Have you ever looked out of a train window as the raindrops race down the glass? Some raindrops move faster than others, bumping into others which causes them to combine and descend even faster. I can stare at the window for a very long time watching this happen. This song feels like raindrops on a train window.
Sadness is a deep emotion, a spiritual congealant that forces you to process life at a slower pace. But why are sad things beautiful? How do we find beauty in sadness? I think that when we are sad, life slows down, and new qualities of our sadness are then revealed – qualities not easily accessible when life is experienced at a faster tempo.
There are many sad, but beautiful sounds in this song – Elling’s voice, Hill’s muted trumpet, the pianist’s sombre melodies and the lyrics themselves. We savour every long sad note. In fact, the longer the better.
“Afloat and all at sea
The stars align in threes
They’re so fine and free in blue and in green
Like leaves on endless trees”
In life, there are things that change quickly and things that change slowly. Much of the catharsis in the world comes from standing in the middle of things that are changing at different relative rates. What does it mean to observe the Orion constellation in the sky as a dreamy youth, and then as a weathered man during a dark night of the soul, seeing no apparent change in the star, yet a chasm of change within oneself? I don’t know. But like the beauty of watching raindrops that move across a window at different speeds, there is beauty in merely contemplating the question.
poetic reverb 