Jan Garrett writes a paean to rain

Oh my goodness. As I’ve said before in these posts, a huge plus for me as I research and write about the texts, composers and backgrounds of the programmed pieces for my beloved Cherry Creek Chorale is that I discover wonderful music and people that I’d never known existed. Such is the case with “I Dreamed of Rain” by Colorado composer Jan Garrett. What a character! Garrett’s been writing music for decades and won many awards, but had I ever heard of her? No, not at all.

Garrett describes herself as a “a jazz singer with a poet’s soul. A native of Colorado and a lifelong musician, she is a master teacher, wilderness vision quester, creativity guide, and (yes) certified laughing instructor.” I find that last item to be the most intriguing, don’t you? You can listen to a track of (I’m assuming) her and her husband, laughing uproariously, on her website. (Link is to the home page, with the audio button on the right sidebar.)

But on to our song. Garrett does something that always fascinates me: she gives the origin story. I’m not going to summarize the whole thing here and will instead encourage you to read her own words on the subject: “The ‘I Dreamed of Rain’ Story” Warning: Garrett is a great storyteller, and you’ll get sucked into other stories on her site as well. Just a-sayin’. Anyway, I’ll mention here that she wrote this at a time when wildfires were blazing, both literally and metaphorically. She longed for rain, and she got it, both literally and metaphorically. As I write this post in early 2022 Colorado is only days out from the disastrous Marshall fire in the Boulder area and one year out from the attack on the US Capitol. Some things never change!

I’ll give you just a snippet:

And then, in the midst of all this, quite unexpectedly, I began to have dreams of rain. In my sleep at night I would find myself in the midst of long and luxurious soakings, everybody drenched and laughing, all old resentments & debts forgiven, the long drought forgotten. I’d wake up oddly but gratefully refreshed, with that faint familiar heady scent of summer thunder showers in the back of my awareness, even though outside the sky was still hazy with smoke. I began to feel the rhythms of Grandmother Earth, ancient peacemaker and keeper of cycles and balance. My heart broke, and something shifted on the inside.

Here are some ideas from the lyrics, which I will post in full below the videos:

“I dreamed of rain and the rains came, and peace spread over the land.”
“I dreamed of summer and the winds changed, and peace spread over the land.”
“I dreamed of heaven and the earth sang, and peace spread over the land.”

She doesn’t go into detail about how she came up with the words, so I feel free to give you my take on them. Her progression of ideas reminds me of the three principles of sowing and reaping:

You reap what you sow.
You reap after you sow.
You reap more than you sow.

All pretty obvious, right? You don’t sow carrots and reap turnips. You don’t sow discord and reap harmony. Garrett dreams of rain and then rains come. (I’m guessing/assuming that the singular/plural change is deliberate.) She dreams of summer and then the weather patterns (“the winds”) change. She dreams of heaven, and heaven comes to earth. And that repeated phrase “peace spread over the land”—so, so lovely, so evocative.

As I was writing this post I was reminded irresistibly of a scene from the greatest novel of the 20^th century, Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers, usually categorized as a mystery but so much more:

Harriet flung her window open and leaned out. There was a sweet smell of approaching rain. Another flash and crash; a swift gust of wind; and then the swish and rush of falling water, the gurgle of overflowing gutters, and peace.

That’s all I’m going to allow myself to quote. Do read the whole book!

Back to the song. After many live performances, inclusion on a Garrett/Martin CD, and at least one award, it went on to an additional life as a choral piece by Canadian composer and arranger Larry Nickel, owner of Cypress Choral Music. This is of course the version that I will be singing with my own choir. I’d encourage you to compare the two recordings below, the first with Jan herself and her husband (with a little added bonus of her telling the story about it) and then the choral arrangement in a performance by the Northern Lights Chorale. Note that J. D. Martin, Garrett’s husband and collaborator, is the one who came up with the beautiful opening piano accompaniment. I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to singing this! (Serious, serious earworm warning.)

Here are the complete lyrics:

VERSE 1 I dreamed of rain and the rains came, soft and easy, sweet and clear I dreamed of rain and the rains came, and peace spread over the land. (2x)

VERSE 2 I dreamed of summer and the winds changed, and the green was easy and the rivers ran clear. I dreamed of summer and the winds changed, and peace spread over the land.

CHORUS 1 And the flowers bloom in the desert, and the air is fresh and clear I dreamed of rain and the rains came, and peace spread over the land.

INSTRUMENTAL

VERSE 3 I dreamed of freedom and the moon rose and the way was easy and the path was clear. I dreamed of freedom and the moon rose, and peace spread over the land. (2x)

CHORUS 2 And the guardian stars are shining, and the night is bright and clear I dreamed of freedom and the moon rose and peace spread over the land.

INSTRUMENTAL

VERSE 4 I dreamed of heaven and the earth sang. and the sound was easy and the song was clear. I dreamed of heaven and the earth sang, and peace spread over the land. (2x)

CHORUS 3 And the ancient pain is forgotten and the father’s debts are clear I dreamed of heaven and the earth sang, and peace spread over the land.

INSTRUMENTAL

VERSE 1 (2x)

CHORUS 1

CODA I dreamed of rain and the rains came, and peace spread over the land. I dreamed of rain and the rains came.