About The Song
As I’ve been thinking of how I can move more intentionally to respond to our times, a song has been stuck in my head. Kris Kristofferson wrote the song, which was inspired by the lunch counter scene in Chapter 15 of John Steinbeck’s Dust Bowl novel Grapes of Wrath. Kristofferson was born in Texas during the 1930s, and mentioned that he read Steinbeck’s book in high school or college (probably the latter, since he was a Pomona College graduate, just like our Claire!) Years later, he was reminded of the scene and wrote this work which Johnny Cash, who also made a recording of it, said might be his favorite song by any writer of our time.
Kristofferson says, “I kind of wrote it with John Steinbeck…only he was dead at the time.”
Just as he span a song out of a line in someone else’s interview, so he conjured Here Comes That Rainbow Again from a short scene in The Grapes of Wrath. The doominess of the waltz undercuts the message, which is about showing kindness: a truck stop waitress undercharges kids for sweets, and then is overtipped in turn by a pair of truck drivers. So why the doominess? Perhaps because even simple kindness raises suspicions: “So what’s it to you?” the benefactors point out when asked about their generosity.
Video
Lyrics
The scene was a small roadside café
The waitress was sweepin’ the floor
Two truck drivers drinkin’ their coffee
And two okie kids by the door
“How much are them candies?” They asked her
“How much have you got?” She replied
“We’ve only a penny between us”
“Them’s two for a penny, ” she lied
And the daylight grew heavy with thunder
With the smell of the rain on the wind
Ain’t it just like a human?
Here comes that rainbow again
One truck driver called to the waitress
After the kids went outside
“Them candies ain’t two for a penny”
“So what’s it to you?” She replied
In silence they finished their coffee
Then got up and nodded goodbye
She called, “Hey, you left too much money”
“So what’s it to you?” They replied
And the daylight was heavy with thunder
With the smell of the rain on the wind
Ain’t it just like a human?
Here comes that rainbow again