A Day Without Rain: How Enya Soundtracked A Year Of COVID-19

If 2020 has taught us anything, however, the calm doesn’t last for long. Wild Child is characterised by the ethereal, plucky strings so often used in Enya’s music. Though chirpy and beguiling, it is perhaps the most ominous song on A Day Without Rain, juxtaposing upbeat melodies with darker subject matter to heighten its intensity. In describing the world moving around outside while we are stuck indoors, witnesses rather than participants, Enya unknowingly alludes to the seemingly infinite, inescapable cycle of lockdown and the creeping anxiety it has introduced into our lives.

There is, however, an optimistic element to the song, which serves as a list of things we must not take for granted: “Let the rain fall down/Everywhere around you/Give into it now/Let the day surround you,” Enya sings. Her celestial vocals enhance the idea that we should appreciate everything, but, on a deeper level, she is also encouraging us to embrace the positives within our now dystopian reality. Appreciate the sunny days, the rainy days and the company you keep; you don’t know when you’ll see them next.

The perfect metaphor

The most sinister track on A Day Without Rain, Only Time will forever be associated with tragedy, thanks to its use in news footage covering the horrific aftermath of 9/11. Following hundreds of thousands of deaths from coronavirus, however, the song now has a new tragedy to soundtrack.

Again, a plucky harmony of strings accompanies Enya’s angelic vocals as she sings about how uncertain the future may be (“Who can say where the road goes/Where the day flows, only time”). Her voice occupies an empty dread, an uneasiness that lingers as she realises she has no control over her life. It is the perfect metaphor for everyone’s reaction to COVID-19 as it spread across the world, impacting everything it came into contact with. We share Enya’s paranoia: we, too, have no idea when the turbulence will end.

Fleeting bliss and welcome refuge

As A Day Without Rain continues, we’re guided through moments of fleeting bliss and welcome refuge – the joyous summer months when cases of COVID-19 had decreased, and we exercised more freedom. Flora’s Secret conjures a dream of a euphoric summer not entirely dissimilar to ours, in what seems to be an infinite field of flowers. One By One has dreamlike rhythms, as it waves goodbye to the past and welcomes whatever comes next – hopefully, stability and good health. Providing welcome refuge from the chaos, these temporary hallucinations never last long – like the empty promises of governments who told us they had the pandemic under control.

This momentary peace surfaces again in The First Of Autumn, which begins like a bad trip with rampant strings evoking an unseen danger. As the tune progresses, however, we find ourselves again in a dream world – one that, this time, we seem to have created ourselves. It’s a powerful instrumental piece made from powerful strings and divine choruses that all but invite us to take refuge inside its beauty.

Trapped in a constant loop

Despite these delicate spots of sweetness, A Day Without Rain assures us that there are more uncertainties to come. Its quaint closer, Lazy Days, ends on a few seconds of silence; play the album on repeat, however, and they fade back into the opening track, as if trapped in a constant loop with no ending in sight.

An accidental soundtrack to COVID-19 and the events of 2020, A Day Without Rain is offers a near-perfect timeline of emotions. Enya has always seemed to be magic, but who would have guessed she could predict the future?

Listen to the best of Enya

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