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"Echoes In Rain" is the lead single and fifth track by Irish singer, songwriter and musician Enya, from her eighth studio album, Dark Sky Island, released on October 9, 2015 by Warner Bros. Records. The song is the first release and final recording on the album.[1]

Background[]

Back in 1988, ‘Orinoco Flow’ was the final song that was recorded during sessions for the ‘Watermark’ album and its irresistible surge of globe-trotting euphoria made it an obvious choice as the album’s first single. This time around, the last song to be completed is once again the lead single. ‘Echoes In Rain’ shares the buoyant optimism of ‘Orinoco Flow’, yet its rhythmic march celebrates the anticipation of a journey’s end.
- Dark Sky Island Press Release

It’s a continuation of “Orinoco Flow.” To the lyric and to the melody, it’s like “Orinoco” was a journey — you went to all these places like Bissau to Palau to Peru to Cebu — but this is the journey home. It’s the excitement of that journey. It’s a long journey, coming home, because if you look at it, there’s day time and nighttime; you don’t know whether it’s a year or a month. But the nostalgia, the memories, all of that is with you. That’s very exciting. [And it’s] whatever home is. It could just be coming back to a country. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a home. [The continuation of “Orinoco Flow”] wasn’t something that was obvious to us at the beginning. The chorus came first and it was like, this is quite positive. But then, the end bit is intentional; the little vocal part, “Aaaaaaah.” That was in “Orinoco” so we though, why don’t we do this — it’s so “Orinoco.”
- Enya for the idolator, 2015

’Echoes On Rain’ was actually the last piece we worked on for this album. Sometimes it happens, it happened with ‘Watermark’, the last piece you do is the one that celebrates the music the most…lyrically. ‘Orinoco Flow’ was the last one we did for ‘Watermark’ and it’s a sense of adventure. With this, it’s more like you’re coming home. It’s that love you feel when you’re approaching home after being away for a long time. It’s a long journey, you’re travelling through night, through day. It’s that beauty of finding your place again, your space again.
- Roma Ryan about Echoes In Rain on Enya's Youtube Channel

Composition[]

"Echoes In Rain" has a 'buoyant optimism' due to the 'marching' rhythmic ostinatos and pizzicato strings. The a cappella multi-vocal ending was compared to Enya's breakthrough single "Orinoco Flow" from Watermark. "Echoes In Rain" is played in a minor scale (explicitly F-sharp minor). Enya's vocals span 2 octaves from the low note of B2 to the high note of E5. The song includes a piano-based bridge, similar to Enya's piano solo work, and it is the first of her lead singles to do so.

The lyrics describe the feelings of a long journey home, travelling through night and through day, with the verses detailing how the surroundings and emotions change throughout the journey.

The lyric 'everything flows' is repeated throughout, perhaps referring to "Orinoco Flow". Enya has a few other songs with similar references to the hit song. In The Memory Of Trees the song "On My Way Home" repeats the 'turn it up, adieu' lyric; "Lazy Days" has the lyric 'and how it sails away' in A Day Without Rain, and in And Winter Came... "Miraculum" has Latin lyrics, in which the refrain translates to 'to sail away, a wonderful thing'.

'Here comes another new day' precedes the chorus in "Echoes In Rain", which uses the phrase 'alleluia' to express the joyous feeling that each 'new day' brings and the happiness of returning back home.

Lyrics[]

Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah

Wait for the sun
Watching the sky
Black as a crow
Night passes by
Taking the stars
So far away
Everything flows
Here comes another new day
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah

Into the wind
I throw the night
Silver and gold
Turn into light
I'm on the road
I know the way
Everything flows
Here comes another new day

Alleluia, alle-alle alleluia
Alleluia, alleluia
Alleluia, alle-alle alleluia
Alleluia, alleluia
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah

Echoes in rain
Drifting in waves
Long journey home
Never too late
Black as a crow
Night comes again
Everything flows
Here comes another new day

Alleluia, alle-alle alleluia
Alleluia, alleluia
Alleluia, alle-alle alleluia
Alleluia, alleluia
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ahh

Alleluia, alle-alle alleluia
Alleluia, alleluia
Alleluia, alle-alle alleluia
Alleluia, alleluia
Alleluia, alle-alle alleluia
Alleluia, alleluia
Alleluia, alle-alle alleluia
Alleluia, alleluia
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah

Tracklist[]

Single[]

  1. "Echoes In Rain" 3:35

Promo[]

  1. "Echoes In Rain" (Radio Edit) 2:58

Music Video[]

The music video for "Echoes In Rain" was released on 20 November 2015, the same day as the accompanying album Dark Sky Island. It showed Enya performing the song with the female string ensemble - Wired Strings, and a female choir, in Harrow School in London. The set featured an antique rotating globe, turning as the 'long journey home' the lyrics describe progressed and changed from night to day and back; to emphasise, intense lighting lit the church to represent the day (white, bright lights), and the night (blue, dim lights) of the journey.

Live Performances[]

On 13 December 2015, Enya gave a surprise performance of the song at the Universal Studios Japan Christmas Show. In March 2016, she performed the song on Live! with Kelly and Michael and on April 7, 2016 at the 2016 ECHO Award.

Charts[]

Chart (2016) Peak position
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders) 6
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia) 48

Release History[]

Region Date Formart(s) Label
Worldwide October 9, 2015 Digital Download Aigle Music
Italy November 13, 2015 Contemporary hit Radio Warner Music

Trivia[]

  • Echoes In Rain was the first single from Dark Sky Island. It premiered on 8 October 2015 on Ken Bruce’s BBC Radio 2 show. As is often the case with Enya’s lead singles, it was the last song written for the album.[2]

References[]

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