This week has saw the descent of the rains here in Vancouver. It will rain pretty much from now until April (or worse June). My thanks to Sr. Lindsay Robertson who had a recent Jukebox covering songs about the moon and to Br. Juma who early on in the history of this site, reminded us talking about the weather matters for inspiration in writing this piece.
And now the Jukebox spins some great tunes about rain, showing the ubiquity of rain-soaked songs from across many genres.
Starting off a torrent: Prince, Purple Rain.
Next up Blind Melon, a song tragically marked with the death of its singer. A happy upbeat tune with melancholy lyrics. And a famous bee girl.
Dorothy wishes we were Somewhere Over The Rainbow. (For a little background on the enduring brilliance of the mythology of Oz, check out this piece by Br. TJ).
One of the first CDs I ever bought was a Beatles Remastered CD. The first song on the CD was this one--Rain. "Rain I don't mind...the weather's fine." I need to learn to have such Beatle Zen about the rain.
Motown gets in on the deluge. The Temptations: I How I Wish That It Would Rain. The great David Ruffin on lead vocals, with a pained performance. One of the classic rain = loneliness, sadness pieces. "Susnhine blue skies please go away..."
Garbage is only happy when it rains. They ought to live here in the Pacific Northwest.
When I think rain songs, I think one band: Creedence Clearwater Revival. The J'box had a choice of two great hits of CCR. Here is Who'll Stop the Rain, poingnantly mixed with Vietnam footage, adding a political element. (The other CCR choice of course being Have You Ever Seen the Rain?)
Next a little reggae-inspired Adele.
And since we started with a rather epic piece, why not end with another? "Nothing lasts forever, even cold November rain."
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Update I: The Flight of the Conchords with a great parody on rain/crying songs. I'm Not Crying (The Rain Ballad). "I'm not cryin'. It's just been raining on my face."
