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about

Rainbow was written alone in an airport in response to some of the most degrading gay profiling I’ve experienced. I was in an airport abroad during pride month of 2019. The whole place was brimming with marketing ploy rainbows: digital banners invite you into the store with multicolor vibrance, pride flags wave, rainbow shirts beg for your purchase. I was stopped by a TSA agent and asked over and over again about why I was there, if I have a partner and finally, the question they were really getting at: the gender of my partner. One agent replaced the next as I refused to disclose this personal information to person after person. They repeated the same series of questions. I finally asked what this had to do with the safety of passengers, to which I was met with silence. I was patted down twice and my mandolin (in a cloth case) was tossed aside like a heap of dirty laundry. After hours of this, I was released without a word. So I wrote this song on my mandolin by the gate to get through the moment.

I sent a voice memo of the idea to producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Rachel White, who had recently parted from traveling with me, and we got into the studio when I was back in LA.
We hit the studio where Rachel made chord charts from the audio file I had sent her. She came up with a well-needed bridge section, and we sent a version of her playing the song on guitar to “Smiley” aka Smile High Club (keys), Alex Hamberger (bass guitar), and Arthur Johnson (drums and percussion). The live feel we were able to capture together brought some of the angst and settled it into something hopeful as well.

Rainbow begs the question: "if everybody loves the rainbow, why am i still under your attack?” This song has more questions than answers. Rainbow is about how problematic it is that queer people are capitalized on before our well-being is achieved. We cannot not let visibility pacify us into replacement for actual change. Companies and institutions have always benefitted from selling us to ourselves. Systemic safety from discrimination is more important than topical and profitable stunts of allyship. We are complete. We are valuable beyond measure.

lyrics

V1:
Maybe I should hesitate
Before I say what I know
Represent me every place
Except when I need it most

Eyes are
gettin
Pretty
sticky
Lookin
at me
Head to
toe
Can’t think
of a
-nother
reason
Why you
won’t just
Lemme go (cuz)


***CHORUS***
Everybody loves the rainbow
To bring their business
Keep em comin back
Everybody loves the rainbow
But I can see your colors fade to black

V2:
Thought we turned another page
But here I am in the past
Try to make it go away
but it just keeps comin back

Must be
really
heavy
To be
Scared of
What I
Repre-
Sent
Makin
Stories
That I’m
Sinnin
When I’m
Clearly
Heaven-sent


***CHORUS***
Everybody loves the rainbow
To bring their business
Keep em comin back
Everybody loves the rainbow
But I can see your colors colors
Everybody needs the rainbow
Go to target get yourself a flag
If everybody loves the rainbow,
why am I still under your attack?


Bridge:
And what difference does it make if I
Take her to bed with me (what’s it to ya?)
Try swallowing pride if you want to see

***CHORUS***
Everybody loves the rainbow
To bring their business
Keep em comin back
Everybody loves the rainbow
But I can see your colors colors
Everybody needs the rainbow
Go to target get yourself a flag
If everybody loves the rainbow,
why am I still under your attack?

credits

released August 7, 2020
CREDITS:
Annabelle Maginnis - writing, vocals, violin
Rachel White - production, mixing, sound engineering, guitar, writing, arrangement
Smile High Music - keyboard
Arthur Johnson - drums, percussion
Alex Hamberger - bass guitar
Tarekith at Inner Portal Studio - mastering

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Annabelle Freedman Los Angeles, California

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