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We're Not Who You Think We Are

Certain Songs #1971: Robyn Hitchcock – “Raining Twilight Coast”

December 2, 2020 by Jim Connelly

Album: Eye
Year: 1990

. . .

My favorite song on Eye was the stark and desolate “Raining Twilight Coast,” a gorgeous elegy for a relationship that is clearly over, but is also on the short list of the Prettiest Song Ever Recorded, Robyn Hitchcock Divsion.

“Raining Twilight Coast” is one of those songs that takes its sweet time to get to where it wants to go — to the point where it’s normally the kind of song I would probably ignore — but the trip is incredibly worthwhile.

Once again, it’s just Robyn Hitchcock and single acoustic guitar, which he starts off playing tentatively, like he’s avoiding actually singing the song — which I imagine was written at a vista point on Highway 1 while a late afternoon storm pummels everything.

I’m on a raining twilight coast
Sending out postcards to the one I love
And the rain falls up from the ground
No one sees it ’cause there’s no one around

It’s basically all picking until he gets to the devastating chorus.

Just one thing baby, you forgot my heart
Just one thing baby, you forgot my heart

It’s accompanied by a repeating guitar lick that adds a shit ton of tension, and also totally makes the chorus jump out compared to the rest of the song, which just gets more and more desolate.

And I remember when I was young
They said, “Work hard and die suddenly
Because it’s fun.”
And so I tried it — I did what I could
It made no difference, it never did any good

Robyn’s singing on this verse is exquisite, ranging from a near whisper on the first line, to a falsetto on “die suddenly” to a full exhortation on “made no difference, it never did any gooo-hoooood”

Of course, because it’s a Robyn Hitchcock song, it gets weird.

‘Cause I’m a fish baby, with a shimmering skin
And I find an opening, and slide right in
The sea is my mother, pea-green and wild
There’s so many ways you can screw up a child

Weirdly enough, I’ve always connected “there’s so many ways you can screw up a child” with “Uncorrected Personality Traits,” even though in the actual verse, it’s something completely different.

For those who love Robyn Hitchcock’s more electric eccentric songs, something like “Raining Twilight Coast” might be too slow, too dark and too despairing — like most of Eye — but I love it, even as I can see why Eye was released on Twin/Tone and not A&M.

“Raining Twilight Coast”

“Raining Twilight Coast” Live in Tel Aviv, 2012

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Filed Under: Certain Songs Tagged With: Eye, Raining Twilight Coast, Robyn Hitchcock

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Previously on Medialoper

  • Certain Songs #2695: that dog. – “long island”
  • Certain Songs #2694: that dog. – “minneapolis”
  • Certain Songs #2693: that dog. – “never say never”
  • Certain Songs #2692: Terry Allen – “The Beautiful Waitress”
  • Certain Songs #2691: The Tenants – “Sheriff”

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