Friday Sessions #99: ‘You know me, in anticipation for precipitation. Stack chips for a rainy day’ – ‘Umbrella’ Rihanna (feat. JAY-Z)

This week’s artist and her track ‘Umbrella’ was one of the most played songs on the radio in the 2000s. A global success, it was on all the top singles charts around the world and everyone was singing along. But do you think everyone caught all the words?

Today’s lyric: ‘You know me, in anticipation for precipitation. Stack chips for a rainy day.’

When lyrics rhyme (like the words ‘anticipation’ and ‘precipitation’) this helps both our memory and pronunciation. Check the final syllable: ‘a’ ‘shun’ = ‘ation.’

But to fully understand these lyrics we need to separate the meaning of some of the other key words, all of which are playing with a double meaning:

To stack – To put one thing on top of another, (but also to accumulate)
Chips – fried potatoes, (but also the coins or tokens used in gambling)
Rainy day – literally a day with lots of rain, (but also used to describe the days when things are not going well)

So, basically we are talking about being prepared for difficult days in the future, when we might need to use our chips,… (and our umbrella!)

Lyrics:

Uh huh, uh huh (yeah, Rihanna)
Uh huh, uh huh (Good Girl Gone Bad)
Uh huh, uh huh (take three, action)
Uh huh, uh huh (Hov)

No clouds in my stones
Let it rain, I hydroplane in the bank
Comin’ down like Dow Jones
When the clouds come, we gone
We Roc-A-Fella
We fly higher than weather
In G5’s or better
You know me (you know me)
In anticipation for precipitation stack chips for the rainy day
Jay, Rain Man is back
With Little Ms. Sunshine, Rihanna, where you at?

You have my heart
And we’ll never be worlds apart
Maybe in magazines
But you’ll still be my star
Baby, ’cause in the dark
You can’t see shiny cars
And that’s when you need me there
With you I’ll always share
Because

When the sun shines, we’ll shine together
Told you I’ll be here forever
Said I’ll always be your friend
Took an oath, I’ma stick it out to the end
Now that it’s raining more than ever
Know that we’ll still have each other
You can stand under my umbrella
You can stand under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh
Under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh
Under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh
Under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh-eh

These fancy things will never come in between
You’re part of my entity, here for infinity
When the war has took its part
When the world has dealt its cards
If the hand is hard
Together we’ll mend your heart
Because

When the sun shines, we shine together
Told you I’ll be here forever
Said I’ll always be your friend
Took an oath, I’ma stick it out to the end
Now that it’s raining more than ever
Know that we’ll still have each other
You can stand under my umbrella
You can stand under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh
Under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh
Under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh
Under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh-eh

You can run into my arms
It’s okay, don’t be alarmed
Come into me (there’s no distance in between our love)
So gon’ and let the rain pour
I’ll be all you need and more
Because

When the sun shines, we shine together
Told you I’ll be here forever
Said I’ll always be your friend
Took an oath, I’ma stick it out to the end
Now that it’s raining more than ever
Know that we’ll still have each other
You can stand under my umbrella
You can stand under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh
Under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh
Under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh
Under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh-eh

It’s raining, raining
Ooh, baby, it’s raining, raining
Baby, come into me
Come into me
It’s raining, raining
Ooh, baby, it’s raining, raining
You can always come into me
Come into me
It’s pouring rain
It’s pouring rain
Come into me
Come into me
It’s pouring rain
It’s pouring rain, come into me

Rihanna (feat. JAY-Z)/ ‘Umbrella’