Umbrella by Rihanna

“Umbrella” music video
“Umbrella” acoustic version

In my book, it’s pretty simple. If Chris Brown is proved guilty and convicted of the charges of assault and making criminal threats against his girlfriend Rihanna, then he is less than a man and deserves to rot in prison for the rest of his life.

You don’t hit someone you claim to love. This isn’t just a thing about men, it’s unacceptable for woman as well. We’re not talking about a playing slap or the occasional tickle-war, we’re talking violence born in anger and fed by rage. What Chris Brown is accused of doing is horrifying, shocking and disturbing. It seems so simple. Someone hits you in anger, abuses you, they are scum, you dump them, do everything you can to make sure they get the most severe punishment possible and then you move on with your life.

Well, right now Rihanna and Chris Brown are staying together at Sean “Diddy” Combs’ mansion in Miami Beach. That doesn’t seem right, does it?

It is known statistically that there is a substantial percentage of battered women who return to their partners (something like 1 in 4). Even if that statistic is grossly overstated the fact that any woman would stay with an abusive partner is mind-blowing to me. This is my knee-jerk reaction and after doing some research there are many reasons why a battered woman may stay, some of which are emotional but many of them economic. However, just because there are logical reasons those women to stay, doesn’t mean that it’s right.

Before all of this news broke about Chris and Rihanna there was only one thing that popped in my head when I heard the name Rihanna: Is the “-ella, -ella, -a, -a –a, under my umb-er-ell-a” one of the stupidest ways of playing around with lyrics or is it pure po song genius (and since when did “umbrella’ become a four-syllable word)? I still haven’t settled the merits of the use of “-ella” but since I first heard, “Umbrella” it has grown in my mind as a beautiful statement of devotion but with all that has happened there is something in the meaning of this song that has changed.

The version of this song that appeared on radio and the music video is a mid-tempo dance track. It features Jay-Z in the beginning adding some star power to the song. The background instrumentals are a throwback to 1980s synthesized music with an added sense of musical vitality. The drum track is more dynamic then the drum machine tracks in the 1980s and the variety of synthesized sounds and their arrangement give a level of depth song.



What is at the core of “Umbrella” comes through clearer on the acoustic version. Other sounds in the original version add to the overall texture but also pull the ear away from the melody and words, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. After listening to the acoustic version, it becomes clear that what is most important in this song is not the drums or the synthesized backgrounds of even Jay-Z’s rap but the melody and the words.

Alone with a guitar Rihanna’s voice seems intimate and almost delicate. She displays a range in her voice from the opening slightly breathy tone, expressive flourish of notes on “magazines” and slight aching on the word “because.” The guitar and strings in the background perfectly support Rihanns’s performance, bringing a sense of solitude and sadness to this song, almost like she is singing this to herself.

In the first verse, Rihanna sings that in the dark you can’t see shiny cars. She is saying that when things are dark and painful, when you need someone the most, material things will not be there and she states that she will be there and share in the darkness.

The chorus is a statement of commitment through all circumstances. The words are simple and direct. The metaphor of sharing the umbrella in the “rain” is immediate. Sometimes it’s the most clear and present imagery that is the most powerful. The “-ella, -a” thing is a sung echo. Rihanna deconstructs the word “umbrella” giving us pause to let us ponder what the “umbrella” symbolizes. Musically it sounds stilted and unexpressive but at the same time it captures the way that words sometimes stay in our minds and circle around our feelings.

As the song builds through the bridge to the chorus, something changes in the song. When Rihanna sings “I’ll be all you need and more because” the music builds becoming more desperate and after this line builds the chorus sounds different. Instead of reassuring, the chorus seems to try to convince. The voicing (the way the harmonic notes are arranged) are more tense and Rihanna’s voice has a sense of heartbreaking desperation.

I don’t think that end of “Umbrella” sounded like this to me before all of news broke out about Chris Brown and Rihanna. We don’t know if she was suffering from abuse when she recorded “Umbrella.” Regardless, the sadness in all that we know about Rihanna now has overshadowed any other meaning in the song “Umbrella” not in bad way but a challenging way, forcing us to reconsider how we feel about the way we treat the people we love.

I don’t know what I’d do if one of my friends told me that they abused their partner or if one of my friends told me that their partner abused them. Honestly my first thought, my first reaction is that I would cut any friend who abused their partner out of my life and I would want to beat up any person who abused someone that I love. I know the violent reaction isn’t right and I probably wouldn’t do that, I’m not a violent man and I’m not sure if I would really cut out a friend out who has sinned in such a grievous way. I don’t know if that’s right.

The future of the relationship of Rihanna and Chris Brown are in their hands. No one knows exactly what they’ve been through or how they feel about each other. I don’t know if a relationship can come back from something like this. It’s hard for me to imagine that it could but I’m not a expert on spousal abuse, I honestly don’t know. I hope that Chris is held accountable for whatever he actually did and that he can get help to keep him from every hurting anyone ever again.

Even more, I hope for Rihanna what I hope for all people that she always has someone in her life that shares the she love she sings about providing shelter from the storms in life.