Someday We'll Find It: My Interpretation of The Rainbow Connection

This past weekend I saw The Muppets in theaters and it was fantastic. As a big fan of the muppets, I had high expectations for the movie, and it did not disappoint. I plan on writing a full review of the film in a future post.

One of the high points of the movie features the whole cast singing one of my favorite songs “The Rainbow Connection.” The original Muppet Movie, back in 1979, opens with Kermit the Frog, sitting on a log, playing the banjo and singing this beautiful song. Many of you may be familiar with the song, but are unaware of just how brilliant it really is. It’s a catchy song and “the lovers, the dreamers and me” is a very memorable line, but what is the rainbow connection?

I must preface this post by saying The Rainbow Connection is kind of an emotional song for me. I’m not sure why, but something about it chokes me up. Maybe it’s a lot of nostalgia, as The Muppet Movie has always been one of my favorite films. I remember a photo of myself, probably about five years old, reading what I think is the booklet from inside the Muppet Movie VHS which I had just gotten for Christmas. Now seventeen years later, a muppets calendar hangs above my desk as I write this. As so much has changed in my life, the things that stay the same become all the more powerful. And as I grow, the song takes on new meaning. It’s far too deep for any five year old to understand.

Let’s focus on the lyrics:

Why are there so many songs about rainbows
And what's on the other side
Rainbow's are visions, but only illusions
And rainbows have nothing to hide
So we've been told and some chose to believe it
But I know they're wrong wait and see
Someday we'll find it, the Rainbow Connection
The lovers, the dreamers and me

Who said that every wish would be heard and answered
When wished on the morning star
Somebody thought of that and someone believed it
And look what it's done so far
What's so amazing that keeps us star gazing
What so we think we might see
Someday we'll find it, the Rainbow Connection
The lovers, the dreamers and me

All of us under its spell, we know that it’s probably magic

Have you been half asleep and have you heard voices
I've heard them calling my name
Are these the sweet sounds that called the young sailors
I think they're one and the same
I've heard it too many times to ignore it
There's something that I'm supposed to be
Someday we'll find it, the Rainbow Connection
The lovers, the dreamers and me

It’s profound.

The first two lines ask: who cares about rainbows? Why should we care about rainbows? “The other side” represents the unknown. If rainbows are only illusions, what do they matter? The first couple lines sound as if the singer is disparaging interest in the rainbow, but he turns it all around with “I know they’re wrong, wait and see.” We’ve been told that rainbows are just illusions, and while most people accept it as common knowledge, the singer does not. It’s a powerful profession of faith with no facts to support it. Emotion can’t be rooted in fact, why does belief have to be rooted in fact? But the final discovery has yet to be made (“someday we’ll find it”).

The next stanza asks: how did the belief in wishing upon stars begin? I think wishing on stars here is a metaphor for prayer, religion, superstition, or any other acts of putting faith in the supernatural. “Somebody thought of it and someone believed it” shows that its inception needed only one person creating and one person following, showing the simplicity of faith in the supernatural. The next line “and look what it’s done so far” is brilliant because it’s completely open ended. While religions have caused wars, pain and discrimination, belief in a God continues to bring healing, meaning and hope to the lives of people all over the world. Again, we haven’t found it yet, but someday we will. We’re all under its spell, it’s probably magic. It’s not real, but it’s probably something far, far greater and more powerful than that.

The final stanza is about finding and answering your personal calling. While the lyrics talk about hearing voices calling your name, it has to be a metaphor for something calling you in life. The sweet sound calling the young sailors creates an image of sailors, slowly navigating open waters, following a sound that invites them.

I think the next two lines finally explain what the rainbow connection is: “I’ve heard it too many times to ignore it. It’s something that I’m supposed to be.” The rainbow connection is your calling in life, what your existence is supposed to be all about. What is your purpose? Why do you exist? I don’t know. Nobody knows, really, but we have to keep searching for it and someday we’ll find it. Someday we’ll find it, the rainbow connection, the lovers, the dreamers, and me.

The lovers are people who think with their heart. The dreamers are people who think with their mind. This leaves the singer (me) somewhere in between, not categorized. In order to find your life’s meaning, you must combine the two: emotion and intellect.

I just want to remind those of you who are still reading that this is the opening of The Muppet Movie! We’re talking about a song sung by a puppet frog playing the banjo. But it’s incredibly profound. The end of the movie supports the meaning of The Rainbow Connection, as well. *Spoiler Alert* Just when the Muppets finally achieve their goal of making it to Hollywood and filming their movie, everything falls apart. Disaster strikes the set and almost all the equipment and scenery are destroyed, when a rainbow emerges from the sky. In the last lines of the song, the muppets sing:

Life’s like a movie, write your own ending,

Keep believing, Keep Pretending,

We’ve done just what we set out to do.

Thanks to the lovers, the dreamers and you.

Keep searching for your rainbow connection. The Rainbow Connection is a song about hope. There is hope that there really is a calling for each of us, a reason why we are here. It’s a song about faith. We have to have faith that there is a greater reason for our existence, though there is little fact to support it. Thinking back to the photo of five year old Matthew reading the VHS booklet (studying and analyzing the lyrics to this song, I’m sure), there’s no way he knew what that this song was about. All he knew was a singing frog playing the banjo made him happy. Since then, I’ve only grown older and smarter (I intentionally didn't use "wiser"). If ignorance is bliss, then knowledge must mean unhappiness, and as I’ve gotten older, I’ve certainly gotten more cynical and skeptical. At times, I find it hard to believe in a greater reason for my existence. Logic and reason do nothing to support its existence. But this song gives hope. Someday we’ll find it. Not today, probably not tomorrow, but someday. It’s a lot more powerful than just a singing frog playing the banjo and it makes me happy, too.