Fairy Tale Spotlight: Rainbow Connection (Lyric Analysis)

One of my favorite songs ever is "Rainbow Connection" written by Paul Williams and Kenneth Ascher. It was written for 1979's The Muppet Movie. Since then it has been covered by a number of artists. My favorite group to sing this song was the Carpenters. But despite who you may find singing it, it is the amazing lyrics which really sell it for me. I want to take a moment to examine them. Let's have a look.

Why are there so many
Songs about rainbows
And what's on the other side
Rainbows are visions
They're only illusions
And rainbows have nothing to hide
So we've been told and some chose to
Believe it
But I know they're wrong wait and see

Someday we'll find it
The Rainbow Connection
The lovers, the dreamers and me

I am pretty sure there is an Oz reference happening here. Although rainbows have been used in fairy lore since... forever basically. And even though I do not know a whole lot of rainbow songs, I am sure there are plenty.

The song poignantly asks the question of why rainbows are even interesting at all. After all, they are just illusions. They are not actually there. Why would humans even care about something that isn't there. People have always noticed illusions and seen more than is really there. Fata Morgana is a good example of this.

Fata Morgana is an illusion that tricks the mind into thinking an island is forming off the coast. There is not really any land out there, but the mind says otherwise. In ancient times, people thought this to be a forbidden fairy land they were seeing. With rainbows, we have thought similar things. Where does it end? What exists at the end of it? Is it another land or some sort of treasure. The human imagination is a crazy thing sometimes.

This part of the song out rightly points out that the rainbow is an illusion, but then suggests that there may be more to is based on what the imagination of humans have concocted. There's nothing wrong with this. It's just how we work.

The short chorus of the first selection, which is repeated a couple more times, shows that the singer wants to prove that there is a truth to all this, and that the truth is profound in its effect on the world around us. Let's have a look at the next stanza:

Who said that every wish
Would be heard and answered
When wished on the morning star
Somebody thought of that
And someone believed it
And look what it's done so far
What's so amazing
That keeps us star gazing
What so we think we might see

Someday we'll find it
That Rainbow Connection
The lovers the dreamers and me

Once again, the writing of this song is questioning everything the song is about. Who came up with all this? Who started this whole thing called "imagination"? Somebody thought of it and another believed it. And what has it done so far? It's called progress!

I often bring up the Star Trek phenomenon. The old "flip-style" communicators inspired our flip phones. And later on, our smart phones greatly resembled the LCARS touch screens from The Next Generation. Popular fiction breeds new ideas and ultimately advances the world around us in a forward motion.

Also, the very object of looking up at the stars causes us to wonder what is out there. That leads to actual space programs. But before we have a space program, we make movies about alien worlds and the aliens that live there. The aliens may not even be true, but we are so driven to find out that progress occurs anyways. Imagination breeds fiction, and fiction breeds reality. It all comes true eventually.

Last stanza:

Have you been fast asleep
And have you heard voices,
I've heard them calling my name,
Is this the sweet sound that calls
The young sailors,
The voice might be one and the same.
I've heard it too many times to ignore it
It's something that i'm supposed to be,

Someday we'll find it
The rainbow connection...
The lovers, the dreamers and me

This part always strikes me as a little spooky, but it isn't really as spooky as it feels. It seems like there is a voice out there that is calling us sometimes, but it isn't so much a spirit as it is a drive within all of us to be more than we started off as. Imagination is a driving force for us to explore, create, and add to this world. We can either accept it or ignore it. We are here to do stuff. That's all there is to it.

The Carpenters version of this song had two extra lines which take place right before the last stanza. Here they are:

All of us under its spell
We know that it's probably magic

Well, yes. It is magic. It is the magic of imagination. The idea that unworldly concepts can lead to new creations is magic in motion. We are not supposed to ignore this. It's who we are. If you throw that away, then you are a pointless person. Imagine, use your talents, and add to this world. Never take away from it. That is the meaning of life.

While you are here have a listen to the Carpenter's version of "Rainbow Connection."

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