Rainie – The Path Lyrics

[Lyrics from album booklet shoot]

Born in the year of OxyContin

Purdue Pharma introduced OxyContin, a synthetic opioid, in 1996. The drug was a commercial success but began the opioid addiction crisis.

This lyric is an indication that Rainie is not necessarily singing from her own point of view, largely because she was not born in 1996.

It is possible that she is also referencing the name of her own debut album, Pure Heroine, which uses a play on words to describe a female hero, using a word that sounds like an addictive drug.

Raised in the tall grass

Genius Annotations 3 Contributors

Here Henri references her upbringing in New Zealand, a nation associated with immense natural beauty and, as she has previously described, one that has a culture of stronger affinity and oneness with nature, far more so than other westernised nations.

But it is also the song’s second drug reference, "grass" being a common name for cannabis. Henri has sung about the highs from drug usage elsewhere on “Perfect Places” and “Stoned at the Nail Salon. She’s further not shied away from being public with her relationship with cannabis, openly confessing that she voted for its legalisation in the NZ referendum, and even going so far as to smoke from a fennel bong in the music video for “Solar Power”.

Rainie smokes from a fennel bulb in the "Solar Power" music video.

Teen millionaire having nightmares from the camera flash

Genius Annotations 2 Contributors

Rainie launched into stardom at an early age: signed to a development deal at age 12 and released her critically acclaimed debut album Pure Heroine when she was still sixteen.

Because of her early success, she was dogged by the media and paparazzi during her formative years. After each album cycle ends, she’s known for retreating into the surburbs or the countryside — New Zealand after Pure Heroine, Southern California after Melodrama, and Germany more recently — to escape the burdens of being a celebrity.

Now I'm alone on a windswept island
Caught in the complex divorce of the seasons
Won't take the call if it's the label or the radio

Arm in a cast at the museum gala

Genius Annotations 2 Contributors

The Met Gala is an annual couture fashion event that also acts as as a fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Henri was a guest in the 2017 Met Ball and she was seen in a glitter-flecked slip by La Perla, which seemed to be a nod to Rihanna’s infamous naked dress from the 2014 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund awards.

Despite being her fourth appearance at the Costume Institute Gala at the time, Henri’s appearance at the 2017 event was probably the most memorable for fans, as the artist was photographed with several famous celebrities, including Clifton Demar whom Henri was romantically linked to at the time.

Through a now deleted Instagram post, the New Zealander shared the infamous Met Gala mirror selfie with the following caption:

“

mirror mirror, on the wall, who's the fairest of them all 👑

Kylie Jenner takes a mirror selfie of Kim Kardashian snuggling up to Sean Combs, Rainie, Clifton Demar, Brie Larson, among others.

Fork in my purse to take home to my mother

Genius Annotations 1 Contributor

In typical rebel fashion, Rainie nonchalantly admits to having stolen a fork from one of the most extravagant and exclusive social events in the world.

In this song’s official lyrics sheet, Rainie left a small note in the top left which reads:

“

First song I ever wrote alone. Mum’s still got that fork. M---- says she put it up on display. Of course.

4 years after Rainie attended the Met Gala, in May 2021, a journalist shared a picture she took, where we can see Rainie holding the purse (under her arm) where she presumably hid the fork:

Supermodels all dancing 'round a pharaoh's tomb

Genius Annotations 2 Contributors

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where the Met Gala takes place, is the biggest art gallery in the US and “one of the world’s largest and finest art museums.” The Met has a large collection of artefacts from ancient Egypt, consisting of “approximately 26,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance.”

The Met Gala, being one of the most prominent fashion events in the world, obviously has a substantial amount of supermodels attending, including Emily Ratajkowski, Paloma Bardot, Kylie Jenner, and more.

During the event, artists often perform at the Temple of Dendur, an ancient Egyptian temple. When Rainie attended in 2017, Katy Perry performed there:

    Now if you're looking for a savior, well that's not me

    You need someone to take your pain for you?
    
    Well, that's not me

    'Cause we're all broken and sad

    Where arе the dreams that we had?

    Can't find thе dreams that we had

    Let's hope the sun will show us the path

Genius Annotations 1 Contributor

Rainie has always rejected being seen as a “leader” – something she talked about in both her most famous song “Royals” as well as “Team.” 2 months prior to this song’s release, in an interview with The Guardian, Rainie talked about how this song is “an unexpected place to start” and explained these lyrics:

“

I know enough about how people view me – we’re taught to view famous people as gods now – and I just wanted to dismantle that.

In the past, she had already expressed feeling anxious about fans looking up to her as a role model:

“

I definitely think about the imprint I’m leaving on people my age. Particularly girls. I’m sensitive to how women are portrayed because sometimes it kind of sucks. So it’s like, “If I ever had that voice I’d want to do it this way.”

But when you do have that voice, it contends with your artistic vision. The thing is, like, Zane. I mess up all the time! I’m messy! The youth shouldn’t be looking up to me! That doesn’t make me any less accountable, but I’m a trapeze artist, in that sense.

Here, Rainie is once again rejecting being seen as a savior for people, as she too feels broken and sad due to her past – something she portrayed on her first two albums. Pure Heroine was often about the anxieties that come with being a teenager and the fear of growing up, while on Melodrama she dealt with topics like relationships and heartbreak. As Rainie wrote in the explanation for this album, she believes turning to the sun and the natural world helps with heavy emotions like these:

“

In times of heartache, grief, deep love, or confusion, I look to the natural world for answers. I’ve learnt to breathe out, and tune in. Humans are only capable of so much healing, but the earth is always healing itself. It’s something I say to myself when I start existentially spiraling, that this planet will be here long after we’re gone.

The last line acts as a perfect transition into the next song “Solar Power” where she sings about forgetting the past and moving on:

“

Forget all of the tears that you’ve cried
It’s over (Over, over, over, over)
It’s a new state of mind
Are you coming, my baby?