Ocean Rain

Album: Ocean Rain (1984)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This lushly orchestrated meditative ballad finds Ian McCulloch using nautical and meteorological terms as metaphors for the internal turmoil of someone caught up in a toxic relationship. The Echo & the Bunnyman frontman broods about a love so dangerous it leaves him "screaming from beneath the waves" as the hurricanes bring down "this ocean rain."

    Ian McCulloch admitted to Uncut magazine in a 2018 interview that he's been the cause of such a hurricane in many instances. "I've done this to so many people," he said. "The tide comes in, and it's lovely, then the storm hits. I've watched them drown and I've listened to them scream. I can't do anything about it."

    McCulloch added that he's just not good at human love: "I'm not good at saying 'I love you,' and vice versa. I don't want them saying it to me. Not too often. It's uncomfortable. My mum and dad, we never said 'I loved you.' And then years later when everyone started hugging each other, that was weird. I'm not good at that. I hate it. I think I like the idea of a different kind of love. A non-tactile love. Doing it through thought-transference. That seems to me to be a better way of saying 'I love you.'"

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Tom Bailey of Thompson Twins

Tom Bailey of Thompson TwinsSongwriter Interviews

Tom stopped performing Thompson Twins songs in 1987, in part because of their personal nature: "Hold Me Now" came after an argument with his bandmate/girlfriend Alannah Currie.

Petula Clark

Petula ClarkSongwriter Interviews

Petula talks about her hits "Downtown" and "Don't Sleep In The Subway," and explains her Michael Jackson connection.

James Williamson of Iggy & the Stooges

James Williamson of Iggy & the StoogesSongwriter Interviews

The Stooges guitarist (and producer of the Kill City album) talks about those early recordings and what really happened with David Bowie.

Meshell Ndegeocello

Meshell NdegeocelloSongwriter Interviews

Meshell Ndegeocello talks about recording "Wild Night" with John Mellencamp, and explains why she shied away from the spotlight.

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: '80s Edition

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: '80s EditionMusic Quiz

You know the scenes - Tom Cruise in his own pants-off dance off, Molly Ringwald celebrating her birthday - but do you remember what song is playing?

Randy Newman

Randy NewmanSongwriting Legends

Newman makes it look easy these days, but in this 1974 interview, he reveals the paranoia and pressures that made him yearn for his old 9-5 job.