Bobryanmusic.com: The Tracks

Coachella Rain

(Bob Ryan)

The Coachella Valley sits in a dry stretch of California high desert, just West of where I-10 begins to climb toward Chiriaco Summit. I'm not sure where this story came from or who this guy is. Whoever he is, one day I sat down with my Martin and his story just wrote itself in about 20 minutes. All I could do is shake my head and hope he's doing better these days and thank God I'm not him.

You never loved these dusty fields,
I know, I know, I know
The sky a dirty yellow as the evening sun goes down.
Every living thing across this valley dry and thirsty
Out to the horizon, not a single cloud around
The endless, hissing stutter of the rainbirds in the fields
Beating at the burning days in vain
But once, I saw you dancing underneath the Eucalyptus
Laughing in the Coachella rain.

I know it’s been years but I still think about the good days
When the crops were growing green out in the fields beyond the road.
I know I was dreaming to imagine it was working.
Mostly, you were only looking for a chance to go.
But then, there was that moment when your heart went off unguarded
And it seemed like anything at all was possible again.
The time I saw you dancing underneath the Eucalyptus
Laughing in the Coachella rain.

Once I turn that key, you know, the whole thing fades to grey
And you won’t have to see the dust fly as I pull away

You ran off with Danny on the 29th of June
Waldmann Trust came knocking on the 14th of July
They let me keep the Chevy and some useless bits and pieces,
Like the tools my daddy left me when he died.
The sky along toward evening has that same old yellow glow
That's the only thng about our time here that remains.
But I still see you dancing underneath the Eucalyptus
Laughing in the Coachella rain.

There is not a whisper of goodbye upon the wind
Not a sound to cover up the pain
But I still see you dancing underneath the Eucalyptus
Laughing in the Coachella rain.