Jennifer did her first featured home concert in her living room when she was about 4. Soon after she performed in several musical theater productions. She was 5 when she started her first entrepreneur business selling “back scratches” to her family members for five cents.A favorite pastime was singing songs from the 70’s pop song books while her oldest sister April accompanied her on piano. The family broke up with a divorce when Jennifer was 8 and thus began her many moves with her mother, older sister Eve and stepfather. At 8, she decided she wanted to learn to play piano so she could accompany herself singing. She began typical beginning classical piano lessons at age 9 which went on for 2 or 3 years. Though she lacked the desire to conform to her classical teacher’s lessons, she was greatly moved by music and by singing in particular. Jennifer got her first big rush of being on stage when at age 9, she performed in the school talent show singing a song from “The Muppet Show” which brought her best friend to tears. It was from this moment, that she began to embrace the idea of making music as her life dream.
At 12 Jennifer was discovered by a record producer who was convinced he would make her into the next big kid star. She worked in his studio non stop recording old cheesy pop songs. The producer would sit in the control room crying from the raw charge and emotion in her prepubesent voice. The flow of the project was interrupted by her mom’s decision to move once again to a small town in Utah. She went from a concrete, smog filled Los Angeles existence, tagging along with dad to recording sessions to the smells and sights of hay, families with 13 children and Mormon churches on every street corner.
Soon after the move, Jennifer’s mother started getting ill. Jennifer and her sister who had always carried adult responsibilities, cared for her baby siblings while her mom and stepfather visited natural health clinics. Five months later, when Jennifer just turned 13, her mother died at age 41 of leukemia. Upon the death of her mother, Jennifer moved back to Los Angeles to live with her father.
From there it was more recording with the big producer guy and his cheesy songs, school talent shows and the Hollywood nightclub showcase and audition scene. It was also at this time when Jennifer started acting, though she was not very good at it.
At 15 Jennifer left her religion. The first in her family “to see the light”, over the years the rest would follow. By this time piano had taken on a more loose, self developed approach with slower tempos being her favorite. By the time she was 17, she was craving to feel some normalcy and wished to take a break from the identity she had built around music. She went to University of California Santa Barbara and earned a high honors bachelor degree in Sociology during which time she began her love affair with long distance running. Jennifer ran 7 marathons placing 3rd in her age group in her last LA marathon race. With her boyfriend at the time she started several entrepreneur projects during college and continued teaching aerobics and soon began dancing hip hop which she still teaches. Through college Jennifer had many intense withdrawals from being away from music, but didn’t want to do back into it half way. So finally the day after her college graduation, Jennifer began writing music for the first time.
The first songs that came out were very personal. They were also very developed musically though she was ignorant of Click here to go to Cruel Pagemusic theory. She wrote many, many songs in her first year of writing and for all intensive purposes taught herself piano, developing her own beautiful strange way with harmony and dissonance. She had several bands, including “Puppet Show” and “Grizelda” while at the same time starting to play solo piano/voice concerts in a local café. Several demos later, she began making her debut Cruel - with the help of engineer Julie Last (Joni Mitchell, Ricki Lee Jones, Shawn Colvin) who co-produced and engineered half the record with her. The other songs were recorded with a local engineer which were more raw one takes. Jennifer played a bunch of shows in California as an indie artist and received some strong recognition for her raw intensity, authenticity, beautiful voice and strange, original pop songs. Chris Douridas took in Jennifer’s music featuring her on KCRW’s “Morning Becomes Eclectic”. He also felt her music should be signed to a record deal, so he played it for David Geffen who was rumored to say she was “amazing! but wow, so intense”.
Purple Rain
Jennifer Terran Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I never meant to cause you any pain
I only wanted one time to see you laughing
I only want to see you laughing in the purple rain
Purple rain, purple rain
Purple rain, purple rain
Purple rain, purple rain
I only want to see you bathing in the purple rain
I never wanted to be your weekend lover
I only wanted to be some kind of friend
Baby, I could never steal you from another
It's such a shame our friendship had to end
Purple rain, purple rain
Purple rain, purple rain
Purple rain, purple rain
I only want to see you underneath the purple rain
Honey I know, I know, I know times are changing
It's time we all reach out for something new
That means you too
You say you want a leader
But you can't seem to make up your mind
I think you better close it
And let me guide you to the purple rain
Purple rain, purple rain
Purple rain, purple rain
If you know what I'm singing about up here
C'mon, raise your hand
Purple rain, purple rain
I only want to see you, only want to see you
In the purple rain
The lyrics to Jennifer Terran's song "Purple Rain" evoke deep feelings of regret, love, and sadness. The opening lines "I never meant to cause you any sorrow, I never meant to cause you any pain" signal the singer's sincere intention to do no harm. The lyrics reveal that the singer's primary wish is to see the person they are addressing joyous and happy. "I only wanted one time to see you laughing, I only want to see you laughing in the purple rain" suggests that the singer desires to give their subject a moment of pure bliss. The refrain, "Purple rain, purple rain" emphasizes the enchanting ambiance associated with the imagined interaction.
The following lines "I never wanted to be your weekend lover, I only wanted to be some kind of friend" acknowledge that the singer is willing to settle for a platonic relationship instead of a romantic one. This assertion foreshadows the relationship challenges that are causing the singer such emotional turmoil. The next line, "Baby, I could never steal you from another, it's such a shame our friendship had to end," sheds light on the pain that occurs when two people's desires don't match. The singer is lamenting the fact that their friendship had to suffer because of their unrequited love.
Line by Line Meaning
I never meant to cause you any sorrow
I did not have any intention to bring you any grief or sadness
I never meant to cause you any pain
I did not want to cause any discomfort or hurt
I only wanted one time to see you laughing
All I wished for was one moment to witness your joy and happiness
I only want to see you laughing in the purple rain
I only desire to observe you laughing and having fun while the purple rain falls
Purple rain, purple rain
Repeated indication of the purple rain falling
I only want to see you bathing in the purple rain
My ultimate hope is to see you taking pleasure in the purple rain
I never wanted to be your weekend lover
Being your temporary lover during weekends was not my idea
I only wanted to be some kind of friend
I just wanted to maintain some sort of friendship with you
Baby, I could never steal you from another
My dear, I could never take you away from your significant other
It's such a shame our friendship had to end
It's dismal that our friendship came to an end
Honey I know, I know, I know times are changing
My dear, I comprehend that things are evolving and transforming
It's time we all reach out for something new
The era has come for us to strive for something innovative
That means you too
And that implies to you also
You say you want a leader
You express that you require a leader
But you can't seem to make up your mind
But it seems you are indecisive about it
I think you better close it
I think it would be best if you let go of the matter
And let me guide you to the purple rain
Let me be the one to show you the splendor of the purple rain
If you know what I'm singing about up here
If you comprehend the message I'm conveying
C'mon, raise your hand
Show your acknowledgment by raising your hand
I only want to see you, only want to see you
My sole desire is only to see you
In the purple rain
During the delightful purple rain
Contributed by Lily T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.