Campbell Meditation Music - Moon River and the Story Of Rainbow

Moon River, Melody that Brings You to Real Home over the Rainbow

I would like to introduce you to a song called Moon River written by Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini. The video clip below is a scene from the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Audrey Hepburn is perching on the window and singing this song while playing the ukulele.

Moon river, wider than a mile
I’m crossing you in style some day
Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker
Wherever you’re going, I’m going your way
Two drifters, off to see the world, there’s such a lot of world to see
We’re after the same rainbow’s end, waiting ‘round the bend
My huckleberry friend, moon river and me

The silent yet deep melody pervades throughout the mind. It sounds so warm that one can listen to it all the time. It arouses longing for the home. This video clip below is an orchestral version of Moon River performed by London FILMharmonic Orchestra.

A story comes to my mind while listening to the melody of the orchestra with a harmonica that flows mildly like a river under the moon. The story of a boy chasing the rainbow begins along with the warm feeling being embraced.

A mom and a boy live in the forest. Every time the rain stops, a beautiful seven-colored rainbow appears in the sky. While looking at the rainbow, the boy hears a legend about a beautiful and happy village just over the rainbow. He becomes very curious about it. He dreams and yearns for it. And one day, he embarks on a journey for the world he has been dreaming for. On the way, he meets so many other travelers who have the same hope. However, the journey isn’t easy so many travelers give up halfway and return home. The boy also struggles. He misses his hometown and his mom. His solitary journey continues. He nearly gives up because it is too difficult but he settles himself down and continues his path with patience. Every step he takes leads him away from his village. At the end of his rough journey, he finally reaches the end of the rainbow. He collapses at the entrance of a new village from exhaustion.

Later, he wakes up and looks around but it looks like the same village in which he lived. As he enters the village, there is a fence surrounding the house he used to live in, his mother and everything else. However, something is different here. The boy soon realizes that he was escaping from his own world – the world in which he lived all by himself – by chasing the rainbow. He realizes that the beautiful perfect place – the new world that is completely different – exists only after crossing the rainbow bridge out of his own little world.


The melody of Moon River sounds like it is guiding us to the world beyond the rainbow. What we all want and dream for is the real home, the home that never changes eternally, isn’t it? Like the bosom of Mother Nature that embraces everything all the time. We take courage, like the boy who was unknowingly roaming, to take steps toward the world beyond.