1. A British rock band.<… Read Full Bio ↴Rainbow is the name of at least four bands:
1. A British rock band.
2. A K-Pop group (레인보우).
3. A U.S. psychedelic rock band.
4. Mid-80's Hi-NRG project.
1. Rainbow was a British rock band formed by Deep Purple founder and former guitarist Ritchie Blackmore in 1975. In addition to Blackmore, the band originally consisted of former Elf lead singer Ronnie James Dio, bassist Craig Gruber, drummer Gary Driscoll, and keyboardist Micky Lee Soule. Over the years, Rainbow went through many lineup changes. including bringing in other vocalists Graham Bonnet and Joe Lynn Turner, before it folded in 1999.
The name of the band was inspired by the Rainbow Bar and Grill, a Los Angeles, California eatery which catered to rock stars, groupies, and rock enthusiasts. It was here that Ritchie spent some of his off time from Deep Purple and met Dio, whose band Elf had toured regularly as an opening act for Deep Purple. Blackmore originally got together with Dio to record "Black Sheep of the Family" as a single, and it turned out so well they needed a B side; when the B side was recorded, however, it turned out to be even better. This led to them recording an album, and that effort caused the formation of the entire band. Rainbow's debut album, 'Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow', was released in 1975; it featured the minor hit "Man on the Silver Mountain".
Blackmore fired everybody except Dio shortly after the album was recorded. He recruited drummer Cozy Powell (formerly of the Jeff Beck Group), bassist Jimmy Bain, and keyboard player Tony Carey. This lineup went on to record the album 'Rising', which was released in May 1976 and was a big success in the U.S. (hitting #48 on the Billboard 200 chart).
For the next album, 1978's 'Long Live Rock 'n' Roll', Blackmore kept Powell and Dio and replaced the rest of the band. Blackmore had difficulty finding a bass player for this record, so he played bass himself on all but three songs ("Gates of Babylon", "Kill the King", and "Sensitive to Light"). After the release and supporting tour, Dio left Rainbow.
Blackmore continued with Rainbow, replacing Dio with ex-Marbles vocalist Graham Bonnet. Powell stayed and was joined by former Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover and keyboardist Don Airey. The first album from the new lineup, 1979's 'Down to Earth', featured the band's first single successes: "All Night Long" and "Since You Been Gone". Bonnet possessed a powerful voice on stage, yet he struggled with the band's quieter numbers and lacked Dio's range. In 1980, the band headlined the inaugural Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington in England. This was Powell's final performance with Rainbow.
The next album saw yet another line-up change as Bonnet and Powell were replaced by Joe Lynn Turner and Bobby Rondinelli, respectively. The title track from their 1981 album, 'Difficult to Cure', notably was a version of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. The album also contained the guitar-driven piece "Maybe Next Time". Although facing mixed success commercially, the Difficult to Cure tour was the first tour in which Rainbow headlined in the U.S.
Rainbow's next studio album was 'Straight between the Eyes'. The band added a new keyboardist, David Rosenthal. The album was more cohesive than 'Difficult to Cure' and had more success in the U.S. The band, however, was alienating some of its earlier fans with its more slick, arena rock based sound. The single "Stone Cold", a popular power ballad, had some chart success and has since been included in several multi-artist collaboration albums. The successful supporting tour skipped the U.K. completely and focused on the U.S. market.
1983's 'Bent Out of Shape' saw drummer Rondinelli fired in favour of Chuck Burgi. The album featured the single "Street of Dreams". The song's video was banned by MTV for its supposedly controversial hypnotic video clip. The resulting tour saw Rainbow return to the U.K. and also to Japan, where the band performed with a full orchestra. Though fans greatly enjoyed the band's lively touring, the band's material was getting mixed critical reviews, and its members had a sense of needing to find direction.
By the early to mid-80s, Blackmore and Glover had reformed the Deep Purple "Mark II" lineup, and Rainbow was disbanded in 1984. A final Rainbow album, 'Finyl Vinyl', was patched together from live tracks and B-sides of singles. This album contained the instrumental "Weiss Heim", made widely available for the first time.
After Ritchie Blackmore left Deep Purple for the final time in 1993, he put together a new version of Rainbow in 1994, this time named Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. This incarnation of the band included Doogie White (vocals), Paul Morris (keyboards), Greg Smith (bass), and John O'Reilly (drums).
The new band released Stranger in Us All in 1995 and embarked on an extensive world tour to promote it from late 1995 to late 1997. For the tour John O'Reilly was replaced by Chuck Burgi and then by John Micelli for the U.S. leg of the tour (as well as their final show in Esbjerg, Denmark).
The tour proved very successful, and a show in Germany was professionally filmed by Rockpalast. It has never officially been released, but has been heavily bootleged. The live shows featured frequent changes in set lists and musical improvisations that proved popular with bootleggers, and many shows are still traded over a decade later.
However, fed up with stadium rock, Blackmore turned his attention to rennaisance and mediaeval music, a lifelong interest of his. Rainbow was put on hold once again and played its final concert in Denmark in 1999. Blackmore, together with his partner Candice Night as vocalist, then formed the renaissance-influenced Blackmore's Night.
2. Rainbow, the tag for all releases by the K-Pop group 레인보우, responsible for tracks: "A", "Gossip Girl", "Mach", and about a dozen more.
3. One of any number of Los Angeles, U.S.A.groups of their time (1968), Rainbow's best-known LP was After the Storm The album's one cover is a take with saxophone of Willie Dixon's "I Just Want to Make Love to You". The lineup was: Darrell Devlin (drums), Bob Gay (bass),
W. David Mohr (keyboards), and Harry Vavela (guitars).
4. Rainbow was a short-lived Hi-NRG project by Allan Coelho (of Tapps and more) that released only one single, Humpty Dumpty, in 1986.
Sensitive to Light
Rainbow Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Should've touched some wood
Here she comes again
Reachin' out to bend my ear
She's worth another look
All the time it took
Pleasin' to the eye
It ain't clear, no
She's a bright and shining star
But I just must be sensitive to light
Oh I just might, yeah
I could have let her in
Give her just a spin
Let her think it's love
Better rise above it all
She's knockin' at the door
Seems to want some more
Never gets the clue
What am I to do she'll fall
And she might call, oh no
She's a bright and shining star
But I just must be sensitive to light
Oh, I just know
She could do me well
I can always tell
She's ready for the kill
But I think that I will go, no
Sure I'm gonna see
Something just for me
'Til it comes along
When it's feelin' wrong I'll know
Gotta take it slow, yeah
She's a bright and shining star
But I just must be sensitive to light
Oh, I might, yeah
She's a bright and blazing star
But I just must be sensitive to light, yeah
Sensitive to light, oh
The lyrics of "Sensitive To Light" by Rainbow describe a perpetually recurring situation where the singer is approached by a woman who seems interested in him. He admits that she is beautiful and attractive, but he cannot bring himself to reciprocate her feelings, indicating that he may be too fragile to handle the potential intensity of a relationship. He wonders if he is sensitive to light, metaphorically implying that he is unable to handle brightness or the spotlight, which could explain his hesitation to get involved with this woman.
Despite acknowledging her beauty and charms, he expresses that he would rather remain alone, because he wants to avoid hurting her feelings or causing unnecessary drama in the relationship. The singer does not deny his attraction to her; he just cannot bring himself to act on it. He thinks that he would eventually hurt her if he tried. He feels that he is a "sensitive" person, who can easily be emotionally affected, and the woman is too intense for him. He is willing to wait for something better, which he believes is just around the corner.
Overall, the lyrics of "Sensitive To Light" express a sense of fear, uncertainty, and self-doubt that the singer feels in approaching romantic relationships. It portrays a character who is not confident in expressing his emotions or forming meaningful relationships with others. The song's message seems to be that if you are sensitive to light, the brightness of life can be too much to handle.
Line by Line Meaning
I was feelin' rather good
I was in a positive state of mind
Should've touched some wood
I should have avoided jinxing myself
Here she comes again
A woman he knows is approaching him
Reachin' out to bend my ear
Trying to talk to him about something
She's worth another look
She is attractive and worth his attention
All the time it took
The time taken to get to know her
Pleasin' to the eye
Good-looking
How can I just disappear, oh
How can he avoid her
It ain't clear, no
He is unsure of what to do
She's a bright and shining star
She stands out and is impressive
But I just must be sensitive to light
He is overwhelmed by her
Oh I just might, yeah
He might give in to his attraction to her
I could have let her in
He could have started a relationship with her
Give her just a spin
Dated her for a short while
Let her think it's love
Let her believe they have fallen in love
Better rise above it all
He should not let himself get too attached
Seems to want some more
She is interested in him
Never gets the clue
She does not realize he is not interested
What am I to do she'll fall
He is worried she will develop deeper feelings for him
And she might call, oh no
She might try to contact him again
She could do me well
She could be good for him
I can always tell
He is confident in his ability to judge people
She's ready for the kill
She is looking for a committed relationship
But I think that I will go, no
He would rather not pursue a relationship with her
Sure I'm gonna see
He is optimistic about finding someone better suited for him
Something just for me
Someone who is a perfect match for him
Til it comes along
Until he finds the right woman for him
When it's feelin' wrong I'll know
He will trust his intuition to know when a relationship is not right for him
Gotta take it slow, yeah
He needs to be cautious in relationships
She's a bright and blazing star
She stands out and is impressive
Sensitive to light, oh
He is easily overwhelmed by his attraction to her
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: RITCHIE BLACKMORE, RONNIE JAMES DIO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind