Music Review: Selena Gomez "A Year Without Rain"

Selena Gomez

A Year Without Rain

Album: A Year Without Rain

Year: 2010

               The day is blistering for Selena Gomez  without her boyfriend in the lumiscent “A Year Without Rain.”

             Gomez “ohs” over incancdescent synths, setting a dreamlike tone. She laughs to herself as she gets into her car.  She remembers her boyfriend picking her up for their first date. He went to open the passenger side door for her. However, he kept fumbling with the key ring and ended up locking the door several times instead. She wonders if she suddenly sprang into his mind or he had a instant jolt during her thought. As she heads into the restraurant, she keeps holding out her hand a little for him to grab. But he’s not there. She’s used to him making jokes. She waves to her friends, waiting for her in a booth. Her conversation with them echoes around her. Several times, she thought she saw him walk inside. Then, she remembered, he comes back home from fishing with his friends tomorrow morning. She was only hoping it was for him. (“Can you feel me when I think about you?/With every breath I take. every minute/No matter what I do/My world is an empty place/Like I've been wanderin' the desert/For a thousand days, oh/Don't know if it's a mirage/But I always see your face, baby.”)

            In the chorus, she can’t wait for him to come back. The flowers have lost their scent and petals are scattered. She’s living, but is thirsting for something else. (“I'm missing you so much/Can't help it, I'm in love/A day without you is like/A year without rain/I need you by my side/Don't know how I'll survive/A day without you is like/A year without rain.”)

          The heat of the stars sears her skin. He’s asking how she is. She answers him loud. She shakes her head, delerium setting in. She taps her foot on the floor, trying to make him materialize in front of her. Her entire world has collapsed. Tomorrow, she will have feeling inside her again once he kisses her hello. (“The stars are burning, I hear your voice in my mind.Can't you hear me calling?/My heart is yearning/Like the ocean that's running dry/Catch me I'm falling/It's like the ground is crumbling underneath my feet (won't you save me?)/

There's gonna be a monsoon/When you get back to me.”)

            The chorus is sung again.

             In the bridge, her cell phone chirps. It’s a text from him, letting her know he’s on his way home. She sighs, knowing the hollowness that’s been lingering will be gone in a few hours. The day she met him, he helped her move into her dorm. She found a quick set of friends right away through him. She doesn’t know what she do without him. She wants to know if he caught anything and the silly things he and his friends did. (“So let this drought come to an end/And make this desert flower again/I'm so glad you found me,  stick around me/Baby, baby, baby/It's a world of wonder/With you in my life/So hurry, baby/Don't waste no more time/I need you here/I can't explain/A day without you/Is like a year without rain.”)

               The chorus is sung again.

               She “oh’s” again to end the single.

              Gomez’s illusory vocals glide through the sky, eventually landing onto her daydream. She’s lost in her thoughts of him, creating a bubble around her.

            The shimmering “A Year Without Rain, with its pastel coloring, gazes at the stars, preferring the fantasy than reality.