It’s not confirmed, but it’s possible that Rain King is based off of “Henderson the Rain King” by Saul Bellow. It’s a story about a rich man who goes to Africa, and after moving a statue, he becomes the Rain King of the village. But when the King of the village dies, the rich man is the heir, but he...
[Chorus]
Rain King in chains has nowhere to go
His jet stream daydream cocksure hard luck show
His lips a fountain, his daylight sparks
He's a shotgun schoolyard, street-wise white-hot kid
With a whip-cream phonecall breakdown, Rain King fist
His mind a countdown, his daydream sparks
[Verse 1]
I need three years to clear these thoughts, hey
I'd like to say I knew one true thing
It feels like years and all I've done is fought
And not turned up anything
[Verse 2]
Let the black day glow and roll over my bed
I'm waiting here for some reality crease
There's one big dead end in my head
And not a moment of peace
[Chorus]
Crossfire Rain King with his Cadillac kid
Marries every dictionary from his trainyard bliss
His lips a fountain, his daylight sparks
Scattershot image king fortunate wheel when?
Keeps a steel drum wedding ring Pontiac doorknob tent
His mind a countdown, his daylight sparks
[Verse 3]
Hung up on a speed king nation, caught up on a nail
Hanging tight with time, at least a little while
Your sister is a beauty when she's naked, like my kid
Out here in this whirlpool world, dreaming of a pitchfork kiss
Rain King was written by Thurston Moore & Kim Gordon & Steve Shelley & Lee Ranaldo.
Rain King was produced by Sonic Youth & Nick Sansano.
Sonic Youth released Rain King on Tue Oct 18 1988.
The tunings originally used on the album are a mystery, but when the band had to relearn the songs in 2007, Thurston used D#D#AAEE, and Lee used EBEEAA.