Contact

Raincoat as a metaphor for condom is perfect except for the message of the rest of the song, which expresses – in almost every line – doubt about whether or not the woman shares his positive feelings. So, I always heard it as a triple meaning, a raincoat being the emotional strength to shield himself from sadness if he comes over and is rejected.

Multiple meanings are also in the line, "I've got contacts in my book and in my eyes." The book is an address book, and contacts are the people listed in it. The contacts in his eyes are corrective lenses, and this suggests his lack of potency and vitality.

Contact also has a third sense – meaningful contact. He is able to call the people in his address book, but is there something meaningful with any of them? Or the one who left him the note. Is there real contact?

All told, the narrator is a very unsure and insecure man, and he uses the mere existence of names in his address book as proof that he is liked. But when faced with a potential romantic opportunity, he is unsure if the potential is real.

I always found the word "touchdown" interesting. It's a term from American football; the band is one third American, but it seems like Sting might veto the term if that were the intended sense. Another sense is the landing of a spacecraft, and this sense gibes with another song on the album, "Walking on the Moon." In both senses, it indicates completion, success, and contact. If there is contact, will he need a raincoat in the one sense (condom) or the other (shielding from sadness)?

Ive got contacts in my book and in my eyes... Brilliant sniff

its definetly raincoat instead of rainbow, raincoat being a reference to a condom.

I hear "I'd come on over but I haven't got a raincoat" , not rainbow. It does rhyme better with "wrote' and "throat" and all.

I too have got contacts in my book and in my eyes...

Best lyric in this song. And I didn't know the doule meaning of "raincoat;" thanks for explaining!

First of all, the lyrics printed on this page are incorrect. It is definitely "raincoat," not "rainbow." I'm not usually one for attacking people online, but the lyrics are clearly printed in the liner notes. This is uncalled for. Raincoat actually bears significance, whereas rainbow is insipid. The song is about reaching out, but only reaching so far. It's also important to note that the lyric is "I'd come on over," not, "I come on over." That completely destroys the tense of the song. The character in the song is making excuses to avoid contact that is more intimate than simple phone conversation. (I'm never alone on the end of a phone.) A raincoat is reference to a condom. I'd come over but I don't have a condom. Just think about it people. I'm going to report this song because there are just too many mistakes in the reprinting of the lyrics. Leave it to a fucking foreigner to try and transcribe lyrics. Thank you mtl123 for picking up on this reference which actually makes the song what it is. As for you Demau Senae, go write some of your own lyrics and transcribe them like a dumb bitch. Don't mess up other people's work you worthless fuck.

@ mcbypass

Wow the bigotry is out tonight. I know it makes you feel like an Internet Superhero to belittle people online, but don't you have a KKK rally to be getting to?

I was reading all the Pink Floyd lyric threads and constantly getting pissed off at the incorrect lyrics posted on nearly every song. Now I come on here and have to go through the sme thing. This DEMAU SENAE person is the one reponsible for all this mess. Either they are the dumbest person in the world or just too damned lazy to verify what they post. What a fucking waste of space and time they have caused for all of us.

I was reading all the Pink Floyd lyric threads and constantly getting pissed off at the incorrect lyrics posted on nearly every song. Now I come on here and have to go through the sme thing. This DEMAU SENAE person is the one reponsible for all this mess. Either they are the dumbest person in the world or just too damned lazy to verify what they post. What a fucking waste of space and time they have caused for all of us.