one? 
Im a-goin back out fore the rain starts a-fallin,
Ill walk to the depths of the deepest black forest,
Where the people are many and their hands are all empty,
Where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters,
Where the home in
the valley meets the damp dirty prison,
Where the executioners face is always well hidden,
Where hunger is ugly, where souls are forgotten,
Where black is the color, where none is the number,
And Ill tell it and think it and speak it and breathe it,
And reflect it from the mountain so all souls can see it,
Then Ill stand on the ocean until I start sinkin,
But Ill know my song well before I start singin,
And its a hard, its a hard, its a hard, its a hard,
Its a hard rains a-gonna fall.